Posted: November 7, 2012
By KEVIN TRUDGEON

WINCHESTER — While Jill Couturiuax would be the first to admit it is one of the oldest clichés in the book, there was only one phrase that was on her mind Tuesday night.

“It was just a complete team effort, it truly was,” the James Wood volleyball coach said. “I just can’t say anything negative about the way they played tonight.”

That she was grinning from ear to ear while she said it only helped to punctuate the statement even more following the Colonels’ thrilling 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, 15-9) win over visiting Powhatan in the quarterfinals of the Region II playoffs.

“There were some ups and downs, but everything from our offense and attacking on the front line to our defense and digging incredible shots by their hitters ...they just never gave up,” Couturiuax said.
That perseverance was evident when James Wood (21-3) withstood four straight set points to pull out a 27-25 win in the third set on the strength of a phenomenal dig by libero Kelby Jackson to keep the rally going and clutch serving from sophomore Ashley Hillyard.

It showed up again in the fourth set when the Colonels again made a late push, this time riding the arm of senior outside hitter Tarah Wampler who provided three kills during a late 5-0 run to draw within one before Powhatan (7-12) finally managed set point on a James Wood hitting error.

And it was on full display in the fifth and deciding set as sophomore Katie Houser led a six-point run to turn a 9-9 tie into a match-clinching 15-9 victory that she capped with her match-high 25th kill of the night.

“I think we just realized that we didn’t want it to be over and that we want to be at practice tomorrow,” said Houser, who also had five aces in the match. “This is the biggest crowd we’ve played for this year and that did a lot for us. We just kept fighting.”

The Colonels needed everything they could muster against an Indians team that was much better than their overall record indicated.

Powhatan used a 7-0 run midway through the first set to take an 18-17 lead and never trailed the rest of the way as JMU-bound senior outside hitter Janey Goodman totaled eight kills, three aces and two blocks in the opening set alone.

A 6-foot-3 left-handed specialist, James Wood knew all about Goodman coming into the match, although that didn’t mean it was easy to stop her attack at the net.

“It was definitely different,” said Houser about trying to defend against a left-handed hitter of Goodman’s caliber. “I felt like every time I went up to block her line her left hand was just slipping right past me.

“We had watched a lot of film on her though and it just took some time to adjust.”

Goodman would finished with 24 kills in the match, but just 16 over the final four sets.

A 10-1 run in the second set helped the Colonels even up the score, but it was the never-say-die heroics of the third set that had the James Wood fans going wild in the stands.

Down 24-21 and staring at the possibility of falling into a 2-1 hole, Wampler (17 kills) hammered home two kills to cut the deficit to one.

On the ensuing rally, Houser had her attempt blocked by Goodman for what looked like it would be set point, but Jackson somehow managed to get a piece of the ricochet, keeping the rally alive that would eventually end with a Houser blast from the back row.

“Honestly I think it was just instinct,” said Jackson about her set-saving dig. “It was just, ‘Don’t let that ball drop, it’s their game point, we need this,’ and luckily I got my hand on it and got it over.”

A block by senior middle Erica Hepner would eventually clinch the set and, after Wampler almost single-handedly rallied them back in set four, the Colonels saved their best for last in the fifth set.

Back-to-back kills by Goodman and an ace by middle Nicole Nee (14 kills) tied the score at 9-9, but a service error by Nee gave the ball back to James Wood and it was all over from there.

Houser cleaned up a free ball at the net before firing a kill between two Powhatan defenders to make it 12-9 and an ace by Wampler followed by a hitting error on the Indians brought about match point.

With the crowd on its feet, Houser finished the job with a rocket to the middle of the back row that the Indian defense had no chance at.

“I think tonight showed how we respond to adversity,” Jackson said. “We didn’t want to give up and just fought through each point, we weren’t giving up on each other and we weren’t giving up on the game.”

The Colonels will next host Potomac Falls in the Region II semifinals at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

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