October 20, 2010

By Robert Stocks

The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- James Wood High School's volleyball team played for more than itself in Tuesday night's second annual "Dig Pink" match.

The Colonels wore pink uniforms to coincide with October being breast cancer awareness month, and the team took part in a fundraising effort run by the SideOut Foundation, whose mission is to raise funds in the fight against breast cancer.

There was a moment of silence to honor those who have lost in the fight against breast cancer, and survivors in attendance were asked to stand and be recognized.

Once the match started, James Wood put together an inspired performance, sweeping Fauquier 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20) less than three weeks after losing to the Falcons on the road.

"A lot of girls had breast cancer survivors in attendance tonight, whether it be family members or close family friends," James Wood coach Jill Lester said. "I told them in the locker room that there are fighters out in the crowd who came tonight to see what type of fight we have in us. Our emphasis tonight was hope." Senior outside hitter Emily Shannon had 16 kills and 11 digs, and senior middle blocker Hannah Tierney added nine kills and a team-high 10 blocks, anchoring a Colonels front line that kept the Falcons on their heels much of the night.

After Wood (12-5) took the opening set, Fauquier (11-12) overcame a pair of four-point deficits to tie the second set 17-17 after a kill by sophomore outside hitter Justina Augustine.

Once the Falcons pulled even, though, senior middle blocker Peyton Clark made sure the Colonels never trailed.

She scored back-to-back points, hammering home a kill and then making a block to put the Colonels ahead 19-17.

From there, Fauquier made three straight hitting errors and then James Wood's front line took over.

Shannon and senior outside hitter Megan Crabtree (four kills) had back-to-back kills to extend the Colonels' lead to 24-18, and Tierney clinched the set with a block.

"Our first game we were kind of shaky," Clark said. "We had some kills and some blocks, but in our second game we came out more fired up. We were more intense on the front line, we were clumped together, we weren't late blocking and we had more kills, more blocks and more touches on the ball."

Wood fell behind early in the third set, as consecutive aces by Augustine put Fauquier ahead 8-4.

But the Colonels showed their resiliency, overcoming that deficit and five ties to take control.

Tierney made several clutch points for the Colonels in the set, scoring the tying or go-ahead point four times before her block put Wood ahead for good 17-16.

After an errant hit by Augustine, Shannon had a block and Clark added a kill to stretch the Colonels' lead to 20-16.

Fauquier never cut Wood's lead to less than three the rest of the way, and Tierney closed the match by blocking an attack from Malorie Kuhn.

Colonels junior setter Eleanor Kent (16 assists) and sophomore libero Kelby Jackson (team-high 14 digs) funneled the ball to the team's hitters consistently throughout.

"It definitely gave us the fuel that we needed," Tierney said of the team's passing. "We definitely liked it - we were able to put the ball away a lot and we played good defense on the front row and back row.

Clark said the team particularly wanted to come out with a strong performance Tuesday night.

"Since this is our Dig Pink, we wanted to come out and be fired up and we took them in three," Clark said. "It's our second annual, and we knew we were playing for people who had lost in the battle or for people who are fighting the battle. That just gives us more reason to come together as a team. I thought this was probably our best game."

Lester said the team had raised $1,500 prior to Tuesday night's match and hoped to reach their goal of raising $3,000 with the funds from the gate, a raffle, concessions, and the 50-50 drawing.

With a solid crowd nearly filling one side of the gymnasium, Lester deemed the event a success.

"Before the match even started we were halfway to our goal," Lester said. "We had cans out and people were just dropping donations in, so I'm pretty confident that we met our goal."