Colonels Edge Handley 3-2 For Northwestern District Volleyball Title

Posted: November 1, 2013
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — The ability to mesh so well all season without its top player back due to injury helped the James Wood volleyball team pull through a couple of tight matches.

Part of that growing up stage included getting a trio of freshmen involved. Setter Megan Hillyard, outside Leiliani Burch, and middle blocker/opposite Taylor Heishman have taken turns adding their input to the 20 match wins the Colonels have totaled this season.

The 20th win came on Thursday night and each player would likely proclaim it the sweetest one of the bunch.

Heishman had a hand in James Wood’s final three points in a thrilling 3-2 (14-25, 27-25, 25-20, 23-25, 17-15) comeback win at Handley to wrap up an 8-0 campaign in Northwestern District play.

“It was an intense match, especially for freshmen to be competing in,” James Wood coach Jill Couturiaux said. “For Taylor to come in and play a varsity volleyball match like this, it says a lot about her character.

“In the fifth set, I made a lineup change, which I do not like to do, where I flip-flopped her and our other middle just to keep [Heishman] up front and keep her in the [set] a little longer. She was on tonight, so I wanted her out there as much as possible.”

Heishman, who was unable to participate in middle school volleyball last spring due to travel basketball commitments, used her size well when the Colonels needed it the most.

Heishman had 10 kills and four shared blocks in the win.

“I am so excited,” Heishman said. “This is my first year playing volleyball ever, so to come out and win the Northwestern District is really exciting.”

The Colonels had hoped to run the table in district play since, with the Judges in a different conference for postseason play, they would not see their stiffest rival from the last two seasons again.

James Wood won three out of four meetings last season with Handley, including the district tournament title on the Judges’ floor.

This season, without reigning Northwestern District Player of the Year Katie Houser (out with a season-long injury), the Colonels had to rely on other sources and the chemistry has been terrific most nights.

“Overall [Thursday], it was a team effort,” Couturiaux said. “We knew we weren’t going to see this team again, so we didn’t want to leave with a split. We wanted our actions to speak for themselves. Undefeated in district is a very good feeling.”

Handley (9-7, 6-2 Northwestern) was pumped up and ready to go on its Senior Night, and the Judges took advantage of 15 attack errors and five spirited kills from senior middle hitter Semefa Tettegah (she would lead her team with 15 kills in the match) to roll to win by double-digits in the first set.

The Judges were oh so close to going up 2-0 in the match but just could not close out the second set.

Handley was also a point away — twice — in the fifth set before losing a heartbreaker on its floor.

“There was a lot of effort where they weren’t going to quit or they weren’t going to die,” said Handley coach Lindsay Cole, who saw her own team rally to win the fourth set. “It was mental toughness out on the court by the girls. Again, it was an awesome matchup. Anyone that was here got their money’s worth seeing awesome play, long rallies, [and] having to finish to get that final point.

“Unfortunately at the end, we came up short.”

In the second set, James Wood was up 23-22 after Burch sent down a kill off the near side, but Tettegah answered with a kill for the Judges and senior Rachel Dodson lowered one of her four solo blocks in the match off a bad James Wood set too close to the net to leave Handley at set point.

James Wood stayed alive out of the timeout with a kill from junior middle blocker/opposite Lindsey Painter, but Handley junior outside Emily Snow tapped a shot past James Wood’s defense to an open spot on the back row for a 25-24 lead.

But just like it would do later, James Wood dug down and got things done.

Heishman sent a kill through the Handley block, the Judges had an attack error, and Heishman and Griffith shared a block off the near side for a 27-25 win.

The Colonels kept momentum in the third set, leading the whole way and building as much as an 11-point advantage before the Judges closed strong at the end only to fall short.

Handley still had plenty of hustle left and did an admirable job to play itself back in the match by taking the fourth set to even things up.

The set was tight the entire way and James Wood held a pair of three-point leads (12-9 and 19-16) to present the largest lead held by either team.

But down three, Handley went on a 7-2 run to gain control.

A kill by sophomore middle Liza Homan got the Judges rolling and senior Molly Mintschenko got an ace to drop. Later, with the Colonels holding on 21-20, Tettegah had consecutive kills and Dodson had a solo block off a Painter attack for a 23-21 Handley lead.

Painter (match-best 16 kills, four shared blocks) redeemed herself with two straight kills to re-tie the set, but a missed serve by the Colonels and a bump back by the Judges that fell for set point sent the match to set No. 5.

In the last set, the teams again traded points to keep fans on their feet. Handley went ahead 14-13 on a kill by junior outside Alexis Zygmunt (who also led the Judges with 27 digs), and the Judges were just a point away from sharing the district title with the Colonels (20-3 overall).

An attack error by the Judges tied it, but senior outside Liz Grove (eight kills, 24 digs) lowered a kill to make it 15-14 Judges.

After a Heishman kill tied the set, she teamed with Painter on a block that brought Handley coaches and players to their feet protesting that the duo had been over the net, but the call stood.

Up a point, Heishman finished it off for the Colonels with a kill off a free ball.

“The fifth set, honestly, I was starting to lose hope a little bit,” said James Wood junior setter Ashley Hillyard, who had 11 kills and 22 assists in the win. “But we pulled together as a team and did really well. We kept our cool. They’re a really good team, so it was hard.”

James Wood will open Conference 21 play on Monday at home with Park View (7 p.m.). If the Colonels win, they likely will host Heritage on Tuesday.

Handley has a bye for the Conference 23 quarterfinals and will host either Charlottesville or Louisa on Tuesday, also at 7, in the semifinals.

Setters Allie Hoffman and Nichole Smith were also honored with their Handley senior classmates before the match.