James Wood sweeps past Sherando in volleyball

STEPHENS CITY — James Wood’s girls’ volleyball team used an overwhelming front line and a flurry of aces to sweep Sherando (25-16, 25-12. 25-19) on Thursday in Class 4 Northwestern District play.

“I really like our mindset right now,” Colonel coach P. W. Hillyard said. “We come out and play really hard. I thought we slacked off a little in the third set, but you have to give credit to Sherando for that in many ways.”

To say the Colonels (10-3, 4-0 district) were aggressive from the service line is something of an understatement. Wood hammered home 20 aces against the Warriors (5-4, 1-3) but that aggression also resulted in 12 service errors.

“We want to serve aggressively,” Hillyard said. “We obviously don’t want service errors. But when you serve as aggressively as we do you will have service errors.”

The play of the front line was consistent throughout the match and kept Sherando’s defense on its heels the entire night.

Great play at the net, however, is not just the work of hitters. Both of Wood’s setters had a brilliant match. Katie Lever garnered 12 assists, and teammate Hanna Plasters added 11.

“It’s all about teamwork,” Lever said. “We have great passers on our back line, and they get the ball to our setters so that we can set our hitters up to get the ball down.”

Wood’s dominant play at the net began with the opening whistle as Morgan Biggs gave the Colonels a 2-0 lead in the opening set with a pair of kills. But it was Jessica Putnam who led the way for Wood, sending five kills past the Warrior defense in the set.

“It was so much fun,” Biggs said. “It was just great volleyball tonight. We were able to control play. We have some big hitters on our team, but we also have good passing and good setting.”

Wood’s play kept the Warriors at bay throughout the set as the Colonels jumped ahead quickly 8-4.

The Warriors, however, recovered midway through the set and tied the score at 10 on a block by Morgan Sampson. Wood responded with kills by Putnam, Biggs, and Gillian Kleiderlein to jump back ahead 19-12 and never looked back. The Colonels clinched the set when a return by Sherando fell short.

Kate Poppo began the second set with three straight aces that eventually gave the Colonels a 5-0 lead to begin the set. Poppo finished the set with four kills, but she wasn’t the only Wood player to blast the ball past the Warrior defense. Biggs and Taylor Robinson both had two aces each in the set.

“Serving is a big part of our game plan,” Poppo said. “We’re really happy with our win tonight. Sherando is one of our biggest rivals.”

Sherando never could rally thanks to the Colonels’ work at the service line, and Kleiderlein closed out the second set with a block.

The final set was the most competitive of the match, but despite Sherando’s improved play the final result wasn’t in doubt.

“Our teamwork was really telling tonight,” Levers said. “And our hitters were really on fire.”

The Warriors jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but kills by Kleiderlein and Putnam and three-straight aces by Robinson put Wood ahead 7-5.

Sherando fought hard, and the Colonels’ lead was thin through most of the set. But with Wood leading 21-19, an ace by Yeakley Pullen and a pair of kills by Kristyna Van Sickler and Biggs finished off the Warriors.

Wood was led by Biggs, who had eight kills, three blocks and five aces. Putnam was also a force at the net with nine kills. Kleiderlein finished the match with five kills and two blocks.

Just as important to the Colonels’ offense were several players who scored points in bunches at the service line. Robinson had five for the night, and Pullen and Robinson had three apiece in the competitive third set.

Elizabeth Dolsen led the Warriors with six kills, a block, and an ace.

“Wood has a good team,” Sherando coach James Minney said. “They are very strong at power hitting. We struggled all night to get any offense together at all. When they hit, we had no answer. Until we’re able to get an offense together, we’re going to struggle.”