WINCHESTER — Following its 5-0 performance in last weekend’s Endless Summer Tournament, James Wood brought its perfect record into Maddex-Omps Gymnasium for a match against Handley.
After a hard-fought, back-and-forth evening, the Colonels emerged with a 3-2 victory (21-25, 24-26, 25-16, 28-26, 15-12) after senior Kennedy Spaid recorded the last of her kills to win the final set. The Judges (5-6) became the second team this season to take a set against James Wood (15-0), and the first to take more than one.
James Wood head coach Adrienne Patrick said her team’s ability to fight back and meet the moment came from its understanding of what it takes to win at a high level.
“A lot of returners on the team have played a five-set match before. Our state [championship] match was a five-set match last year,” Patrick said. “Resilience is a word that’s even on their warm-up [gear], because it’s something that they understand is a characteristic that they have to have.”
Besides fierce competition, the match also featured numerous extended stoppages by the officials. These pauses in the action hurt the momentum of both teams at times and appeared to frustrate both sidelines.
“Whatever the confusion was with different substitutions and what was going on and all of these delays and all of that, that was very atypical,” Patrick said. “I would say that it was very atypical for both teams to be honest … I feel like that was very unique. You could clearly tell the crowd was a little frustrated.”
Before these communication issues took place, the first set went off without a hitch.
The Colonels went up 6-3 early behind two kills from Spaid and a pair of attack errors from Handley. The Judges then got back into it, as a kill and a block from senior Tenley Mattison helped cut James Wood’s lead to 12-11.
Mattison, who transferred to Handley after being part of the last two of James Wood’s three-straight state championship teams, made several key plays that helped put her team in a strong spot.
A trifecta of errors by the home team contributed to James Wood stretching the lead back out to 17-13. Soon after, with the Colonels in control 20-17, Handley caught fire.
The Judges went on a 4-0 run to go ahead 21-20, before a Corbin kill tied the set. From here, two James Wood errors preceded back-to-back kills by Mattison to cap off a set-winning 8-1 run.
Handley head coach Kristen Larson said Mattison’s addition has brought “added experience” to the middle of the lineup.
“Our middles are young and not necessarily been in that role for very long, and Tenley has,” Larson said. “I know she was playing tonight, as you would expect, she wanted to win, but I think we all wanted to win. I don’t think it was any more or less by anybody else.”
The second set saw the Judges go up 4-3 before an extended referee stoppage caused some confusion. James Wood capitalized once play resumed, storming back to take a 7-4 lead.
Two kills from Molly Peterson then helped Kinley Duvall engineer a 4-0 service run that put Handley ahead, 11-8. After this sequence, another extended officiating stoppage occurred.
The Colonels once again used this breather to get back on track, responding with a 5-0 run that featured kills by Corbin, Kyla Wilhelm and Claire Keefer.
Now leading 13-11, James Wood soon engaged in an extended back-and-forth with Handley. The action was tied five times across the next 10 serves, before three straight Handley errors allowed the visitors to go up 20-17.
This forced Larson to call a timeout, and she called a second one when her team was down 23-20 moments later. Coming out of the huddle, a kill by Paige Boone and two service points from Johnson tied the set.
Each side committed an attack error to tie things at 24, before an extended official discussion ultimately led to Handley being awarded a 25th point. Mattison then recorded the set-winning kill, closing things out against her former team once again.
James Wood went up 8-3 early in the third set after Handley committed four attack errors. The Judges cut the lead to 8-6 before Corbin and Keefer helped elevate their team’s lead to 12-6.
After Handley cut the deficit to 14-10, a 4-0 service run from Corbin furthered James Wood’s lead to 18-10.
Three kills by Spaid would contribute to her team extending its lead to 21-15, before Corbin added two kills of her own late to allow the Colonels to get on the board with a set win at 25-16, kickstarting their comeback.
Handley jumped out to a 7-2 lead during the fourth set, but James Wood cut it to 9-7 after Spaid recorded four kills. After this, another stoppage occurred when Handley tried to make a substitution.
After this pause, the action was soon tied at 10 apiece. Corbin recorded a kill to make it 11-10 before she helmed a 6-0 service run that put the Colonels up 17-10.
“She’s an extremely strong server, and has been for a long time,” Patrick said of Corbin. “She was able to have a solid service run, definitely was able to shift the momentum. And once that happens, and if you get to a point where you can breathe a little bit, that’s good.”
Two errors and a Spaid kill elevated the lead to 20-13, but Handley responded with a 6-1 run to make it 21-19.
Kills by Mattison and Hines cut James Wood’s lead to 23-21, before a pair of errors on the Colonels tied the game and caused Patrick to call time.
A pair of digs by Teagan Braun-Duin set Mattison up for a kill that put Handley in front by one. The score would then tie at 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26, before another brief stoppage was called by the officials.
Handley served out of the stoppage, but immediately committed a service error. This set up Spaid for the set-winning kill, tying the match 2-2.
Despite yet another ref stoppage, Larson said she didn’t want to make excuses for any of her team’s misfortune.
“It kind of disrupts the flow of the game to some degree, but it’s also part of the game; you have to be able to adjust,” Larson said. “You have to be able to take those long timeout breaks or substitution breaks or questioning the book breaks, and be able to come back and play as though there’s been no disruption.”
The final go-around saw Peterson record a kill and an ace to give Handley a 2-0 lead. A pair of kills by Spaid, along with an additional strike from Kylee Plumb, helped James Wood tie it, 5-5.
A kill by Corbin and a block by Kylie Putt made it 7-5, beginning what amounted to a 5-0 run for James Wood and a 10-5 lead. But two errors by the Colonels helped Handley cut it to 11-9.
A block by Keefer and another kill from Spaid made it 13-9, forcing a Handley timeout.
Coming out of the huddle, the Colonels scored to set up match point. Kills by Breeze Johnson and Mattison pulled Handley within two, but Spaid grazed the ball over the net and onto the floor to allow her team to remain unbeaten.
After the match, Patrick said “Handley played a phenomenal game,” while Larson said she thought her team brought its A-game.
“I’m very proud of them,” Larson said. “This is the three-time defending state champ, and we took them to five. So, I’m super proud of my girls.”
Following this win, the Colonels will next host Millbrook on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., while Handley will next visit Skyline on Sept. 23 at 7:15 p.m.
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21