Wood finishes strong for season volleyball sweep of Millbrook

WINCHESTER — Through the first seven sets over their two volleyball matches with each other, neither James Wood nor Millbrook could manage to win two sets in a row against their Frederick County rival.

The Colonels changed that trend in a big way on Thursday night at the Pioneers' Casey Gymnasium.

After winning 12 of the last 17 points of the second set to even the match, James Wood led by as many as 14 points in winning the third set and led by at least five points the rest of the way after taking a 16-11 lead in the fourth set.

The student sections for both schools were certainly ready for a war — both featured people mostly decked out in camouflage — and when the battle was all over James Wood had a 3-1 victory by the scores of 17-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 to complete a season sweep of Millbrook.

The Colonels improved to 13-2 and 6-0 in the Class 4 Northwestern District, while the Pioneers fell to 10-2 (3-2). James Wood is the only team to take a set off Millbrook this year.

"I think we really wanted it," said Wood senior setter/opposite Paige Ahakuelo. "I know we had a slow start, but we pulled through and kept going. All the girls did great everywhere."

Ahakuelo was one of numerous Colonels with excellent performances. She had nine kills, five aces, eight digs and 16 assists, and the Colonels were also led by Kennedy Spaid (15 kills, eight digs), Ashlynn Spence (six kills, two blocks), Hannah McCullough (11 assists, three aces) and Brenna Corbin, who for the second straight match played without a libero jersey. The Colonels did not use anyone as a libero on Thursday, and Corbin's all-around skills were on display with nine kills, 16 digs and four aces.

The Pioneers took the lead in the first set for good at 6-5, and they were in a decent position in the second set when a 5-1 run put them up 15-13.

James Wood coach Adrienne Patrick felt her team played tight in the first set and much of the second, almost playing more not to lose instead of playing to win. But in the last two and a half sets, the defending Class 4 state champions started performing in the manner that people have seen repeatedly over the last two seasons.

"We just kind of told each other, 'What are we doing? Just play our game,'" Patrick said. "The girls even said to each other, 'Let's just act like we're running one of our drills in our gym in our own practice.' From there, communication picked up.

"The comfort level on the court in regards to feeling that you've got your spot, that you're playing your position, that you're playing together as a team, it just picked up and continued to pick up, I would say probably through the rest of the match. They were just able to relax a little bit and not play so tense."

In scoring 12 of the last 17 points of the second set, James Wood received three kills from Corbin, an example of how dangerous the 5-foot-4 All-State player can be at the net.

Corbin had taken over the libero role this season following the graduation of Carsyn Vincent, but Patrick said the elite Endless Summer Tournament in Virginia Beach on Sept. 16 made the Colonels realize the team would benefit from her attacking kills, much like they did last year.

"I love it," said Corbin of playing outside hitter the past two matches.

"Brenna is an amazing all-around player, and she has an amazing court vision," Patrick said. "She's able to see things, where spots or holes are. It's just an advantage having her on the court all six rotations, and being in the front row. As a libero, sure, she's in the game the whole time, but she's only in the back row. I'm not saying she'll never go back to libero or we won't have a libero, but what we did tonight worked."

James Wood's confidence in the defensive abilities of whomever plays on the back row is why the Colonels feel like a libero isn't always needed, and Corbin thought improved defense after the first set played a big role in the team's comeback effort.

"We're all good passers," Corbin said.

Patrick wants her players to be able to perform in any given situation.

"We're constantly telling each other, 'When you're playing, you're playing volleyball, not necessarily are you playing a position,'" Patrick said. "Everybody needs to be ready to pass or set or hit. For example, I don't know how many times [middle hitter] Ashlynn set the ball. Everybody has to be available to make all moves. That really did help us tonight, too, knowing that if it's in my zone, I could do whatever I need to do with the ball."

And while it's by design, Ahakuelo is as versatile as they come because of her setting, hitting and service abilities. Ahakuelo — who leads James Wood in aces with 39 — had two aces in a 5-0 run that put the Colonels ahead for good in the second set at 18-15, then added two kills to help close out the set.

On Thursday, she led James Wood in aces and assists and tied with Corbin for second on the team in kills, including a couple where it appeared she might set the ball but instead used both hands to flick the ball into space on Millbrook's side.

"It's definitely an advantage having her in the front row," Patrick said. "She has a great swing and she can execute and put the ball down."

Ahakuelo, Spaid and Corbin combined for eight kills in the third set, when the Colonels expanded a 7-5 lead to 19-8 and led by as much as 24-10 before a 6-0 Millbrook run. A kill by Spence closed the set at 25-16.

The Pioneers battled in the fourth set, but James Wood went on a 6-1 run for a 17-11 lead. Spaid had two kills and Spence had a kill and a block in the run. James Wood eventually closed out the match on Spaid's sixth kill of the set.

Millbrook came out blasting in the first set, with Gracie Behneke (four), Berkeley Konrady (three), Camdyn Lockley (three) and Aaliyah Green (two) all recording multiple kills. But the Pioneers weren't as efficient in the final three sets, with six attack errors in the third game and five in the fourth.

"I thought we played very well in the first set," Millbrook coach Carla Milton said. "We came out and executed our game plan to a tee. We were making them make mistakes, we were getting points. And then it flipped on us. They turned it on us and they did the same thing to us the rest of the night."

James Wood and Millbrook might have the two best teams in Class 4, but only one of them will qualify for the state tournament. Intensity will be key for the Pioneers in attacking the rest of their season.

"We have to have energy the whole way through the match, and we have to play a complete game," Milton said.

The Pioneers were led on Thursday by Behneke (14 kills, five aces), Konrady (10 kills, 12 digs), Kate Madden (21 digs), Paisley Cook (20 assists, four aces), Olivia Knotts (16 assists) and Valentina Burrill (four blocks).

James Wood is next in action on Monday at North Hagerstown in a battle of state champions, with the Hubs taking the Maryland Class 3A title last year. Millbrook will travel to Fauquier on Tuesday.

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

Follow on X @WinStarSports1