Wood Volleyball Handles Early Test Against Falcons

Posted: September 5, 2014
By ROBERT STOCKS
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — In a match that had a postseason-like atmosphere, there was no doubt James Wood wanted to see how it measured up against Briar Woods in Thursday night’s non-district volleyball match.

The Falcons entered the match with a 1-1 record and their only loss — a 3-1 setback — came against two-time defending 4A state champ Loudoun County.

So it’s only natural for the Colonels to want to gauge where they stand based on their performance against Briar Woods.

And with a versatile front line and a solid back-row defense led by senior libero Ally Iden, the Colonels survived two tight sets — winning both 26-24 — before closing out the Falcons 25-16 for a 3-0 sweep in front of a sizeable James Wood crowd that filled most of the home bleachers at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

“It’s a huge gauge because Loudoun County just beat them in four [games] last week, so for us to come in and beat them in three that’s a good measure for us when it comes to comparing ourselves to Loudoun County,” said James Wood coach Jill Couturiaux, whose team reached the 4A state semifinals last season. “Obviously, [the Loudoun County match on Oct. 28 in Leesburg] is at the end of the season but they’re always in the back of our minds.”

The Colonels (3-0) got contributions from just about every player that checked into the match.

Senior Katie Houser led the way with a match-high 13 kills, and four other James Wood players had at least two kills.

The Colonels needed to dig deep in the first set, surviving eight ties and a set point after Briar Woods senior Sydney Daniel’s kill put the Falcons ahead 24-23.

After a James Wood timeout, Houser answered with a kill that was blocked out of bounds by the Falcons.

A net violation on the Falcons gave the Colonels set point, and senior Ashley Hillyard deftly tipped the ball over the Falcons’ front line to clinch the first set 26-24.

Four different James Wood players had kills in the opening set, and the Colonels only had two hitting errors that resulted in points for Briar Woods.

“We don’t want to be a one-dimensional team and we want to always have our opponents figuring out our next move as opposed to always knowing where the ball is going to go,” Couturiaux said. “It’s important for us to spread out our offense which is the nice thing about running a 6-2 offense because we always have the option of three attackers.”

And that variety of options on the attack helped the Colonels overcome an early 4-0 deficit to Briar Woods in the second set.

Daniel’s kill put Briar Woods ahead 6-3, but Ashley Hillyard answered with a pair of kills along with a Falcons’ hitting error to tie it.

Two aces from Houser, followed by a kill from senior Lindsay Painter, put James Wood ahead 9-6. The Colonels led by as many as five when Houser’s kill pushed the advantage to 17-12, forcing a Briar Woods’ timeout.

The Colonels kept that margin the rest of the way, but the Falcons buckled down after an errant hit gave James Wood set point with a 24-20 lead.

Briar Woods capitalized on an errant hit and then a net violation on the Colonels to cut the lead in half. The Falcons fended off two more set points after a Riley Garrison block was followed by a tip by Briar Woods’ Jasmine Ellison that tied the score at 24.

But a service error by the Falcons gave James Wood its fifth set point, and an errant hit by Briar Woods gave the Colonels the second set 26-24.

“I think James Wood’s a really good team and they got some momentum going, but we made some mistakes at critical times unfortunately,” said Briar Woods coach Marsha Hermes. “We had some holes in our block. We definitely started adjusting and frustrated their hitters a lot — which is the sign of a good team — so I’m proud of the way we played. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t roll our way tonight, but that’s OK.”

Facing a 2-0 deficit, Briar Woods led early in the third set after Garrison made one of her match-high seven blocks to put the Falcons ahead 4-3. But back-to-back hitting errors by the Falcons, followed by a kill from Houser, put the Colonels ahead for good.

Briar Woods cut the deficit down to one after junior Lauren Twitty’s kill made it 10-9, but the Falcons never got any closer than that.

The Colonels’ front line — Painter (seven kills), Ashley Hillyard (six kills and a block), Taylor Heishman (two kills and four blocks) and Leilani Burch (two kills) — all chipped in with points to help James Wood pull away in the third set.

Ashley Hillyard ended a long rally that featured big hits and defensive scrambles on both sides by faking a set and then dumping the ball past Briar Woods’ front row to stake the Colonels to an 18-13 lead.

James Wood’s lead never dipped below five the rest of the way en route to a 25-16 third-set win.

Iden (a team-best 22 digs) and setter Megan Hillyard led the way with 13 assists.

“We have a really strong offense and an even stronger defense,” said Houser, the Colonels senior standout who missed last season with a leg injury and has already given a verbal commitment to play at the University of Notre Dame next fall. “It’s nice that our setter can fling the ball to the right side.”

Iden said scouting Briar Woods helped the team prepare and she credited her teammates for battling through the first two competitive sets.

“We’re definitely working on being mentally tough, especially when the sets are tight and we have to push through,” Iden said. “Each member of our team contributes something special.”

Couturiaux said what really made the victory special was the fact that her team played so well not only on attack, but also on defense, facing Briar Wood’s solid front line led by Daniel, Twitty (nine kills apiece) and Garrison (seven blocks).

“The offense gets the glory a lot of times for things they do on the front line, but without our defense we wouldn’t have gotten this win tonight,” Couturiaux said. “Ally plays tremendous defense, and Savannah Yost had a lot of really great digs for us. She’s kind of like the unsung hero of this team. She doesn’t get any glory, but she serves well, passes well and plays good defense. Those are three skills you must have in this game and she comes up big for us a lot.”

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