Briar Woods Rallies Past Colonels Volleyball 3-1

Posted: September 24, 2013
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Briar Woods had to regroup fast.

Facing James Wood for a second time this season, the Falcons could only watch in amazement as the Colonels came out with plenty of energy and effort to dominate the first set Monday night and gain momentum in the non-district volleyball match.

To their credit, the Falcons didn’t wilt. They settled into a more consistent attack and picked their spots to hammer away at the Colonels for the remainder of the match.

Especially effective around the net with quicks or with the block, Briar Woods rallied back for a 3-1 (16-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-21) victory at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium to complete a season-sweep of James Wood.

The Falcons (7-1) had plenty of options out of their attack and different ways to bring it. Whether it was sophomore outside Lauren Twitty (18 kills) bringing power, junior middle Lauren Mooney (10 kills, 10 total blocks) owning free balls, or junior setter Taylor van der Biezen (43 assists) in control of the offense, Briar Woods found a way to thrive as it went along.

“I think we left our game back on the bus that first [set],” said Briar Woods coach Marsha Hermes. “We had to warm up a little bit, and that tends to happen for us when we’re on the road, unfortunately. But James Wood came with fire. They’re a very good squad.”

Since the first meeting, also a win in four sets for the Falcons, the Colonels (9-3) have tweaked their offense and designed more ways for junior setter/outside Ashley Hillyard to get more opportunities to be involved in the attack besides setting it up.

After the Falcons opened the match with a kill from Emily O’Brien, the Colonels scored the next eight points and were on their way.

Senior Brandi Griffith served through the run (with two aces), and junior middle/outside Lindsey Painter began a productive night for herself with two of her three kills in the set.

The Colonels came out with 12 kills in the first set and never let up. The Falcons got to within 20-14 with a dink from Mooney, but James Wood freshman Leilani Burch (three kills in the set) got a crosscourt kill off a deflection to return sideout.

After an attack error by the Colonels, Hillyard had a kill and junior Lexi Copley had a soft serve to drop for an ace.

A kill by Twitty and a coverage error by the Colonels kept the set alive before James Wood sophomore Emma Montgomery closed it out with an ace to an open back-left corner.

Getting four kills and six assists from Hillyard keyed the first set win, and three kills apiece from Burch and Painter added support.

“We changed our offense from the last time we saw them,” James Wood coach Jill Couturiaux said. “We were running a 5-1 [offense] last time, and this time, we brought a 6-2 to [allow] Ashley Hillyard to hit some from the outside.

“The last time we saw them, statistically, we just really under performed. Almost every hitter was in the negative, our passing wasn’t where it needed to be. Tonight, most of our attackers were in the positive.”

Part of that new look was more court time for Ashley Hillyard’s younger sister — Megan. A freshman. Megan Hillyard (21 assists) joined her older sister (Ashley had 20 assists) for a good night of sharing sets for positive results through the attack.

Unfortunately for James Wood, Briar Woods found its attack beginning in the second set and rolled with it.

The Falcons opened with a 7-1 run, getting a solo block from Mooney and kills from senior Lindsay Boeger (nine kills in the win), junior Sydney Daniel (five kills), and Mooney to force the Colonels to use an early timeout.

Briar Woods coasted from there, even though James Wood twice got to within six (21-15 and 24-18) late.

A kill down the line from Twitty, who was just beginning to get into a groove in the second set, clinched it and evened the match at 1-1.

The third set was the only one the Colonels never really had a chance to win. The Falcons dominated behind the hitting of Twitty, who lowered the boom to pick up seven kills and send Briar Woods up a set.

While the Falcons would only record five aces in the match, Couturiaux felt Briar Woods gave her back row problems throughout with the serve and prevented the Colonels from getting a good attack at times.

Couturiaux said that one of her defensive specialists was under the weather and another, Copley, rolled an ankle in the second set and did not return.

James Wood scrambled often and kept several rallies going behind the hustle of junior Allie Iden, but the Falcons just kept up the attack until they could win most of the rallies over the last three sets.

“To not have those two girls in the back row passing for us was detrimental for our serve-receive,” Couturiaux said.

“They were a great team offensively. They’re a good competitor. I told my girls we’ll learn more from a loss than we will from a win. We’re going to work on this and continue to build as a team.”

James Wood didn’t go away without a fight. Painter ( team-high 18 kills) and Ashley Hillyard (16 kills) collected seven kills apiece in the fourth set and helped lead a late comeback by the Colonels that threatened to send the match to a fifth set.

Three kills by Painter helped James Wood go out to a 4-2 lead in the fourth set before Briar Woods chipped away to move out to an 8-6 lead after van der Biezen had a flip that fell for a kill.

A kill by Painter brought the Colonels within 10-9 before the Falcons went on a crucial 6-0 run to gain some room.

Briar Woods was ahead 20-12 and only a few points away from wrapping up its win when James Wood hit a final surge. Ashley Hillyard had consecutive kills, the Falcons had an attack error, and an ace from Montgomery trimmed the deficit to 20-16 and forced the Falcons to use a timeout for just the second time in the match.

Twitty answered with a kill, but Hillyard and Painter each had one and the Colonels trailed 21-18.

Painter would have two more kills, but James Wood could get no closer than three points. Mooney scored off a quick for match-point and the Falcons could breath a sigh of relief.

Briar Woods finished with a 51-43 advantage in kills, getting at least five from four different hitters.

Hermes, whose team’s only loss this season came against 2012 Division 4 state champion Loudoun County, was pleased her squad found different sources for attacks and created balance in the win.

“Our middles definitely stepped up and we were trying to establish an attack from the middle,” Hermes said. “Emily [O’Brien] and Lauren Mooney definitely did that for us tonight.”

Briar Woods has stepped up to Division 5 this season.