Wood volleyball tops Sherando with strong finish

TEPHENS CITY — James Wood’s student fans took delight in chanting out Katey Matthews’ height on a few occasions when the 5-foot-3 senior rose at the net to deliver some of her unreturnable spikes in Tuesday’s volleyball match at Sherando High School.

The skilled setter’s ability to finish spikes has been an added weapon for James Wood this year, but she’s been one of the area’s best servers since she was a sophomore. And that talent was on display when the Colonels needed it in the fourth set on Tuesday.

After assisting Kendall Funk for a kill to break a 19-19 tie, Matthews had three aces in a four-point service run that gave the Colonels a 24-19 lead. A service error by Sherando two points later helped James Wood finish off a 3-1 win by the scores of 25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 25-20.

The Colonels had 15 service errors during the match, including four earlier in the fourth set. But with 20 aces, James Wood put a lot of pressure on Sherando with its serving. Matthews had a match-high eight aces.

“We had some positive momentum serving,” James Wood coach Adrienne Patrick said. “I think our serving was pretty strong. Tonight, we did have some errors, but when our aces outweigh our errors, that’s good.”

The Colonels (8-4, 4-1 Class 4 Northwestern District) won their second straight match without outside hitter Izzy Turner, who suffered a leg injury late in Thursday’s match against Millbrook. James Wood adjusted by moving Funk from the right side to Turner’s position, and it was another balanced night on the attack and on defense from the Colonels. Funk (four kills, 10 digs) was one of six players who had at least four kills and one of four who had at least 10 digs.

“I think we all worked together to get this win,” said freshman opposite Paige Ahakuelo (seven kills).

James Wood definitely dug deep to pull out the win.

The Colonels never trailed in the first set after Matthews had three aces on the first four points to make it 4-0, but Sherando (8-5, 3-2) came back to tie the set at 17-17 and 22-22. Matthews (team-high 12 kills and 20 assists to go along with 10 digs) had an ace to make it 24-22 and set up Lexi Taylor (seven kills, three aces, three blocks) for a kill on set point to end it at 25-23.

In the second set, James Wood rallied from a 7-3 deficit to win. The Colonels were on the receiving end of a 16-4 Warrior run to start the third set and a 9-3 run to finish it, and then fell behind 7-3 in the fourth.

But a Sherando team that only had six total attack and service errors through three sets had three attack and seven service errors in the fourth, and James Wood took advantage with solid overall play.

“We just really had to come together as a team and trust each other,” said Matthews of James Wood’s play in the fourth set.

“I think we did a pretty decent job every time we got into a hole as far as fighting back,” Patrick said. “After the Millbrook game, we wanted to make sure that we could finish, and that’s something we’re constantly working on. We came back from a deficit in the second and fourth sets and finished strong.

“I’m very proud of the way our girls worked together to stay together. They didn’t really get down. They got tired for a little bit. But then they came and brought it right back.”

Though James Wood’s win was a team effort, Matthews’ all-around play loomed large. She had two kills early in the fourth set to prevent the Warriors’ lead from growing too large, including one two-hand push deep onto the Sherando side that cut the Colonels’ deficit to 7-4.

“She’s also been at the top [of the team] as far as digs, aces,” Patrick said. “And being able to attack the ball, she has a great swing. She has great torque, pulling her arm back and following through.

“She’s a very large asset on her team. Everybody looks to her. She runs the floor with setting. She’s a great leader. That’s why she’s a captain.”

James Wood was also led by Ella Kelchner (six kills, two blocks), Melia Burch (five kills, two aces, 14 digs) and Carsyn Vincent (22 digs, three aces).

Sherando had outstanding hitting nights from Regan Minney (18 kills, three aces) and Saige Garver (12 kills, two aces) and received seven aces and two blocks from Helena Ritter. The Warriors made just a few too many errors in the fourth set, including five as the Colonels battled back from 7-3 to tie it at 12-12.

“We struggled a little bit toward the end, but we played really well,” Sherando coach James Minney said. “We were hitting the ball well, they were hitting the ball well. It was just whoever could cover the other one, and they beat us out in that category. They covered well and were able to rebound in the fourth set.”

Just about every spike Minney and Garver hit resulted in either a point for Sherando or forced James Wood to make a play on defense.

“[Regan’s] worked on moving the ball around a lot,” Minney said. “I know it’s my daughter, but she goes 100 miles an hour every single day. A lot of the other girls do the same thing. She loves hitting and she’s finding holes, and her and Saige are able to find spots. Because they have the height and jumping they have, we have to go to them a lot. The good thing is most of the teams know that, and we’re still being able to productive with that.”

Minney said the Sherando has worked a lot on conditioning since losing to Millbrook on Sept. 9, and the Warriors had won all four of their best-of-five matches since prior to Tuesday.

“I’m happy with what I’m seeing,” Minney said.

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