Pioneers shut out Colonels

By Brian Eller -- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

FRONT ROYAL -- Two weeks ago, James Wood spoiled Millbrook's Senior Night with a thrilling five-set win. It was the Colonels' first win over Millbrook in eight matches, and a loss Millbrook senior Jordan Orndoff said was "devastating."

Tuesday night, the Pioneers got their revenge, and got it in a big way. Behind Orndoff's 28 assists and senior Devon Courneya's 15 kills, Millbrook dominated James Wood, earning a 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-14) shutout in a Northwestern District tournament semifinals match.

"Tonight's win is a really big win for us," Orndoff said, "and not just because it's James Wood, but we lost our Senior Night [match] and tonight's our first game after that [against them], so we were just fueled up and we came out with all our energy, and put our heads in the game and came out and beat them." The two teams had faced each other twice already this season, with the road team winning each match in five games. And as the opening set got under way, it appeared the tournament match would continue the trend. The Pioneers jumped out to an early five-point lead, forcing the Colonels to take a timeout trailing, 12-7. Millbrook's lead then began to fluctuate, at times ballooning to as much as eight, then shrinking to only three. Following a Millbrook timeout, James Wood closed the gap to two, trailing 21-19. Their efforts came up just short, however, as the Pioneers were able to close out the first set with a 25-20 victory.

"All six of them on the court were so focused," Millbrook coach Kim Riordan said. "They all had the same goal in mind. Usually we're goofy on the court and sometimes it comes back to haunt us, but tonight the girls were just really focused. They knew what they needed to do, and they knew they had to get down to business."

The second set opened similarly, with both teams exchanging the lead early on. But with the score tied at 5, it was Courneya's turn to serve for Millbrook, and suddenly the momentum shifted to the Pioneers. With the team's leader in kills serving the ball, Millbrook went on a 9-0 run, building what turned out to be an insurmountable lead as the Pioneers took the second set, 25-10.

"Usually this season it's happened to be our second game when we kind of come down and we seem to lose our second game," Orndoff said. "But tonight we talked before the game and just told ourselves we're not going to get down in the second game like we have this whole season, so we just focused on our fundamentals tonight and we played really well."

And while the Pioneers had struggled in second sets this season, both teams had difficulties putting teams away when ahead 2-0. Coincidentally in both matches earlier this season, the team that went ahead 2-0 dropped the next two games, only to win in the final set.

Tuesday, Millbrook made sure that trend also ended. After taking the opening point, the Pioneers never trailed throughout the final set, jumping out to a 12-5 lead before the Colonels took a timeout. That pause only delayed James Wood's fate, however, as Millbrook increased its lead to 10 points before Courneya's final kill closed out the 25-14 win.

"I think it's being in the playoffs," Courneya said. "Now we're going to be up in regionals, and we were just really focused tonight and we just really wanted to get the job done, and that's pretty much what we did."

Along with her team-leading 15 kills, Courneya also finished with a team-high four aces, while Gennie McGuirk had three and Orndoff had two. Ashley DeRemer led the Pioneers with 15 digs, and senior Anna Comer had seven kills and five blocks. Millbrook will next face Sherando Thursday night in the Northwestern District tournament final.

"We watched them play tonight," Courneya said, "and hopefully that helps us out with figuring out how they're going to play us."