Colonels Blank Streaks In Volleyball

Posted: September 2, 2016
By ROBERT STOCKS
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Harrisonburg might have the nickname, but the only streaks in Thursday night’s Conference 21 West volleyball match belonged to James Wood.

The Colonels reeled off a lot of unanswered points in each set, cruising to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-11) sweep over the Blue Streaks at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

Junior Morgan Biggs and sophomore Kaitlyn Poppo had a team-high five aces apiece, and seniors Taylor Heishman and Leilani Burch led the Colonels with six kills each as James Wood (3-0, 1-0 conference) remained unbeaten.

While Biggs and Poppo led the way at the service line, the Colonels collectively picked apart Harrisonburg with their service game. Eight different Colonels had at least one ace as James Wood totaled 25 overall.

"Our serving — I think it was an all-around team effort," Biggs said. "Passing was very on tonight and it just helps us get in system. We’re always working on being aggressive, but also tipping spots and being smart about it."

Four early hitting errors by James Wood helped Harrisonburg (1-3, 0-1) take a 5-1 advantage in the opening set. The Colonels responded from there, reeling off nine straight points.

Ashanti Day had a pair of aces in the middle of the run, and Burch capped the outburst with a kill to give James Wood a 10-5 lead.

The Colonels’ all-around game gave the Blue Streaks problems as Wood pulled away from there.

Jessica Putnam had a pair of kills, and Elizabeth Salata and Poppo added aces to cap an 8-3 run that stretched the Colonels’ lead to 18-8, forcing Harrisonburg’s second timeout of the set.

The Blue Streaks never cut the deficit to less than nine from there as James Wood closed out the first set 25-13.

"We try to serve aggressively when possible," said James Wood first-year coach P.W. Hillyard. "In that first set we came out and gave them a lot of points early, and Ashanti gave us a really good run. Her serve was very tough."

While Day’s serving sparked the Colonels’ run in the opening set, her play at the net helped Wood take control in set two.

With James Wood ahead 12-9, the Colonels scored four straight on a service error by the Streaks followed by a block and a kill from Day. Salata capped the run with an ace to push the Colonels’ advantage to 16-9, forcing a timeout by Harrisonburg.

The Blue Streaks never cut Wood’s lead to less than five from there. Burch added a kill and an ace, Taylor Robinson and Gillian Kleiderlein had kills, and Poppo (who also led the team with seven digs) clinched the set with an ace.

"Our chemistry was working really well this evening," said Day, who had three kills, three aces and block. "Passing and setting were going really well, and our hits were really on.

"We’ve been working on our serving in practice, and just defense in general, that way we have more solid base and a stronger team overall."

The Colonels certainly showed their strength in set three.

Harrisonburg’s Rebecca Staton had a kill and teammate Athena Benton followed with an ace to put the Blue Streaks ahead 2-0, but James Wood grabbed the momentum quickly by reeling off nine straight points.

Robinson, Putnam and Heishman had kills, and Biggs tallied four aces to give the Colonels a commanding 9-2 lead.

Robinson reeled off three consecutive aces to push Wood’s lead to double digits at 13-3.

Harrisonburg’s Jessica Denton had back-to-back aces to trim the Colonels’ lead to 17-10, but that was as close as the Blue Streaks could get.

James Wood reeled off seven more points, including three aces by Megan Hillyard (a team-high 23 assists), to set up match point.

After an errant hit by the Colonels, James Wood senior Kara Norman closed it out, diving for a dig that dropped in between Harrisonburg players to end it.

Harrisonburg coach Hannah Bowman said the Blue Streaks have just five returning players on a roster of 14, so it’s tough going up against a veteran team like James Wood.

"Their serving was really good, and they were putting the ball where they wanted to for the most part," Bowman said. "They were keeping it away from our libero, who is our best passer, so they were spotting [well]. They hit well, and they’ve got a lot of strong hitters who can place the ball pretty well.

"We stayed really positive, which was really important to us. We’ve got a lot of new players, and we’re a really new team. We’ve got four freshmen and one sophomore, so we’re really new. We’re working well together and staying positive even when the game wasn’t going our way."

Denton led the Blue Streaks with four kills and a pair of aces, and Staton added two kills and a block.

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