Colonels Knock Off Cougars, Advance To Semis

Posted: November 13, 2013
By TOM LEISS
Special to The Winchester Star

SPOTSYLVANIA — Volleyball is often a sport filled with peaks and valleys, and getting the peaks at the right time can prove the difference between winning and losing.

On Tuesday night at Courtland High School, the fifth-seeded James Wood Colonels hit a peak at the perfect time en route to defeating the fourth-seeded Cougars 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-23, 25-17) in the 4A North Region quarterfinals.

After hanging on to win the third set (25-23) and take a 2-1 lead, James Wood (23-4) rallied around a debated call — the official ruled that the basketball hoop cables interfered with the Cougars’ opportunity to play a ball — that allowed Courtland to replay a point with the fourth set tied 6-6.

The Colonels followed that sequence up with a big kill from junior Ashley Hillyard and won five straight points on Abbye Prelip’s serve to take an 11-6 lead. Shortly after that run, Hillyard used her own strong serving to help push the lead to 15-7 and the Cougars would never recover from there.

“I was fired up afterwards and I think the rest of the team was too because right after it we got a big kill and then we went pretty well from there,” said Hillyard about not letting the controversial call that kicked off the decisive run in the fourth set derail them.

James Wood coach Jill Couturiaux said Hillyard’s leadership has been a key for her squad all season.

“She leads verbally and she leads through her actions,” said Couturiaux, who also praised the junior for how she has excelled with a midseason position change from setter to outside hitter. “Tonight she had a tremendous night on offense with 20 kills and only two hitting errors. To step into the shoes of an outside hitter the way that she’s done, especially this late in the season … We can’t ask anything more from her.”

Hillyard hasn’t totally forgotten her setting ways though, as she also totaled 20 assists in the win. Lindsey Painter also stood out for the Colonels with 20 kills, while fellow junior Ally Iden had 19 digs.

The first set started off back and forth and was tied 9-9 before James Wood began to take control, led by some strong kills from its front line, as it pulled away for a 25-16 win.

The second set mirrored the first, but with the rolls reversed as the Cougars (24-2) eventually pulled ahead for a 25-19 win, leveling the match at 1-1.

James Wood came out fast in the third set looking to take control of the match. The Colonels built an 8-2 lead before Courtland started to fight back. The Cougars slowly got back within reach with good serving from Madison Caldwell, tying the set 10-10.

The two teams traded punches with James Wood pulling ahead by four points several times only to see Courtland fight back to within 24-23. However, the Colonels won the next point on an error by the Cougars to pull ahead 2-1.

From there the momentum was all on James Wood’s side as it advanced to the region semifinals, where it will travel to take on top-seeded Salem on Thursday. The winner will advance to the region championship on Saturday and also earn a berth in the state tournament.

“I thought we controlled the ball well and I thought our outsides did a good job of putting the ball away,” Couturiaux said. “I feel like our game has been defense all year, so it’s nice to combine strong defense with an aggressive offense.”

Hillyard agreed and said she’s looking forward to obtaining another peak in the team’s playoff journey on Thursday.

“I definitely thought that we came out strong and were excited for this game being that it was the first regional game,” Hillyard said. “We’re playing Salem, which I don’t really know much about, but it’s a long trip and we’re hoping to do really well.”