Colonels storm back in fifth set to earn state berth

Robert Stocks The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Facing a 10-4 deficit in the fifth set against Heritage, James Wood’s volleyball team found itself five points from elimination in the 4A West Region semifinals on Thursday night.

But with a spot in the regional championship and a berth in the Group 4A state semifinals on the line, the Colonels rallied with an 11-1 run to take the fifth set 15-11 for a 3-2 victory over Heritage in the regional semifinal at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Colonels (22-2) advance to face four-time defending state champion Loudoun County (25-2), a 3-0 winner over Liberty Christian Academy in Thursday’s other regional semifinal, in the regional championship at Loudoun County High School in Leesburg at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

“They’ve never quit all year,” said James Wood first-year coach P.W. Hillyard. “They fight all the time, and that’s all we can ask them to do. It was a team win, and our girls believe in each other. We’ve got great senior leadership, but we’ve got great young kids as well. They all play their heart out all the time.”

Both teams showed a lot of heart in a see-saw semifinal that saw the Colonels escape with a 25-10, 26-24, 20-25, 26-28 and 15-11 victory.

Heritage jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fifth set and led 10-4 before James Wood battled back.

With sophomore Kaitlyn Poppo at the service line, James Wood reeled off five straight points. Heritage aided the Colonels with four straight errant hits before Colonels sophomore Jessica Putnam’s kill cut the Pride’s lead to 10-9.

Heritage was whistled for a lift, and then an errant hit by the Pride put the Colonels ahead 11-10.

After James Wood senior Ashanti Day and Heritage’s Erin Plowman traded kills, Putnam (12 kills and seven aces) followed with back-to-back kills to give the Colonels a 14-11 advantage.

On match point, James Wood senior Taylor Heishman’s kill capped the 11-1 run, sending the Colonel players jumping up and down while hugging each other in the middle of the court.

Colonels senior setter Megan Hillyard said a win was very much in doubt early in the final set.

“It was like terrifying for me because I thought my season was about to be over,” said Hillyard, who had a team-high 41 assists and 19 digs. “We had to fight for every point, and [Kaitlyn] Poppo stepped up, and I’m so proud of her and everyone.”

Poppo kept her serves in, helping the Colonels chip away while putting more pressure on the Pride with each point during the run.

“That’s by far the most hectic [match] I’ve ever [played],” Poppo said. “[Heritage] was really good, but we just kept going, and I don’t think we ever gave up.”

The Pride pulled out the fourth set that featured 17 ties and two set points for the Colonels.

Heritage had a pair of set points, but an errant hit on the Pride’s second set point evened the score for the 17th and final time at 26-all.

Senior middle hitter Skyla Richardson put Heritage back ahead 27-26 with one of her team-high 12 kills. On the Pride’s third set point, the Colonels were whistled for a net violation as Heritage closed out the fourth set 28-26 to even the match.

Richardson, a first team All-Conference 21 East selection, carried the Pride, tallying nine of her 12 kills in the third and fourth sets. She had six in the third set, including a pair to close out a 25-20 victory.

After falling behind 2-0 to the Colonels, Heritage coach Lindsey Hurt was proud of how her team fought back.

“One thing that we teach our girls is that it’s never over and it’s either you hit the floor or the ball hits the floor,” Hurt said. “We try to teach our kids how to stay mentally prepared for every situation, every scenario, every play and every point. I think they were super focused, and knew that they needed to do. They weren’t going to let up at any cost.”

The Colonels needed three set points to close out a 26-24 win in the second set, clinching it after a Heritage attack sailed long.

James Wood looked completely in control reeling off a pair of 7-0 runs to take a commanding 14-3 advantage in the opening set. Heritage never cut the Colonels’ 11-point advantage to less than nine before Wood pulled away for a quick 25-10 win in the opening set.

Junior Morgan Biggs — who played with a brace on her ankle and even exited the fifth set in obvious pain before returning after a few minutes — had three of her match-high 17 kills, and senior libero Leilani Burch (a team-best 20 digs) had five of her six aces in the opening set.

After such a convincing win in the opening set, P.W. Hillyard said his team began to press a bit and became a little passive.

“I thought at the end of the second set we started playing not to lose, and I thought it carried over into the third and fourth sets,” Hillyard said. “I thought we got really tight. In the fifth set, Kait Poppo did a great job serving to put a little bit of pressure back on them. We got a couple of kills there and got the momentum back.”

The victory sends the Colonels back to the state tournament for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

“Everyone thought after the seniors left after my sophomore year that we were done, and we were going to be bad for years,” Megan Hillyard said. “We had a bad junior year last year, so it was really important that we proved ourselves this year.”

The Colonels face Loudoun County on Saturday night, and both teams advance to the state tournament. Saturday’s winner will host 4A East Region runner-up Courtland in a 4A state semifinal match on Tuesday night, while the loser will travel to play in 4A East Region champ Jamestown in Tuesday’s other state semifinal.

The 4A state championship match will be at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center on Nov. 19.

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