‘We earned this’: Wood volleyball defeats Courtland in 5 sets to claim third straight state title

RICHMOND — This one meant more.

While any high school state championship would leave a team thrilled, the James Wood volleyball team had already done it twice, just not with this year’s group.

But that changed on Saturday, when the Colonels won their third consecutive Class 4 state title, this time defeating Courtland in a five-set thriller at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Winning the state title with the set scores 25-17, 23-25, 30-28, 18-25, 15-10, the Colonels left it all out on the floor. Although many of Wood’s players had already experienced what it was like to win a state title — or two — the team said this year’s championship came at the culmination of a season filled with bumps in the road.

Junior outside hitter Brenna Corbin tried her best to hold back tears in her postgame interview.

“It felt unreal this time,” Corbin said. “Like the other years, it felt really good, but it hit me harder this time because we have such a tight bond. I feel it was a lot harder, and we just pushed harder for this.”

Between losing several starters from last year’s team, dealing with illnesses and mixing in six new players on this year’s roster, there was no guarantee James Wood (23-3) would make the state title match again — let alone win it.

“I feel like we had a lot of pressure because we knew we had to hold this title, and I think that might’ve been a reason why I was more emotional this time,” Corbin added.

The Colonels wanted to prove to everyone that they could do it again. And they did.

“We were here to show everybody that we earned this, and this was our time to win again and show everybody that we can do it,” Tenley Mattison said. “And it just felt amazing that we could do it as a family again.”

James Wood coach Adrienne Patrick shared her players’ thoughts about this year’s championship being one to remember.

“I even said it earlier to my assistant coach, Brandy Corbin, that there was something about this that was a little bit more emotional,” Patrick said. “I feel for everyone, but I felt that as well. I echo their sentiments as to why it felt more [emotional], because they know that they had to work hard through different things. There were obstacles, there was illness, there was losing leadership and seniors that we had, and we had to work through all of that.”

The emotional postgame scene came after the Colonels and Cougars battled it out for five sets.

While James Wood was unable to close it out in the fourth set, the Colonels’ championship experience paid off in the final set.

They immediately came out of the gate in the fifth set firing away, taking a 7-3 lead behind four kills from Kennedy Spaid, who finished with a match-high 25.

And although Courtland fought back and got within three points at 13-10, the Colonels proceeded to reach the 14-point mark off a kill from Corbin. After Corbin served the ball over the net on set-point, a Courtland (28-3) attack attempt came up short, hitting the net for an attack error and sending the entire James Wood team to the floor in celebration.

Senior defensive specialist Addie Pitcock, who will finish her career at James Wood with three state championship rings, said the team was getting fired up in the huddle before the fifth set.

“We all kind of were just like, ‘Well, this is our last chance. We got to give it our all,’” Pitcock said. “And especially our manager, Ethan Germeyer, he really showed us that he wanted us to win. He was there for us, he was the one who called us in the huddle.”

The tightest set of the morning was the third, as it took 30 points for the Colonels to claim the victory.

When it appeared that the Colonels won the set 26-24 on a Courtland hit that went out of bounds, an official came in and indicated Corbin hit the ball before it went out. That call forced Wood to stop its celebration and keep fighting in what then became a 25-25 set.

“My goodness, don’t get me started on that,” Corbin said. “I definitely did not touch that ball. It was at least a foot away from my hands, and it went totally out.”

Corbin’s frustration paid off. The junior proceeded to record five kills in eight possessions, including the set-winning slap-down.

“I think that really set me off the edge on that call, so I just was like, ‘All right, we got to get this over with, and we got to pull it out,’” said Corbin, who finished with 21 kills.

Even after Courtland handily won the fourth set, the Colonels showcased in the fifth set why other teams have failed to dethrone them.

“We have seasoned people, but then we also have the same amount of seasoned people as new people, so there’s something else that is different,” Patrick said. “Every time that [the players] say family, it’s not a word, it’s an essence; it’s a being, it’s a thing that we adopt that doesn’t go away… You can have the most talent in the world and not have any passion about what you’re doing and not win.

“…What was the difference that allowed us to come away with the win? I feel it was our heart and how we play together as a family and how no one’s willing to give up on anybody.”

Propelled by six kills from Spaid and five kills from Corbin, James Wood won Set 1 by eight points.

Spaid closed out the opening set, serving the ball in a perfect position that forced a Courtland defender to graze the ball before it went out of bounds behind the back line.

The Cougars held off Wood in the second set and broke a 22-22 deadlock off a service error by Pitcock. Courtland outside hitter Sophia Morin then gave her team a 24-22 lead with an ace.

And on the set-point, Courtland setter Kayla Morin tipped the ball over the net into a gap of the Colonels’ defense, which couldn’t recover with a clean pass, as the ball then hit the hardwood.

Set 4 was a similar story, with Wood clawing its way back from an early deficit. The Colonels got within two points at 19-17 before Courtland went on a 6-1 run to close out the set, which ended on a kill from Carolina Eastlake.

When it came down to it, the Cougars, who had never played a fifth set the entire season, said nerves played a bit of a factor early on.

“That was our first fifth set,” Courtland coach Casey Cornell said. “So that was my speech to them. ‘Hey, what a way to go into your fifth set and pull that out.’ But nerves got to us a little bit. In the beginning, you could see nerves got to us… but they played their hearts out.”

For more photos from the state championship match, see Monday’s Winchester Star.

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