Posted: November 9, 2012

By Robert Stocks

WINCHESTER — It was only fitting that the final point that sent James Wood’s volleyball team back to the Group AA state tournament for the first time in a decade came on a kill by Colonels sophomore Katie Houser.

Houser’s kill — her single-match record 35th of the night — sealed a hard-fought 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 13-25, 25-18, 15-10) win over Potomac Falls in the Region II semifinals and sent James Wood’s student section storming the court to celebrate the team’s biggest win since the Colonels advanced to the Region II championship in 2002.

James Wood (22-3) now travels to face top-seeded Loudoun County — a 3-0 winner over Handley in the other semifinal match — in Saturday night’s Region II finals match at 7 p.m. in Leesburg.

Houser — the Northwestern District Player of the Year — said it was great to earn a state berth on the team’s homecourt at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

“That’s everything we’ve wanted for the entire season,” said Houser, who also added a team-high 34 digs. “It was really awesome and it was cool to see the student body getting into it.”
There were three early ties in the fifth set before Tarah Wampler’s kill put the Colonels ahead for good at 6-5. Potomac Falls followed Wampler’s kill with a pair of hitting errors, forcing Panthers coach Linda Lachey-Helms to call a timeout with James Wood ahead 8-5.

The Panthers (19-6) cut the deficit back to one after a kill by Kayla Carlton and a block by Makaely Thomas.

On the next play, a net violation on James Wood was called by the chair referee but a replay was called after a conference with the ref on the opposite side of the net.

James Wood’s Ally Iden stretched the Colonels’ lead to three with an ace, and Erica Hepner’s kill — coming after a long rally that saw Potomac Falls setter Eileen Fauteux return an over-the-back shot from beyond the baseline — staked the Colonels to an 11-7 lead.

Potomac Falls answered with three straight points to cut the Colonels’ lead to one, but James Wood closed it out from there.

Houser’s kill forced Lachey-Helms to call timeout with the Colonels ahead 13-10.

After the break, the Panthers were called for a carry to set up match point and Houser ended it with a kill.

“These girls have proved numerous times — against Fauquier, Musselman [W.Va.] and Handley and Powhatan — when we’ve had our backs against the wall and pushed through to get the set win or match win, so we know what it’s like to fight back and stay aggressive,” said Colonel coach Jill Couturiuax. “We wanted to play to win and not be playing to not lose. I think that’s a tribute to our win tonight — just staying aggressive.”

It was Houser’s aggressive play at the net that shifted momentum with James Wood staring at a 2-1 deficit in the fourth set.

She had six kills in a 10-3 James Wood run to start the fourth set, and Ashley Hillyard and Tarah Wampler (16 kills) followed with back-to-back kills to stake the Colonels to an early 12-3 lead.

Potomac Falls rallied, chipping its way back after two errant hits by the Colonels and then kills by the Panthers’ Kayla Carlton, Jasmine Ellison, an ace by Patricia Mook and another kill by Makaely Thomas cut the deficit to 13-9.

Potomac Falls cut the deficit to 15-12 after an errant hit by the Colonels, but then the Panthers had two calls ruled out of bounds by the referees in between an errant hit by Thomas that stretched James Wood’s advantage back to 18-12.

The Panthers (19-6) were also called for a carry that kept James Wood’s margin at six points and then a kill was later called out of bounds that pushed the Colonels’ lead to 23-15. From there, Houser closed out the match with a kill followed by an ace to force the fifth and decisive set.

Lachey-Helms said she felt there were several calls that changed the momentum of the match, particularly when her team was ahead 2-1 in the fourth set.

“They had the refs on their team,” said a visibly-upset Lachey-Helms following the match. “When a match is this close and when it’s for [a state berth] and it’s the end of the season for some people — you just don’t do that to kids. You just don’t. It still could have been anybody’s game, but ... I’ve been around this a long time and I’ve never said this [following a match] in my life.”

The Panthers rallied to take the opening set from the Colonels, overcoming a six-point deficit (18-12) and then a late four-point deficit at 23-19. Both times Lachey-Helms called timeouts, and the Panthers responded each time, closing out the first set on a 6-0 run, including three straight blocks from Hailey Bahr that sealed a 25-23 win.

Couturiuax said her team responded well after dropping the opening set that saw the Colonels lead by as many as six but let a 23-22 advantage slip away.

“It was hard to lose that first set and we had the lead and [Potomac Falls] made two runs on us,” Couturiuax said. “We responded too late and it’s hard to hold a lead for that long and not get the win.”

James Wood’s back row, led by senior libero Kelby Jackson’s 16 digs, did a nice job handling a Potomac Falls’ height with eight players standing at least 5-foot-9.

Colonels senior Emilee Payne (34 assists) and Hillyard (22 assists) helped James Wood’s transition game with Houser and Wampler combining for 51 kills.

“It was a thrill to play them because they’re a top-notch team,” Jackson said. “You want to beat the best and play the best that you possibly can. Just coming out and going five and winning is the best thing in the world.

“Being a senior I never would have dreamed we’d come this far and I’m so proud that we are [going to states]. It’s been [10 years] since we’ve gone to state so it’s been a while.”

Carlton — the Dulles District Player of the Year — led the Panthers with 18 kills, and Bahr added a team-high six blocks.

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