Colonels sweep Skyline

October 7, 2011
By KEVIN TRUDGEON


FRONT ROYAL- With their team needing a spark late in the second set of their match against Skyline Thursday, a trio of Colonels came to the rescue.

Trailing the host Hawks 23-19 following a service error, James Wood's Eleanor Kent, Tarah Wampler and Katie Houser combined for six kills and four aces to lead a 13-0 charge that spanned the end of the second and beginning of the third set.

That run helped squash any hopes Skyline had of pulling off an upset as the Colonels rolled to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-12) road victory.

"I think we came out really strong [in the first set] and were doing really well and in the second set we kind of let up a little bit," said Wampler, who totaled four aces in the decisive run.

"I think we realized we needed to pick it up a little bit and stop slacking, and we did that."

The run was just what James Wood (9-5, 2-1 Northwestern) needed after a relatively easy go of it in the first set.
Houser came out firing, tallying four of the first eight points with kills from the outside to stake the Colonels to an 8-2 lead that they would never relinquish.

The second set was a battle from the start, though, as Skyline relied on a persistent defense that kept rallies going time and time again.

An 11-3 run midway through the set gave the Hawks a 22-18 lead and prompted James Wood coach Jill Lester to call a timeout.

After exchanging points out of the timeout, Wampler found space on a push towards the back line, Houser rifled a kill off a Skyline defender and Wampler served up an ace.

Ten points later the Colonels had closed out the second set on a 6-0 run and taken a 7-0 lead in the third set.

"I felt like we were asleep the first 20 points [of the second set]," Lester said. "I've got some kids that are sick right now, they're tired, it's the end of the week. But I felt like they woke up the last five points of that second set and started playing James Wood volleyball."

Unable the capitalize on their chance to tie the match up at a set apiece, Skyline never got within five points in the third set.

Unforced errors plagued the Hawks, who commited a service error and three straight hitting errors at one point.

"It's all a game of momentum and I definitely think that not being able to finish off that second set kind of let us down there in the third and it just kind of snowballed from there," said Skyline coach Lesley Detweiler.

Houser finished with a team-high 14 kills on the night, junior setter Emily Payne totaled 31 assists and junior libero Kelby Jackson chipped in with 15 digs.

After opening district play with a loss to defending champion Sherando, the Colonels have won back-to-back district matches (they beat Millbrook 3-1 earlier in the week) and Lester likes what she's seeing.

"I'm pleased to be 2-1 in the district right now," Lester said. "We've got Handley next week and we play Sherando again next Thursday, so everything we're doing right now is just in preparation for district play."

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