Raiders Sweep Wood In 4A North Volleyball Final

Posted: November 18, 2013
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

LEESBURG — By now, the James Wood volleyball team knows the experience well of playing a powerhouse like the one Loudoun County puts on the floor.

The teams have met four times over the last three seasons, and the Colonels felt the brunt of the Raiders’ attack for the second time in a little over a week on Saturday night in the 4A North Region Final at Loudoun County High School.

Loudoun County blitzed James Wood 3-0 (25-12, 25-10, 25-12) in just 55 minutes to capture the program’s eighth straight regional title.

Two years ago, the Colonels saw their season end in the former Region II semifinals to Loudoun County. James Wood earned its first state berth in 10 years last fall as the region runner-up (losing in four sets) to the Raiders, and Loudoun County swept the Colonels on Nov. 7 (winning at 3, 10, and 16) on its way to the first-ever Conference 21 championship.

The Colonels, as a group, know they can take a lot from any meeting they have with an established team like Loudoun County. The Raiders (29-0) have lost just one set all season (that came back in early September to 5A Briar Woods) and they have a 47-match winning streak heading into Thursday’s state semifinal against Grafton in Richmond.

“They’re definitely a big threat and everything they hit over the net is hard to get up,” said James Wood junior Ashley Hillyard, who had three kills, eight assists, eight digs, and three aces in the loss. “It’s definitely a learning experience every time we play them. It makes you a better team, definitely, every time you come out and try as hard as you can.”

For James Wood coach Jill Couturiaux, she was just glad her team competed a little better this time, even though the result was still the same.

“We really had nothing to lose, and anything can happen,” said Couturiaux, who will lead James Wood back to the state tournament for a second consecutive season when the Colonels (24-5) face Jamestown in the other 4A semifinal on Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. “I mean, any team can be off. Any team in high school volleyball can be beaten.

“I did [see improvements]. I think last time we just came in here and watched them play volleyball. I think we were kind of in awe of their ability. We hadn’t seen a team like Loudoun all year. It’s a humbling experience just to have the opportunity to compete against them. They’re every bit as strong defensively as they are offensively. And you know, no one has pushed us this season the way they have and no one has challenged us this season the way they have.”

As it has done for so many years, Loudoun County had a wealth of attackers to go to, a sound defense that passed consistently to the setter, and a strong drive not to let down as it seeks to win a sixth state championship in seven seasons in Richmond this week.

Five players recorded at least two kills apiece in the first set for Loudoun County, and James Wood quickly found itself down 15-5 after the Raiders got a kill from junior Rachel Voketaitis. James Wood then put together its best run of the match, reeling off six straight points to close the gap to 15-11.

The Colonels got their first kill of the match off a converted free-ball from senior Brandi Griffith (two kills, eight digs), and junior Lindsey Painter (team-best nine kills in the loss) sent a kill down the line. The Raiders had an error at the net, Hillyard got an ace off let, freshman Taylor Heishman (two kills, two total blocks) found a spot in the left-corner for a kill, and Painter won another free-ball to bring James Wood to within four.

A missed serve by the Colonels forced sideout, and Loudoun County had what it took from there to close out strong. The Raiders went on an 8-0 run to finish the first set and move ahead 1-0 in the match.

To start the second set, the Colonels got a brief ray of hope when Painter lowered the boom off a free-ball and Hillyard got an ace off the only serve-receive error by Loudoun County’s back row for the entire match. But back-to-back kills from sophomore Taylor Borup and another from 4A North Region Player of the Year and senior Maggie Phillips got the Raiders started on a six-point run. The Colonels got as close as four before the Raiders began to control the net with their block and won another set going away.

With hitters like Borup (match-best 10 kills), Phillips (eight kills, three total blocks, three aces, 11 digs), and senior Jane Feddersen (eight kills, three total blocks) to count on, Loudoun County coach Jenica Brown was pleased her team took care of business.

“I think James Wood played more like a team tonight,” Brown said. “They played well and [exposed] some of our weaknesses they saw from playing us last time.”

The third set got out of hand quickly, as the Raiders opened an 11-1 lead and coasted. Painter had four kills in the set for James Wood, but Borup topped that with five to lead another Loudoun County attack that had double-digit totals in kills in all three sets.

Loudoun County finished the match with 34 kills (with just five attack errors), 14 shared blocks, another solid game from its back row (senior Kelsey Slack led the way with a match-best 21 digs), and solid setting from senior Mandy Powers (19 assists).

A week that saw the Colonels travel far to defeat Courtland (in four sets) in the region quarterfinals on Tuesday and Salem (in four sets) on Thursday has left plenty of excitement for James Wood's players heading into this week’s state tournament.

“It’s really great to come out and do a little better than we did last year,” Hillyard said. “Hopefully we’ll go on and play just as well Thursday as we did this past week. It’s making us more determined and we’re ready to play.”

The Colonels have built plenty of success throughout the season, especially after losing top returning hitter Katie Houser to a preseason injury.

“I felt like last week we walked out of [Loudoun County] without our pride and dignity,” Courturiaux chuckled. “But the girls proved that being on the bus for five hours Tuesday and six hours Thursday that no one has taken that away from them. I couldn’t ask anymore from this ballclub. We had two starters from last season, Ashley and Ally [Iden], return to be on the court. We have two girls that have never hit from the outside before [this season]. We’ve got a freshman [Heishman] in the middle. We just continued to grow as a team as the season went on. I couldn’t be any more proud of where we’re at right now.”

Jamestown is a familiar foe, since it defeated James Wood 3-0 in the Group AA quarterfinals last season.