Colonels sweep Sherando in volleyball

By JERRY HOLSWORTH | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — James Wood got points from 11 different players to sweep Sherando 25-17, 25-17, 25-10 in a Northwestern District girls’ volleyball match at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

In each of the sets the Colonels slowly, but steadily, built a lead with superb play at the net, at the service line and on defense. The Warriors had their moments, but Wood’s relentless attack proved too much.

“I was really proud of how we came out and played tonight,” Wood coach P.W. Hillyard said. “We had a chance to get a lot of kids in the match, and they all played well.”

James Wood improved to 13-3 overall and 6-3 in the Class 4 Northwestern District play (third place), while fifth-place Sherando is now 8-8, 3-6.

After taking the lead in the opening set on a kill by Morgan Biggs, Wood got kills from Jessica Putnam, Gillian Kleiderlein, and Kristyna Van Sickler to pull ahead 6-2. The Warriors didn’t help themselves with five service errors during the set, two of which in the early exchanges allowed the Colonels to expand their lead to 9-4.

“All of our players work hard in practice,” Hillyard said. “They deserve playing time, but sometimes it’s not possible to get them in there as much as they want. We have a lot of players that are making a contribution to our team, and it was great to see the scoring get spread around a little more tonight than it usually is.”

Another pair of service errors by Sherando and back-to-back aces by Kate Poppo put Wood up 22-11. The Warriors, however, fought back and narrowed the Colonels’ lead to 24-17 before Biggs ended the set with a kill. The Colonel senior had four kills and a block to lead Wood during the opening set.

“I thought we played really well tonight,” Biggs said. “We played with a lot of energy. I thought we controlled the match from the very beginning.”

A kill by Putnam and a pair of aces by Yeakley Pullen put Wood up 4-1 early in the second set, and a kill and a block by Ryenne Terenzi followed by another kill from Taylor Robinson expanded the Colonel lead to 8-2.

Sherando cut Wood’s lead to 16-10 on a kill by Elizabeth Dolsen, but it wasn’t nearly enough to slow down the Colonels. A pair of kills by Addison Rathel, and kills by Van Sickler and Putnam finished off the Warriors.

Putnam scored on five kills to lead Wood, but Taylor Robinson wasn’t far behind with four kills and a block during the second set. Putnam also played a key role scoring on three aces.

The final set was the most lopsided of the match as Wood jumped ahead 5-2 thanks to three aces by Van Sickler and never looked back. Aces were the key to the Colonels’ dominance in the set. Wood totaled 10, including five by Van Sickler, who used her last one to clinch the set and complete the sweep.

“This was a big win for us,” Biggs said. “We’re heading towards the end of the season and wins at this time of year are big.”

Wood has several players who made important contributions in the win. Putnam led the way with 11 kills and three aces. Biggs wasn’t far behind with six kills, two blocks, and an ace. In addition to her five aces, Van Sickler hammered home a pair of kills for the Colonels.

Robinson added four kills, a block and an ace for Wood, and libero Kate Poppo chipped in with three aces.

“We struggled from the very beginning, and we were never really in this one,” Warrior coach James Minney said. “We’ve struggled all season, though. There were some positives out there though, and we just have to move on and learn from this.”

Sherando was led by Dolsen, who had eight kills and a block. Mackenzie English scored on five kills and two blocks for the Warriors.

“We’ll keep working hard for the tournament.” Minney said. “Our goal now is to see if [we] can upset someone in the tournament, and knock them off. That will, I hope, be the highlight of our season and something to build on for next year.”