Colonels sweep Kettle Run to win volleyball district championship

WINCHESTER — Addie Pitcock entered Tuesday’s match against Kettle Run wearing a gold-colored jersey for the first time this season. But it was the entire James Wood High School volleyball team that won the gold-colored trophy.

After falling to Kettle Run earlier this year, the Colonels exacted revenge in Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium on Tuesday, sweeping the Cougars 25-9, 25-20, 25-12 to win the Northwestern District championship.

James Wood jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead in the first set and never looked back. Between six kills and three aces from Kennedy Spaid, five more kills from four different players and multiple attack errors by the Cougars, the Colonels (17-3) dominated the opening set.

Kettle Run earned its only lead of the entire match to open the second set. The Cougars (18-2) found themselves up 8-3 and were in position to regain momentum. That mission was soon rendered moot as the Colonels came back and tied the set at 11 apiece.

As both teams went back and forth to eventually tie the set 19-19, it was James Wood that scored five straight to only need one more point. Two possessions later, Tenley Mattison slapped down the game-winning kill to give the Colonels the two-set lead.

By the end of the 10th possession in the third set, the Colonels were dancing in the huddle to the “Cupid Shuffle” song that was being played during a timeout.

“We love to dance,” Pitcock said. “I mean, sometimes in the locker room, we line dance, we know a couple songs, so it's pretty fun. It gets everybody in a good mood.”

The Colonels were only up 7-3 at that point, but the dance was a sign of things to come the rest of the set.

From that point on, James Wood outscored Kettle Run 18-8 to win the match. In that stretch, Mattison had two consecutive kills and a block to put the Colonels up 16-7. Spaid ended up delivering the match-winning kill, the last of eight kills in the final set for the junior outside hitter.

Along with the district title, the win over Kettle Run also secured the Colonels the North’s top seed in the Region 4D tournament next week.

As the team grouped together for a team photo with the district championship trophy after the match, Pitcock posed front and center with the hardware. It was only about an hour earlier that Pitcock tried to hold back tears as she walked out for senior night and embraced head coach Adrienne Patrick for a long hug.

“I've been on the varsity team for four years now, and Patrick is basically my second mom,” Pitcock said. “She's seen me grow up. She's seen all the big changes, all the accomplishments I've had. She's very proud of me. So just knowing I made it here, and I'm still on the team, and I still love and enjoy volleyball, this team is like a family to me.”

Pitcock is the only senior on the Colonels’ roster this season, but Patrick said losing her to graduation will also mean losing one of the most positive and approachable players on the team.

“I know that the impact that she has made on the program and on me, and it's reciprocal,” Patrick said, fighting back tears.

Pitcock showcased why Patrick appreciates her by donning the gold jersey and playing libero instead of her usual defensive specialist position.

While James Wood has played with a libero at times over the last few years, the Colonels usually opt not to have a designated player stay in the back row.

Pitcock said Patrick approached her about the position change on Monday.

“Honestly, that was pretty much a surprise to me,” Pitcock said. “But I feel like Patrick believed in me, I believed in myself, and it all worked out.”

Patrick added that, while Pitcock may have been wearing a different colored jersey, her role on the court didn’t need to change.

“When I told her that she was going to wear a libero jersey tonight, I told her that she's not doing anything different,” Patrick said. “I needed her to be consistent on the court, which she was. I needed her to have great, clear and positive communication with the team, which she did.”

Losing 3-1 to the Cougars earlier this month, Patrick and the Colonels examined the film and found that the majority of the Cougars’ kills in that match came down the boundary sideline.

“We just look at the tendencies of the other team and see how we should prepare ourselves based on what we missed,” Patrick said. “It's almost like a heat map, like where was the ball going more often, and where were we not?”

The success the Cougars had hitting the ball to the back row in the first meeting played a role in moving Pitcock to libero.

“When we were looking at where Kettle Run was scoring on us, it was the middle back,” Patrick said. “And the right-back positions was where all of their kills were landing on our side of the court.”

Spaid, who finished with a match-high 15 kills, 11 digs and five aces, thought the preparation leading into Tuesday played a significant role in the Colonels’ victory.

“We took a lot of time at practice to work on it,” Spaid said. “We studied each player, and we worked on practicing where they hit because we found out that they had 46 kills in that whole game, and 23 of them were down their line. So, we really practiced on that and just got better.”

Along with Spaid's performance, Kylee Plumb had 22 assists, and Brenna Corbin had 13 digs and six kills. Mattison had eight kills, two blocks and an ace.

Lexi Taylor, Ashlynn Spence and Carsyn Vincent, three former James Wood volleyball players, all returned to their alma mater on Tuesday to celebrate Pitcock and cheer on the Colonels.

Patrick, who prides herself on building a special culture, thought the visit was a great example of how big of an impact the volleyball team has on the community.

“It's not just a sport that you play when you come here; it's a family that you become a part of,” Patrick said. “And that really means a lot to me that I can create that type of culture that I know doesn't exist everywhere. The fact people want to be here is really important to me.”

The Colonels will return to their home court to host the Region 4D quarterfinals on Nov. 6.

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