Millbrook Volleyball Holds Off Colonels In Five-Sets

Posted: October 7, 2015
By ROBERT STOCKS
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Once Millbrook senior Taylor Linder’s kill sailed out of bounds off of James Wood junior Leilani Burch on match point, the Pioneers’ volleyball players jumped up and down screaming.

The loudest scream came from senior Imani Major, who dropped to one knee and let out one final yell following Millbrook’s 3-2 (25-14, 25-17, 19-25, 23-25, 15-11) Northwestern District victory over James Wood at Casey Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

For Major and the rest of the Pioneers, it marked their first taste of victory against Frederick County-rival James Wood during their varsity careers.

“It was really important because this was a team we’d been really looking forward to [playing] for a long time,” said Major, who had 18 kills and 23 digs in the Pioneers first win over James Wood since Oct. 20, 2011. “Coming in we knew we had to play our best and we knew that we couldn’t slack off how we had in previous games.

“Being able to come out on top against a team we had never beaten — at least during my career here at Millbrook — it’s such a great feeling.”

The Pioneers (13-1, 2-0 Northwestern) needed to dig deep after James Wood (9-4, 1-1) stormed back with wins in the third and fourth sets to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

Millbrook fought through seven ties in the fifth set, taking the lead after freshman Jordan Reid’s push put the Pioneers on top 11-10.

Junior middle hitter Emily Cleveland followed with a block on James Wood senior Emma Montgomery, and Linder added a kill to extend Millbrook’s lead to 13-10.

After a kill by James Wood sophomore Morgan Biggs, Linder closed out the match with back-to-back kills, setting off a loud celebration from the Pioneer players in the middle of the court.

“I think it shows that we really know how to dig deep, push hard and push through,” said Linder, who added 10 kills and 11 digs. “When the going gets tough, we just push through and we can do it. Since we have this win on our side — we have the confidence to go up against any team.”

Millbrook coach Carla Milton said her team did a nice job of keeping its composure in the final set.

“In five, it was close there but we played as a team and played aggressive,” said Milton, whose team’s only loss this season came came against 6A Battlefield at the Loudoun Valley Invitational on Sept 12. “We did the little things that I think made the difference in the match for us.”

The Pioneers, who have won five straight, certainly needed to dig deep after watching the Colonels fight back in sets three and four to even the match.

The fourth set featured 10 ties and three lead changes before Biggs’ kill broke the final deadlock, giving the Colonels a 23-22 advantage. Montgomery followed with a kill to give Wood set point, but Major answered with a kill to keep the Pioneers in it.

On the second set point, James Wood junior Megan Hillyard sealed it with a dump that found an open spot just beyond the Pioneers’ front row.

The Colonels, who have lost two in a row following last week’s loss to North Hagerstown (Md)., battled back after trailing throughout both of the first two sets.

James Wood overcame an early deficit in the third set and led 7-5 after a net violation on Major when she jousted with Hillyard for a ball that dropped right at the net. Major rolled her left ankle on the play and needed to be helped off the court.

From there, Millbrook made two consecutive hitting errors and James Wood senior Kirsten Mullin followed with an ace to put the Colonels ahead 10-5 that forced a Pioneer timeout.

By the time Major returned after getting her ankle taped, the Pioneers trailed 17-8 following an ace from Hillyard. The Pioneers never cut the deficit to less than five as the Colonels stayed alive in the third set.

“I think [Imani’s injury] threw us off and we just had to get focused again and pull through,” Linder said.

The Pioneers received points from five different players in the decisive fifth set, and Linder (three kills) and Major (three kills and a block) combined for seven of those.

For the match, Millbrook junior opposite Savanna Pearson added eight kills, junior setter Elizabeth Carroll added a team-high 21 assists, junior libero Emily Lowman finished with 17 digs and Reid chipped in with three aces.

“We got a lot from everybody,” said Milton, referring to her team’s production from several players. “Digs, sets, blocks — everybody put forth a really good effort tonight.

“[This win] really helps with our confidence. We want to get better everyday and I think this is a step in the right direction. We’ll enjoy it tonight but tomorrow when we get to practice it’s a new day and we’ve got to get ready for Woodgrove [a Conference 21A match] on Thursday.”

James Wood junior Taylor Heishman said her team must bounce back with a better effort when the Colonels face Millbrook in the rematch (which will also count in the conference standings) on Oct. 22.

“During the first two sets we realized we weren’t fighting as hard as we could,” said Heishman, who started out playing middle hitter in the first two sets but played outside hitter in the next three and finished with 10 kills. “During the middle sets we picked up the energy, knew what we had to do and we got it done. In the fifth set we just started off to slow.

“Next time we play them it’s going to be in our gym and it’s going to be our Dig Pink game and it’s going to be a big game. We’re going to have a lot of energy that game and we’re going to come out and play as hard as we can.”

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