James Wood edges Millbrook in volleyball thriller

WINCHESTER — With seven members of last year's Class 4 state championship team — each of whom received significant playing time — on the 2023 James Wood volleyball roster, the Colonels have a lot of people who have shown they know how to excel under pressure.

It looks like their newcomers have the same trait.

In front of a packed crowd at James Wood's Shirley Gymnasium in which James Wood's students were dressed in white and Millbrook's in black, the Colonels beat the rival Pioneers 3-2 in a thrilling battle of unbeatens.

James Wood won 25-14, 18-25, 25-15, 17-25, 15-10, rallying from deficits of 4-1 and 8-6 in the final set. Two varsity newcomers recorded the first three points in a 4-0 run that gave the Colonels the lead for good at 10-8 in the fifth game.

The Pioneers (6-1, 1-1 Class 4 Northwestern District) were the only team to beat James Wood (6-0, 2-0) in their 26-1 championship season. Tuesday's match was the first time the Frederick County rivals had played since Millbrook beat the Colonels on the same floor in the 2022 Class 4 Northwestern District championship match following two regular-season defeats to James Wood.

"That was definitely in our mind," said Colonels sophomore All-State outside hitter Kennedy Spaid when asked about the last time the teams played. "We knew we could [win tonight], and we just went out there and played our hardest."

The fifth set featured the latest switching of leads within a set. James Wood never trailed in the first (13-1 lead to start) or third (10-1 lead), and Millbrook took the lead for good at 5-4 in the second and never trailed in the fourth (14-4 to start).

The Colonels challenged themselves to change the narrative in the fifth against a Pioneers team that hadn't dropped a set all season until Tuesday.

"I asked them what their 'why' is," said James Wood coach Adrienne Patrick of the timeout in which they trailed 7-6. "Why are you doing this? What does it mean to you? If you want to win, there's nothing else I can say. You've shown you can compete and you can play. You just have to put it all out there.

"We did, and we came out with a win. Millbrook played great."

James Wood received stellar performances from its veterans — for example, Spaid led all players with 17 kills, including three straight to end the match, and added 14 digs — but newcomers Kyla Wilhelm and Tenley Mattison played a large factor in the fifth-set success.

Following a timeout at 7-6, Wood got burned when it elected not to make a play on a serve from the right side by Millbrook sophomore Alivia Knotts, with the ball falling inside the right sideline to make it 8-6 Pioneers.

But the freshman Wilhelm pushed a ball from the left side down the line for a kill to make it 8-7. The sophomore 5-foot-10 middle hitter Mattison — the team's second tallest player behind the 5-11 Spaid — blocked a spike to make it 8-8. Senior Paige Ahakuelo — who had an exceptional all-around performance with seven kills, 27 service points (she had five of her seven aces in the first set), 13 digs and 13 assists — then set Mattison up for a kill to make it 9-8 Colonels.

Later, Mattison would fire down another thunderous kill off a set from senior Hannah McCullough (match-high 22 assists) to make it 12-10 and start James Wood's match-ending 4-0 run.

Mattison — who had seven kills and two blocks overall — opened the fifth set by spiking the ball into the net. The Colonels were up and down on Tuesday, but she and the rest of the team delivered when it mattered the most.

"It felt great to know that I was actually playing to the best of my ability, and not messing up and not making any mistakes," Mattison said. "All the energy we had built up, and all the anger from us not playing at our highest, we just took it all out on the fifth set, because we knew that was our last chance. I think we gave it our all in the fifth set."

Patrick said it was great to see Wilhelm and Mattison deliver in James Wood's first five-set match of the season. Only Class 4 state semifinalist Dominion had taken a set off the Colonels this season.

"Tenley played JV last year, and the amount of growth of Tenley from last year to this year is immense," Patrick said. "Kyla playing outside on the freshman is a big role to fill, and she's making the adjustments and improvements she needs to make, and I'm happy with the performance that she's given us."

After that, Spaid used a soft touch to drop the ball in for a kill in a scramble situation to make it 13-10, then took two sets from McCullough to finish off the match with kills. After sophomore libero Brenna Corbin — an All-State selection last year — kept match point alive with one of her team-high 19 digs, Millbrook was able to get a touch on a Spaid spike, but the dig attempt went toward the net and to the floor.

Spaid was definitely in a groove at times. She had eight kills in the third set, ending the first three points and five of the first nine points with kills.

"I think it was really good, but I can definitely do better," said Spaid of her hitting on Tuesday. "I always strive to be better. I try my hardest for my team and leave it all out there."

Senior middle hitter Ashlynn Spence added seven kills and four blocks to James Wood's effort. With two kills in the fifth set, she was just one of many players to come up big in crunch time.

"In the fifth set, they wanted to execute and get the job done," Patrick said. "I'm proud of their performance."

Millbrook coach Carla Milton would have liked to see more consistency from her team. The Pioneers rebounded from eight attack and four service errors in the first set to win the second set, but they dug themselves too much of a hole in third set by falling behind 10-1, and couldn't maintain their early momentum and match James Wood's execution in the fifth set.

"We had too many mental mistakes in [sets] 1 and 3," Milton said. "Serving hurt us a lot tonight. I felt like that could have been better. Serve receive wasn't the best throughout the whole match. We've got to be able to put a whole complete game together."

Millbrook was led by Berkeley Konrady (13 kills, 15 digs), Gracie Behneke (11 kills), Valentina Burrill (four blocks), Kate Madden (20 digs), Paisley Cook (22 assists) and Knotts (four aces).

James Wood will host Liberty on Thursday and then play in the Endless Summer Tournament on Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. The Colonels don't know their opponents yet for that event but will play in the 12-team Champions division, which includes three-time defending Class AAA West Virginia state champion Musselman. Millbrook will host Handley on Thursday.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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