Spaid, Wood volleyball sweep Sherando

WINCHESTER — It’s a common sentiment among all-time coaches that it’s more challenging to linger on the mountaintop than it is to reach it, and the James Wood High School volleyball team felt that last week.

But after falling to Kettle Run last Thursday, the Colonels bounced back in convincing fashion on Tuesday, sweeping Sherando with the scores of 25-20, 25-13, 25-8 in Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium.

Sherando kept the first set competitive against James Wood, but ultimately, the Colonels (9-2, 5-0 Class 4 Northwestern District) dominated the second and third sets with offensive attacks from Kennedy Spaid, Brenna Corbin and Tenley Mattison. The trio combined for 29 kills and eight aces.

Halfway through the first set, Sherando gained a 13-10 lead. But even as the Warriors stayed within two points late, James Wood pulled away and outside hitter Kyla Willhelm ended up firing a kill past Sherando’s Helena Ritter and Ashley Smith to win the first game for the Colonels.

Throughout the whole match, Spaid led the way for James Wood, slapping down a team-high 15 kills, nine of which came in the second set, and five aces. The junior outside hitter had five kills and one ace in the first 16 possessions of the second set as her team jumped out to an 11-5 lead. The Colonels proceeded to outscore Sherando 14-8 from that point on, as a service error from the Warriors (10-4, 2-3) ultimately won the set for James Wood.

Spaid then tacked on three more of her kills in the third set, including the match-winning kill as James Wood won the final set by 17 points.

James Wood coach Adrienne Patrick thought Tuesday’s performance was more representative of her team’s potential.

“I think it's hard too, once we get on a roll, once we get our gears going, it's hard to slow us down,” Patrick said. “I think that that's kind of what was evident tonight as we picked up that momentum in the second and the third sets.”

The Colonels’ performance came after an uncharacteristic 3-1 loss to Kettle Run last Thursday. It was their first loss since Sept. 3 and just the fourth loss overall since the start of last season, when Wood repeated as Class 4 state champions.

Patrick thought her team had a slow start against the Warriors but was happy to see her team play better compared to last week’s performance.

“I felt like we were just more on the gas,” Patrick said. “We had lots of talks about what it takes to win, what it means to be on top, what it means to like to be a champion and have people that are wanting to claim the title, and it's tough. I feel like some people say it's hard winning a championship, but I feel like it's harder to keep it, and I think that that's something that we're working towards.”

Spaid said the team figured out how to play against Kettle Run too late and thought the Cougars had a tough defense to attack. But after losing to the Class 3 squad last week, Monday’s practice was focused on how the Colonels could move forward as a team.

“We had a struggle with Kettle Run, so we took yesterday's practice as a team-building practice,” Spaid said. “We took most of the practice to talk about what we did wrong in the Kettle Run game and what we can fix to put into this game. We came into this game, and we tried to play as a team better. We tried to talk more, and I think we did that tonight, and that obviously showed with the scores.”

Along with Spaid, Corbin had eight kills and three aces, and Mattison had six kills. Willhelm also had two kills, two blocks and two aces.

A total team performance like the one the Colonels had on Tuesday is what Patrick is looking to see her team showcase every match.

“If one of us is off, it affects the whole team, and that was true about Kettle Run,” Patrick said. “We had multiple people that were just not firing on all cylinders, and it affected us. I mean, there's lots of sports that are team sports, but 100 percent volleyball. There is no way for you to effectively win at all as a solo.”

Patrick added that the longevity of her team’s success is rare, and it can be difficult to play up to that standard of a two-time defending state champion every night.

“Knowing the pressure that everyone's doing whatever it takes to beat you, that's a lot of pressure,” Patrick said. “The mental toughness and the pressure that you have to deal with, it's tough. We see time and again that skill obviously matters, but being able to be mentally tough [does too.]”

Sherando coach James Minney wasn’t too upset with his team after the match. He knows how tough a team James Wood can be when its players are clicking well.

“I don't make excuses,” Minney said. “We didn't play poorly. They just played really, really well and beat the crap out of us. That's all there is to it. My girls, they work hard, but it's one of those things that I've always said that you can't beat what you can't mimic. We can't play at that level; therefore, you'll never beat that team unless you can or have a chance.”

Ritter led the Warriors with eight kills and one ace.

James Wood will host Warren County on Wednesday. Sherando will host Kettle Run on Thursday.

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

— Follow Justin Robertson on X @j_probertson