Colonels push Applemen to the brink

September 16, 2011
By Mark Sawyer
Special to The Winchester Star

Winchester- If you are going to play the defending state champions you'd better be prepared, and you'd better bring your "A" game to the gym with you.

For the second time this season the James Wood volleyball team faced off against Musselman, the defending West Virginia Class AAA state champions, and for the second time this season the Colonels gave the Applemen all they could handle.

Though still early in the season and with no tournament title on the line, Wood's Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium had the atmosphere of a championship match. Both teams responded by giving the crowd quite a show, with the Colonels looking for a statement win.

In the end however, the defending champs had just enough to squeak by the Colonels and escape Winchester with a hard fought 3-2 (25-20,16-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-8) non-district victory to sweep the season series.

"I wish it had been a little bit easier," Musselman coach Shawn Martz said. "You've got to give James Wood credit, they came to play. They played some tremendous defense tonight."

Trailing two sets to one with their backs against the wall, the Colonels put together arguably their best set of the season to tie the match.

Wood (5-2) jumped right out of the gate to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set behind a pair of kills by freshman Katie Houser. Still leading 5-4, Houser sparked a 9-1 run with four straight points from the service line, including one of her team-high three aces, to give James Wood a 14-5 lead.

The Colonels eventually extended the lead to22-11 and looked well on their way to an easy win and a tie match.

However, Musselman (10-3) showed the heart of a champion and came charging back. Five straight points made it 22-16 and forced the Colonels to call a timeout. Four of the next five points made it 23-20 and forced Wood to use their last timeout.

Out of the break Taylor Lord's kill pulled the Applemen to within 23-21, but a service error gave the Colonels game point. Unfazed by the situation, Musselman scored the next two points to close the gap to 24-23.

With all the intensity and pressure of a big match riding on the next point, it was one of the youngest Colonels on the court that came through in the clutch. Unable to get into position for an aggressive game-ending kill, Houser instead returned a well-placed, two-handed push that found the court on the Musselman side of the net for the clinching point and a 25-23 win, forcing a fifth set.

In the fifth set though, Musselman's experience and power took over. It was the only set the Colonels were unable to jump out to a quick lead.

With the set tied 2-2 the Applemen used an 8-2 run to force the Colonels to burn both of their timeouts.A 5-2 run for the Applemen clinched the set and the match.

"I'm really happy with the way these girls played, I thought they played so well," James Wood coach Jill Lester said. "We've never taken a set from Musselman before and to my knowledge no Virginia team has beaten them [recently]. You have to give credit to Musselman, their outside is really dominate and they're hard to stop."