James Wood sweeps Grafton for first state volleyball title

RICHMOND — James Wood third-year head varsity volleyball head coach Adrienne Patrick said winning a state championship wasn’t a goal that was verbally discussed before the season.

What the Colonels did have was the drive and determination to be the best they could be every time they took the court, whether it was a match or a practice.

That — combined with the team’s bond and talent — put them in position to apply the words “Make History” printed on the shirt underneath Patrick’s jacket to quite a few situations this year. And on Saturday, James Wood made the biggest history-making statement of all.

The Colonels swept Grafton 3-0 in the Virginia High School League Class 4 state championship match at the Virginia Commonwealth University Siegel Center, taking the sets by the scores of 25-19, 25-19, 25-16.

James Wood (26-1) captured not only the first state title in program history, but also the first girls’ overall team state title in any sport for the school that first opened its doors in 1950. It’s the first state title in volleyball for any of the five local schools, and this year’s Colonels’ volleyball team joins the 1970 football team and the 2002 boys’ cross country team as the only state championship squads at James Wood.

The Colonels did it in convincing fashion against Grafton (28-3), which had lost the previous five Class 4 state final matches, all to Loudoun County, and had won 20 straight matches.

James Wood took the lead for good in the first set at 6-5 and led as many as 10 points, and the Colonels kept the lead for the rest of the second set and the third set after going up 8-7 in each of those games. Grafton had not been beaten in a best-of-five-sets match all year.

“All season, we had an intention of this is where we wanted to be,” said Patrick in a hallway leading to the Siegel Center locker rooms. “Some things you don’t really come out say. At the beginning of the season [we didn’t state], ‘We’re going to win a state championship.’ But it’s something we’ve been working towards and wanted all season long.”

James Wood’s joy in their accomplishments has been on display numerous times this year, and it went to a new level on Saturday.

After Grafton star Alexis Keeter (13 kills, two aces, one block) spiked the ball wide on match point, James Wood’s players screamed and ran toward each other, and they engulfed each other with hugs as they all fell to the Siegel Center floor.

Last year’s James Wood team finished with a 17-7 record after losing to Loudoun County in the Region 4C semifinals.

This year’s James Wood team opened with a dominant 3-0 win over Loudoun County that looking back now seems like a passing of the torch. That started the Colonels on their way to the first perfect regular season (20-0) and their first regional title, and they matched the 2014 James Wood state finalists for total wins in a season. Until the Colonels’ win on Saturday, Loudoun County had claimed every Class 4 or Group AA title since 2012.

Senior middle hitter Ella Kelchner (four blocks) said she never would have imagined her senior year would end this way.

“I don’t think anyone really saw it coming,” Kelchner said. “Obviously, we’ve never been bad. But we never had all this potential. We really played our best season, and it felt like a good way to go out.”

The Colonels showed they meant business right from the start.

James Wood took that initial lead at 6-5 and then expanded it to 12-7 on Kelchner’s second block of the first set. A kill from freshman outside hitter Kennedy Spaid — who had a match-high 15 of them as well as a team-high 17 digs — gave James Wood a 19-9 lead. Grafton closed to 20-16 with a 7-1 run, but the Clippers served the ball long on the first point after a Colonel timeout.

Grafton would get no closer than three points the rest of the set, and junior middle hitter Ashlynn Spence (six kills) closed it out at 25-19 by hammering down a thunderous spike on set point.

Given that Grafton hadn’t lost a set since Sept. 22, controlling most of the first set was a heck of way to start.

“I think that coming out as strong as we did really helped us for the rest of game,” said James Wood senior libero Carsyn Vincent (15 digs, three aces). “It really pumped us up and gave us our energy that we needed to finish it.”

The second set saw Spaid and fellow freshman Brenna Corbin (12 kills, 14 digs) put on a exceptional hitting display. Corbin had seven kills and Spaid had six.

Corbin had a perfectly-placed cross-court kill to make it 21-18 and end a 5-1 Grafton run. The last three points of the set featured two kills from Corbin and one kill from Spaid, and Corbin closed out the set at 25-19 after leaping from the back row to hit a shot that the Clippers couldn’t handle.

“We were running fast sets, and it was hard for them to block us,” Spaid said. “We were just putting the ball down.”

Corbin and Spaid won a national beach volleyball championship together in Atlantic City, N.J., over the summer, and they continued to show their ability to stay composed and execute in big moments on Saturday. Both freshmen said they had some nerves, but it wasn’t evident.

“I just let them go and play my game,” Corbin said.

“I know I have to be there for my team,” Spaid said.

“Their athleticism, their volleyball IQ, they’re on another level,” said Patrick of her freshmen duo. “They’re amazing athletes. They played their same level of volleyball that they have all season.”

The duo continued to perform at a high level in the third set. Patrick said the Colonels pride themselves on aggressive serving, and Spaid had three straight aces to give the Colonels a 7-5 lead.

Later in the set, James Wood took full control with a 6-0 run that featured two aces by Vincent to make it 22-13.

“I thought they served a lot tougher than it looked on film,” Grafton coach David Keeter said. “The setters were getting the ball 20 feet off the net, and it’s a lot harder swing [that way] than being in system. They did a good job of getting us out of system.”

Hannah McCullough (16 assists, six digs) set up Spence for a kill to make it 24-16 to put the ball in the hands of Spaid for a serve. Spaid put it in play — James Wood committed only three service errors — and Grafton was unable to keep the ball in on its attack. A strong James Wood fan base roared, and they screamed again as the players participated in the trophy ceremony.

Madison Livengood had seven kills and Alana Washington had four blocks for the Clippers.

Vincent said the Colonels “definitely played James Wood volleyball.” Patrick felt her team played just like it had all season to get themselves to Richmond for the title match.

“We just all played together,” Corbin said. “We never let up.

“It’s just amazing [to win a state title]. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with any other team. We have such a tight bond. It’s just awesome.”

Spaid said it meant a lot to her as well.

“It’s amazing,” Spaid said. “Being a freshman out here on the state floor is just so awesome. I’m so happy to be here, especially with this team.”

All 10 healthy players participated in the match for the Colonels. Paige Ahakuelo also starred with 18 assists and 12 digs.

“Everybody made a contribution,” Patrick said. “Total team effort.”

Patrick and the Colonels wouldn’t have been in the position they were in on Saturday without getting everything they could from their entire roster.

“This trophy is amazing,” Patrick said. “It means the world and I’m not letting it go.”

More photos from Saturday’s match will appear later this week in The Winchester Star.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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