Posted: November 12, 2012
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

LEESBURG — Many teams have come to state Group AA powerhouse Loudoun County and got dispatched quickly in three sets.

The James Wood volleyball team had no plans to be grouped in with all these other teams, taking the challenge of trying to keep up with the Raiders — and perhaps even sneaking in a winning set or two — during Saturday night’s Region II final

Busting out to a pair of seven-point leads early on, James Wood played smoothly and with plenty of energy to lead throughout the first set and come away with a ton of momentum in a a five-point win.

The Colonels were on a roll and the Raiders were faced with a rare early deficit. If Loudoun County could not get more of a consistent attack, it faced being in deep trouble against a team that was fresh off a five-set win over another Dulles District heavyweight in Potomac Falls.
The Raiders responded like expected, dashing out to a big lead in the second set and never trailed to even the match. Loudoun County then held off just about every James Wood rally from there and earned the program’s seventh straight Region II title with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-17) win in front of a near capacity crowd at Loudoun County High School.

Senior outside Taylor Huewe had 14 kills, junior outside Maggie Phillips had 12 kills, three aces, and 15 digs, senior setter Megan Fox had 40 assists and three aces, and junior middle Jane Feddersen added nine kills and three total blocks to help Loudoun County (25-1) win its 15th straight match and 65th straight (including Dulles District competition) against Region II foes.

The Raiders will continue their quest for a fifth state championship in six seasons on Tuesday (7 p.m.) when they host Region I runner-up New Kent (22-7).

The Colonels (22-4), who are in the state playoffs for the first time since 2002, will hit the road and travel to Region I champion Jamestown (27-2) Tuesday at 7. The Eagles were the state runners-up last season, losing to Cave Spring in three sets in the final.

Since they know a little something about having to play hard to point 25 each set, James Wood came out and took the attack to Loudoun County’s tall and talented front line, looking to hit with precision through or around the block. The Colonels have been tested often of late (each of their previous three wins had been won in five sets) and they knew a first-set win would encourage them and get them ready for a possible drag-out affair to compete for a win against the Raiders.

Though it did not work out in the end, at least James Wood’s players could take comfort in knowing that Loudoun County knew they were there.

“We had so much intensity and we were just aggressive the whole match,” James Wood senior libero Kelby Jackson (15 digs) said. “We really wanted to win our first set and just come out strong. And we did.

“The first set, [Loudoun County] was probably a little shook and they probably were like ‘What just happened?’ Then, after that, I think they were on their game.”

James Wood seemed to feed off the roar of its crowd (which filled their side of the bleachers), moving out to a 7-2 lead behind sophomore Katie Houser’s three kills and an ace. The lead went to 10-3 and forced the Raiders to use a timeout, then 11-4 after senior outside Tarah Wampler lowered a kill.

While Houser, the Northwestern District Player of the Year, continued to dominate with her attacks (she had six of her match-best 16 kills and two of her three blocks in the opening set), Loudoun County steadily chipped away until a 6-2 run tied the set at 16-16.

A great rally by the two teams was capped when Loudoun County’s 6-foot-2 senior middle Rachel Roberts blocked an attack by Houser for the 16th point, but the Colonels answered on the next exchange with a kill by Wampler (she had three of her six kills in the set) to the back right corner.

The sideout brought a six-point run for James Wood, as it capitalized on four straight attack errors by Loudoun County to go up 22-16.

The Raiders got within three points twice, but the Colonels closed the first set with gusto, with Wampler firing off a kill and Houser sending an unreturnable laser to the back row.

“They had great ball control and they were really placing the [attack] around the block,” Loudoun County coach Jenica Brown said. “I think our girls were looking for specific things, and they just weren’t watching and seeing around the block. Just regular basics and seeing what the other team was going to do.”

Loudoun County, which has lost only 10 sets all season, actually had one more kill than James Wood in the first set, but Brown knew that her hitters had to come up with something more when they got a set to start to gain control of the match.

“We’re working on our consistency,” Brown said. “It’s not only working your options, but it’s working with your options so they don’t know where you’re going with the [attack]. The biggest issue is people are starting to know where we’re going with hits before we set there.”

