James Wood sweeps past Sherando in district volleyball playoffs

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star

Oct 31, 2017

WINCHESTER — The Sherando volleyball team entered the Class 4 Northwestern District playoffs feeling better about itself than it has in a long time both physically and mentally.

James Wood’s strong serving and balanced attack went a long way toward preventing the Warriors from building on it.

Fourth-seeded James Wood beat No. 5 Sherando 25-11, 25-19, 25-14 in Monday’s quarterfinal at Shirley Gymnasium, the Colonels’ third sweep of the Warriors in three meetings.

James Wood (15-9) will travel to No. 1 Millbrook (17-4) for a semifinal match on Wednesday.

The Colonels recorded six of their 11 aces in the first set — which ended with a 10-0 run — and had five players record between five and eight kills in knocking off Sherando (9-11).

“We really served well tonight,” James Wood coach P.W. Hillyard said. “We put some pressure on their serve-receive, and they weren’t able to get in system. That’s been our game plan all year, and we really did a good job tonight.

“We spread out our attacks as well. Jess Putnam’s been our go-to person all year long. She had a really good game, but she didn’t get the kills she’s been getting because everyone else stepped up.”

Putnam’s 265 kills heading into the Colonels’ regular-season finale against Fauquier were more than twice the amount of any other James Wood player.

As Hillyard pointed out, Putnam had a strong performance. She had 10 digs and five kills, including a scorching spike down the middle on the final point of the match. But the Colonels were able to win the first set without needing a kill from the 5-foot-10 senior hitter.

“I’m really proud of all our players,” said senior hitter Morgan Biggs (six kills, three solo blocks). “Being able to control the ball to set that many people, and those hitters to get that many kills in different spots, that just shows we really came out and controlled our side of the net.”

After losing 3-0 in each of their first five matches against Winchester-Frederick County schools, Sherando extended Handley to the limit in a 3-2 defeat on Friday.

Warriors coach James Minney said senior outside hitter Rachel Burton returned in that match after missing a few weeks because of a foot injury. Minney said libero Kaylee Bryant missed six weeks earlier this year with an ankle sprain and middle hitter Gabrielle Bauer also missed time.

Sherando had some things going for it, but the Warriors faltered midway through the first set and second set (James Wood went on a 11-1 run after trailing 12-10 in the second). In the third, the Colonels jumped out to a 7-2 lead, then took full control with an 8-1 run that put them up 21-8.

“I thought we’d come in and play better. I really thought we’d come in and make it competitive. ... We just didn’t have the drive, just didn’t show the emotions,” said Minney, who added later that his team showed a lot of energy before the match. “We tried everything we could to build it up and do something, but just didn’t play well.”

Junior Taylor Robinson (eight kills, three aces) set the tone for James Wood’s strong serving performance, recording three aces in a 4-0 run to give the Colonels the lead for good in the first set at 6-4.

Sherando kept itself within striking distance and received a block from Mackenzie English (two kills, two blocks) to make it 15-11.

But a cross-court kill from freshman Kristyna Van Sickler (seven kills), kicked off a 10-0 run that was served out by Kate Poppo, who had one of her three aces during the stretch.

Biggs had three kills — two off Sherando returns — and a block to end the set during the 10-0 run, and Robinson also had a kill.

James Wood displayed some excellent hitting to rally in the second set against Sherando, but some mishandled touches on the part of the Warriors also hurt them.

“The number of double-contacts was unbelievable,” said Minney, whose team was called for three after James Wood took a 21-14 lead in the second set. “We had to have 15 doubles at least, and that’s 15 points you give away.

“We just didn’t focus. Defensively, passing, serve-receive, came out really poor to start with, and we never really recovered.”

Minney gave credit to James Wood for how well and how hard the Colonels hit to make things more difficult for his team though. Whether the Colonels were serving or on the attack, James Wood got the job done.

Now the Colonels will get another crack at Millbrook in hopes of keeping their season alive. The Pioneers won both previous matches, but they each went five sets.

“We’re excited, and we’re ready,” Biggs said.

Hillyard said that Yeakley Pullen, the team leader in digs who has not played in the team’s last two matches, will not play the rest of the season because of a medical issue.

“She is one of the toughest players I’ve ever coached probably with what she was able to do on the floor with the situation that she had,” Hillyard said. “She’s getting healthy.”

Hanna Plasters (18 assists), Katie Lever (10 assists) and Gillian Kleiderlein (five kills) also led James Wood. Liz Dolsen added four kills for Sherando.

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