Colonels win volleyball battle with Judges

WINCHESTER — With the postseason finally here, the James Wood High School volleyball team officially began its quest for a state title three-peat Wednesday night.

A young and hungry Handley team put up a valiant fight, but the Colonels were able to prevail 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21) and advance to Monday night’s semifinals. The North No. 1 Colonels (18-3) will host No. 2 Millbrook, a 3-0 winner over No. 3 Sherando on Wednesday.

For the Colonels, it was their seventh straight win, and the first set they’ve lost since Oct. 22 against Millbrook. The loss snapped a four-match winning streak for the No. 4 Judges (13-9), during which they didn’t lose a set. Their last loss was Oct. 17 against James Wood, part of an 0-3 season against the Colonels.

Throughout the entire match neither team held more than a six-point lead and there was plenty of excitement for both fan bases, which were in full postseason mode.

“We have talked about being targeted,” James Wood coach Adrienne Patrick said. “The girls have talked about it and have owned it. They know that every win is going to be an earned win, nothing is handed to them and everything is a lot of hard work.

“I told them that tonight although we had some really strong plays we had some areas that we need to improve on. A win is a win and we’re going to keep playing, and it will get harder from here on out so we have to be ready for that competition.”

Northwestern District Player of the Year and junior Kennedy Spaid led the way for the Colonels with 20 kills, eight digs, three aces and one block, but she had plenty of help from her teammates.

“I think that we definitely showed in the first and second set that we can hit and we have a lot of range across the front row,” Patrick said. “Everybody can score.”

In the first set, the Colonels put together a 6-2 run to extend the lead to 18-13, but the Judges responded with a 6-2 run of their own and closed the gap to 20-19 on a kill by Abby Melester.

Spaid took over the remainder of the set, scoring the last five James Wood points, with four kills and a tip that led to another point as the Colonels won 25-22. In the set, Spaid had six kills and four service points and classmate Brenna Corbin had four kills. Freshman Breeze Johnson had five kills for the Judges and sophomore Sadie Bailey three.

Handley jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the second set behind two kills from Johnson and an ace from junior Kinley Duvall.

Tenley Mattison’s kill got Wood on the board and sparked a 13-2 run for a 13-7 advantage. During the run sophomore Reese Justice led the way with five kills. Spaid and sophomore Kyla Wilhelm each had two aces and Corbin and Claire Keefer each had a kill.

A Wood service error and another kill by Bailey started an 8-2 run for the Judges that pulled them into a 15-15 deadlock.

The Colonels went on a 5-2 run taking a 20-17 lead when Spaid, who had been relatively quiet in the second set, took over again. Wood’s next four points all came on kills by Spaid, giving the Colonels another set point at 24-19.

Another error by Wood and a kill by Braun-Duin made it 24-21.

The Colonels would win the set on the next point, but not without some controversy. The Judges set the ball towards the net on their third hit and it immediately came back. The Judges were whistled for four hits to end the set, but they were adamant that the ball had been blocked by the Colonels at the net and was still in play.

If the first two sets were close and filled with drama the last two were even closer. In the third set alone there were 10 ties and seven lead changes.

With the game tied 21-21 the Judges made a pair of errors, giving the Colonels a 23-21 lead. Following a timeout, the Judges got the serve back on a Wood service error and tied the game 23-23 on another kill by Johnson.

Handley has only one senior on its roster, and with the season and her high school career on the line, senior Marisa Onzura stepped to the service line and delivered an ace to put the Judges back on top, 24-23. Handley briefly celebrated when a bad pass by the Colonels gave the Judges the third set and extended the match.

The fourth set was tied five times, with the last time coming at 16-16. With the score 21-20 Wood, Corbin’s kill followed by an ace by Kylee Plumb made it 23-20. The two teams exchanged points and to no one’s surprise, with the chance to advance the Colonels, Spaid calmly responded with her 20th kill of the match for a ticket to the semifinals on Monday.

“We knew that [Handley wasn’t] going to quit,” Spaid said. “We just kind of lost energy in that third set and we just had to regroup before the fourth.”

Spaid likes how the Colonels have developed over the course of the season.

“We definitely know we have a big target on our back but this team is a new team for us with a lot of new players so we’re just taking it one practice and one game at a time,” Spaid said. “We’re just trying to establish more team bonding and I think we’ve done a great job of that.”

Corbin finished with 24 digs, 14 kills, and two aces for the Colonels. Justice added nine kills, three aces and two blocks. Addie Pitcock had 28 digs and Plumb had 30 assists.

Johnson led the Judges with 15 kills, one block and four service points. Bailey added eight kills and Braun-Duin chipped in with nine kills, three aces and 10 service points.

Handley coach Kristen Larson was ecstatic about her team’s effort.

“I’m only losing one senior [Onzura] this year and she had probably the best game of her life tonight,” Larson said. “She went out on a definite high note.

“Every one of the girls out there on the floor, and every one of the girls that were cheering from the bench, and everybody that’s supported us all season, they all made that game what it was tonight. I think every one of those girls played above what they’re capable of tonight. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Larson is looking forward to 2025.

“We’re hungry for more,” she said. “I’ve got a bunch of kids that are already talking about next year.”