A seven-point run early in the second set had the Raiders ahead 7-1, and they kept producing mini-runs each time the Colonels got close. James Wood had its offense stall for most of the set (only four kills), but Houser dropped a spike late to cut the deficit to five. Fox then sent a quick flip over for sideout and Huewe collected a kill to send the lead back to seven. A combined block from Roberts and Phillips capped a 5-1 run to close the set and even the match at a set apiece.

James Wood continued to battle, trading points through 14 exchanges to start the third set. Still, Loudoun County seized momentum in a big way to score eight of the next nine points, getting two kills from Phillips and two aces from Fox to move out to a 15-8 lead and force a James Wood timeout. The Colonels again kept it close, getting to within four points several times before three straight kills (two from Heuwe) made it 20-13 Loudoun County. The Raiders pulled through from there to go up a set.

“They were always swinging, and we always had to make sure we were blocking and our defense was on,” Wampler said. “I just think they brought it [a little better].”

What Loudoun County did with its serve went a long way in winning the match, James Wood coach Jill Couturiuax felt. The Raiders averaged just two aces a set, but being able to move things around from the service line and forcing tough passes limited what the Colonels could do at times.

“We struggled to pass in serve-receive,” Couturiuax said. “That’s the most aggressive serving team we’ve faced all year. They’re the number one seeded team going into the state tournament, so it at least felt good to take that first set and hang with them for a little while.”

Getting five kills from co-Dulles District Player of the Year Huewe in the third set win provided a huge lift, and the Raiders were also able to counter James Wood’s attacks a little better with terrific hustle from their back row. Senior first team all-Dulles pick Kelsey Slack (match-best 25 digs) was huge in getting in position to keep balls in play and passes up to the setter, and the Colonels were held without an ace and only eight kills in the set.

Meanwhile, Loudoun County had 12 kills (it would have at least 10 in each set and finished with 45 as a team), four aces, and only four attack errors, getting the kind of edge it needed to gain control of the match.

“It was hard to grab momentum from them because they just kept coming back with the aggressive serving,” Jackson said. “They just kept getting through our blocker and getting a kill. But overall, I feel like we fought hard. They’re a great team.

“It definitely was a good mix-up [that they had] with their game. Just how they play off the others, like it’s a faster pace. It’s almost more of a mature game, and it’s great to play them because Tuesday when we play Jamestown, they’re going to be doing [attacks] just as hard. We’ll know what to expect this time.”

With the fourth set coming up, James Wood had to have a feeling it still had a chance. The Colonels had, after all, rallied from a set down to win the fourth set in the semifinal round against Potomac Falls and eventually win the match to get to the region final.

Getting back to their strengths, the Colonels overcame an early three-point deficit by being more active at the net. A kill by sophomore opposite/setter Ashley Hillyard (three kills, team-best 11 assists) was followed by a solo block from senior middle Catherine Legge. After a Phillips’ kill for the Raiders, Legge and Hillyard shared a block, and senior middle Erica Hepner got a tip to fall to cut Loudoun County’s lead to 8-7. The teams traded kills for a few exchanges, and Hepner’s kill brought James Wood back to a point again at 10-9.

“I thought we blocked really well most of the match,” Couturiuax said. “I thought Catherine Legge did a nice job. [Six total] blocks? That’s a lot, especially in four sets.”

A missed serve by the Colonels gave Loudoun County a break, and the Raiders moved out to a 14-9 lead off of a three-point service run (with an ace) from Phillips. James Wood collected just two more kills the remainder of the set, though back-to-back solo blocks late from Legge and Hepner gave the team some fleeting hope, down five. But Loudoun County had what it took to seal the outcome, getting match-point with a kill from Fedderson off a quick to wrap it up.

“Our [four] seniors really lead us and we have seven or eight juniors that really pull through with the consistency of our lineup,” Brown said.

The Colonels finished with 31 kills, with two players (Houser and Wampler) combining for 22. Six players did contribute at least one block, and two others, Houser (with 12 digs) and Emilee Payne (11 digs), helped the defense to keep a number of rallies going while playing from the back row.

Now, the focus will be on trying to defeat state playoff regular Jamestown, which has defeated a common opponent of James Wood’s (Musselman, W.Va.) this season.

“I’m definitely excited,” said Jackson, a third-year member of the varsity and two-time first-team all-Northwestern District selection. “It’s humbling to be on this team. Hopefully we’ll see Loudoun County again. That would be so cool.”