Wood defeats Clarke and Hedgesville

September 21, 2010

By Mark Sawyer

Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- There was no championship trophy, no all-tournament team and no MVP.

But for the James Wood and Hedgesville (W.Va.) volleyball teams, the final match of Monday night's four-team doubleheader at Handley High School sure had something riding on it.

The two battled down to the wire in an epic five-set match that the Colonels won (15-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 15-6) to finish the event 2-0.

Hedgesville wound up 1-1, defeating Handley 3-1.

Wood and Handley both defeated Clarke County.

But no match was more intense than the finale between the Colonels and Hedgesville.

Things looked bleak for the Wood after three sets, as the Colonels trailed 2-1 with senior Megan Crabtree sitting on the bench with an ankle injury sustained earlier in the match.

But behind the strong net play of seniors Emily Shannon and Hannah Tierney - and sophomore Tarah Wampler, who stepped in for Crabtree - Wood rallied to take the last two sets.

"I told the girls to play with heart, and that's exactly what they did," James Wood coach Jill Lester said. "I'm very proud of the team. It was definitely a team effort. ... It's nice to have depth to our roster, [so] when we've got one of our starters out, someone like Tarah Wampler can come in and get the job done."

Shannon finished the Hedgesville match with 19 kills and 21 digs, and Tierney added 14 kills and nine blocks.

James Wood (8-1) never trailed in the final set, which Shannon clinched with a kill to the far sideline. "We started out really slow, and as the game went on we just kept thinking how important this game was, and how we just needed to play James Wood volleyball," Shannon said. "We were thinking, 'Just don't give up and keep pushing through,' and I think we did a really good job of picking it up and playing with heart. I was just so happy the last shot went in. I've been struggling with my line shots. I was just so excited that we won the game."

Earlier, the Colonels rolled over Clarke County 3-0 (25-10, 25-4, 25-12) to get their evening started on the right foot.

Shannon again led the team with 11 kills to go with eight aces.

Wood setter Emilee Payne finished the night with a combined 45 assists, and Crabtree had a team -best 12 digs in the Clarke match. (Lester did not know the extent of Crabtree's ankle injury and said she will have it further examined today.)

Hedgesville may have been the surprise team of the night - not solely for taking the Colonels to the limit, but because the team did so just after finishing off a hard-fought 3-1 win over Handley (22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 27-25).

The Judges (4-5), winners of three of four matches coming into Monday, got off to a great start. Two of the next three sets went past the regulation 25 points, and all three were decided by two.

"The first time around we lost to Hedgesville in three games which weren't as close as they were tonight," Handley coach Lindsay Hazelette said. "We were able to kind of do things right seeing a team the second time and make some minor adjustments. The girls were able to refocus, and it's a positive note to win the last one tonight to take it into Wednesday when we face Sherando. And I think Hedgesville was a great game, because they're similar to Sherando."

The Judges open district play Wednesday at Sherando, while Wood hosts Skyline.

Handley was able to rebound quickly from its loss to Hedgesville, sweeping Clarke County 3-0 (25-18, 25-15,25-12).

Clarke (3-6) battled to keep the first game close but struggled throughout the final two sets, giving way to a pair of substantial Handley runs to seal the match.