Wood sweeps Cougars in suicide prevention awareness match

WINCHESTER — In front of a sea of purple honoring World Suicide Prevention Day, the James Wood High School volleyball team swept Manassas Park 25-4, 25-7, 25-10 on Tuesday in Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

In a match that Manassas Park never led in, James Wood dominated.

In the first five possessions of the first set, James Wood outside hitter Brenna Corbin registered three aces to help give her team an early 9-1 lead that the Colonels lever looked back from the rest of the set.

While the second and third sets were closer than the first, James Wood never lost control of its momentum, outscoring the Cougars 75-21.

Corbin finished the evening with five kills and four aces, helping the Colonels move to 3-1 on the year.

“I was really proud of how we maintained our composure,” Corbin said. “We didn't play down to their level, which is what we usually do when we play teams that aren't as good as us. I think we did a really good job of that, and our serves were better tonight.”

James Wood head coach Adrienne Patrick was pleased with her team’s performance, especially in the service area, where the Colonels finished with 18 aces against the Cougars (0-4).

“This was a match where we were able to work well with each other,” Patrick said. “We were trying to still work on some of the service errors that have haunted us in the past couple matches. We're still trying to shore that up and tighten that up. But yeah, overall, we worked well as a team tonight against Manassas Park.”

Junior outside hitter Kennedy Spaid finished the match with eight kills, five of which came in the first set, four digs and three aces.

“We definitely used that match as a match to run things because we have higher-level matches coming up,” Spaid said. “So, we use that match to run things and become a team more. And we kind of connect a little bit more during that game, too.”

Freshman middle Bella Middleton added 10 assists and four aces, and sophomore setter Kylee Plumb had 14 assists, two aces and two digs.

Tuesday’s match was about more than just defeating the Cougars. It also served as an awareness event for World Suicide Prevention Day, which was Tuesday.

James Wood student support coach and Bright Futures liaison Kim Stautzenbach spawned the idea and partnered with Patrick to hold the event. Fans entering the match were greeted by a table with various handouts that displayed mental health and suicide prevention resources students and parents can use.

“It's really important to us as a program,” Spaid said of mental health and suicide prevention. “That, and volleyball here, we take that really seriously. As a team, we all eat together before the games, so it's definitely a really important thing for us as a program."

To help raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention, James Wood players warmed up in purple shirts and wore purple and teal beads, the colors of September’s National Suicide Prevention Month. Some fans wore purple shirts that read “You Matter.” Students also wore purple to school on Tuesday to raise awareness, Patrick said.

Winter Brooks, chair of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s annual Stephens City Out of the Darkness Walk, was also in attendance. Brooks, who lost her son to suicide 15 years ago, helps put on the annual walk in Stephens City to raise money for suicide awareness and prevention. Donors have raised over $47,000 for this year’s walk, which is set for Oct. 12.

Before the match, there was a moment of silence to honor those who had passed away from suicide and their loved ones.

“It's actually really important for me. In my coaching philosophy, the person comes first,” Patrick said. “Being a teacher, it's the same thing about the person comes first. So mental health and the mental health of my athletes, to me, is just as important as their physical health...

“I think I always try to also think about my experiences as an athlete and what I went through, my experiences as a student and what I went through, and I always kind of weave that in. If I remember that something was hard or a struggle, just because I'm older doesn't mean that they don't have the same struggle, so I'm constantly trying to put myself in their shoes.”

As a coach, Patrick prides herself on ensuring that her players are well-rounded physically and mentally while performing well in school. She thought Tuesday’s event was “extremely impactful.”

“The more people who are showing their support by wearing purple or a purchased ‘You Matter’ shirt sends a powerful message that this school community wants to start the conversation about mental health and make sure everyone knows they have someone to talk to,” Patrick added in an email. “A conversation could save someone's life, and having awareness events that work to end the stigma around mental health, like this, allows conversations to happen with more ease.”

James Wood will be back in action on Thursday when it hosts North Hagerstown, last season's Class 3A state champion in Maryland.

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