James Wood powers past Eagles in three straight games for win

By RICK KOZLOWSKI/Journal sports writer

HEDGESVILLE - James Wood, Va., needed a bit of a jumpstart.

It came from the jump serve of Emily Shannon.

Trailing by four points in the opening game when she stepped to the service line for the first time, she ended her stint with the score tied.

More importantly, she turned the tide in her team's favor, and the undefeated Colonels went on to defeat undersized Hedgesville in three games (25-32, 25-18, 25-21).

"We definitely needed something to get on a roll," James Wood coach Jill Lester said. "We kind of fell into a comfort zone and started to play our game."

The extra-high toss and the jump serve sent the ball top-spinning hard over the net, and Hedgesville never even touched Shannon's first three serves. Shannon's fourth delivery went unreturned and the fifth resulted in a scoring block by Carly Mullin.

The Colonels got on a similar run later in the game with Eleanor Kent doing her best impression of Shannon and accounting for seven points at the service line.

James Wood went from trailing 20-16 to leading 23-21.

"I always tell my girls the importance of the serve," Lester said. "They're all jump-floaters. I want us to put pressure on the other team's ability to pass, so that they struggle to get it to the hitters." The Eagles struggled with returns throughout the evening.

"We just did not adjust," Hedgesville interim coach Susan Davis said.

"The first game, they made a number of unforced errors and we took advantage. We reciprocated with an equal amount. Unfortunately, ours were at the end."

The Eagles closed to within 24-23 on Ellen Sasssaman's kill, but Danielle Hoffmaster's spike landed in the net to end the game.

"We were flat-footed tonight," Davis said. "And they jumped. They had half a hand above the net every time they jumped."

Hedgesville faced a similar predicament in the second game when the Colonels jumped out to a 4-1 lead as Megan Crabtree's first two serves didn't come back across the net and Hannah Tierney scored a kill.

James Wood stayed comfortably ahead but went on a run, starting with Tiffany Thomas' kill to get a sideout, and Kelly Rudy scored three points at the service line, bringing the Eagles to within 18-15.

A rotation violation accounted for the first point, Lauren Hockberry buried a set and the Colonels suffered a mishit before Shannon drilled one to return serve.

The teams traded points, but at 20-18, Cady Schaffer finished the gamewith three aces, a kill by Tierney and a misplay by the Eagles.

"A lot of these girls don't have (much) game experience," Davis said.

Hedgesville led early in the third game, pushing ahead 6-4 on a pair of misplays by James Wood and a non-returnable serve by Hockenberry.

But Shaffer's ace on her first serve made it 9-9, then Mullin managed a kill, Hedgesville misplayed a hit and Tierney smacked a passing shot right back to the ground. Hockenberry's kill returned serve, but the 12-10 deficit Hedgesville faced at that point never could be overcome.

"When we play teams out of state, we're not sure how they play," Lester said. "We knew Hedgesville would be a solid team.

"They definitely challenged us tonight."

- Rick Kozlowski can be reached at (304) 263-3381, ext 116 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.