Colonel Volleyball Puts Away Pride Early In 3-0 Sweep In Conf. 21 Quarterfinals

Posted: November 4, 2014
By JERRY HOLSWORTH
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — After a very successful regular season, the James Wood volleyball team entered the Conference 21 Tournament with two goals in mind — qualify for the state tournament and beat powerhouse Loudoun County.

The Colonel took a big step towards those goals Monday by defeating a pesky Heritage team 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-23) in the tournament quarterfinals. The victory sets up a showdown tonight with Woodgrove, who swept Sherando Monday, in the semifinals.

James Wood (22-2) relied heavily on its seniors to secure the win, particularly in the final set which was extremely close. The first two sets, however, were a textbook example by the Colonels on how to completely take apart an opponent.

Senior hitters Katie Houser and Lindsay Painter got Wood off to a good start, scoring on three kills in the first four exchanges to put the Colonels up 4-0. Houser dominated play in the first set, scoring on six kills, one more than the entire Pride team.

“The seniors on our team know that it’s our last chance to get to states,” said senior Ashley Hillyard. “We really wanted to push through this match and get on to the next round. We knew a loss would end our season and we came out ready to fight for everything. There’s a lot of pressure, but we’re used to that.”

When Houser wasn’t scoring, Hillyard was getting the job done too. The senior setter scored on three kills and two aces in the opening set. On defense, sophomore Taylor Heishman and junior Emma Montgomery both scored on blocks for Wood.

The result was 25-13 blowout as sophomore Leilani Burch got the set-winner for the Colonels with a kill.

The second set was a repeat of the first one, with Wood jumping ahead early 5-0 and never trailing. Although Houser scored on three kills and a block during the set, the Colonel victory was more of a team effort with 10 different players scoring for Wood during the set.

But with Heritage facing elimination and the end of their season, the Pride came out for the third set with a new energy that caught Wood by surprise.

Brittany Cramer got things started for Heritage by scoring on an ace to begin the set. Cramer’s ace gave the Pride their first lead of the match. Wood quickly recovered to take the lead back at 5-4 after an ace by sophomore Megan Hillyard and a kill by Houser, but Heritage was far from ready to give up.

The Pride reacted to the Colonel resurgence with an ace by Skyla Richardson, a kill by Claire Lydon, and a block by Brittany Johnston to take back the lead 8-6.

From that point Heritage slowly built on its lead. Madeline Emerald led the way for the Pride, scoring on two kills and an ace, but she wasn’t the only Heritage player to make a contribution. Richardson had a kill, a block, and an ace, and Lydon had two kills as well.

“We told the girls that it was going to be a long night for us,” said Pride coach Allison Smith. “We trained hard and I asked them to give 100 percent all the way through. In the third set they came out and did everything that we asked them to do. I couldn’t be prouder of them. We’re a very young team, but their attitude and determination in that final set was really special.”

With the Pride leading 20-16, Wood coach Jill Couturiaux called a tim out and issued a challenge to her Colonel team.

“I told them that good teams find a way to win in situations like this,” Couturiaux said.

The short speech was all the Wood seniors needed, and they returned to the court and led a dramatic Colonel comeback.

“When coach Couturiaux told us that, ‘Good teams find a way to win,’ that really set us in the right frame of mind because we want to be that kind of team,” said seniorlibero Ally Iden. “When I was serving I was thinking that I have to do what I can to get the ball over the net and into play. We all were determined to do what was necessary to get the win.”

Houser led the comeback with an ace and a kill to narrow Heritage’s lead to 20-18. Ashley Hillyard followed two exchanges later with two kills to tie the score 21-21.

“I really don’t’ know what happened in the third set,” Painter said. “We got behind and struggled a little bit. We just tried to keep playing volleyball and reduce our errors, and it seemed to work out.”

After Burch scored on a kill, Iden scored on an ace to put Wood up 23-21.

The Pride, however, responded with a kill by Peyton Hersey, and when a Colonel return was short the score was tied 23-23. But two miscues by Heritage, one a short return and another that sailed long, gave the Colonels the set and the match.

“James Wood has a lot of talent and we knew it would be tough coming in here tonight,” Smith said. “They have Houser and the Hillyard sisters who are really outstanding players. They kept us off balance the whole night. It awesome to be able to play against talent like that.

“Wood has a very special team, and we wish them nothing but the best. I’d love to see them take the whole thing this year.”