Volleyball: Warriors get the best of Wood

September 28, 2011

By Robert Stocks

STEPHENS CITY- Sherando senior Morgan Sirbaugh knows the Warriors will see James Wood more than a couple times throughout the Northwestern District season.

And it was Sirbaugh's clutch play or teammate Brooke Schneider's powerful kills that helped the Warriors take the first meeting between the two Frederick County rivals.

Sirbaugh and Schneider, the Warriors' two senior front row players, combined for 23 kills, leading Sherando to a 3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-21) sweep of James Wood in the district opener for both teams Tuesday night.

With the victory, Sherando (9-1, 1-0) extended its winning streak to nine games, getting a hard-fought win over the Colonels.

"It was so stressful. It's James Wood, and we knew they were going to be tough competition," said Sirbaugh, who had 15 kills and five aces. "We knew we couldn't get down one point without them coming after us, so we knew we needed to stay on top. It's our first district game, we both want to win, but I'm just happy we came out on top."

Sirbaugh's clutch play was definitely a big reason why the Warriors were able to withstand the Colonels (6-3, 0-1).

Both of the first two games featured back-and-forth action, but in each set Sherando made critical, momentum-changing points.

In the opening set that featured seven ties and five lead changes, James Wood junior Tarah Wampler's ace put the Colonels ahead 23-22.

On the next point, Schneider blasted a kill into the net that rolled up onto the tape and the top of the net before dropping over on the Colonels' side to even the score.

After James Wood freshman Katie Houser's kill attempt sailed long giving Sherando set point, Sirbaugh closed out the first set with an ace that Houser couldn't dig with the ball diving sharply at her feet.

James Wood coach Jill Lester said Schneider's kill that trickled over the net to even the score at 23 was a tough break.

"When Brooke's Schneider's ball hit the tape and rolled over - that was such a huge [play]," Lester said. "Had that ball stayed on their side it would have given us game point, so it was such a big momentum shift for us. To have that happen, there's nothing you can do about that."

While the first set was tightly contested, the second set proved to be even more of a nip-and-tuck battle with 14 ties and six lead changes.

Sirbaugh sparked a 5-0 run with a tip and then three aces to put Sherando ahead 19-14 but the Colonels battled back and had three set points.

The Warriors led 23-21, but three straight errant hits (two by Schneider and one by Sirbaugh) gave James Wood its first set point with a 24-23 advantage.

Schneider (eight kills and two blocks) answered with a kill to tie the match at 24-24, but Wood senior Rachel Rau followed with a kill to give the Colonels their second set point.

This time, Schneider blasted a kill through Rau's block to even it again, but Kent responded with a kill to give James Wood its third set point with a 26-25 lead.

From there, Sirbaugh blasted back-to-back kills to give Sherando a 27-26 advantage. On the Warriors' first set point, Rau's kill sailed long, giving the Warriors a two-game advantage heading into the third set.

"I just wanted to get the ball down and just get us a point to keep us in the game," said Sirbaugh, referring to James Wood's three set points in the second set. "Getting that second game was a huge relief, so it was great to get that one.

"I thought [James Wood] was pretty scrappy. They got a lot of mine and Brooke's hard hits up and back over."

The Colonels, who lost five of their six starters from last year's team that finished as the district runner-up, battled throughout and jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the third set.

The Warriors rallied, getting a pair of kills from senior Daphne Morrison to take their first lead 11-10.

After a kill by Rau tied it, Sherando reeled off five straight points, getting a kill from Sirbaugh, a block by junior Ryan Magalis and then an ace by Morrison (and capitalizing on two hitting errors by Wood) to take a 16-11 lead. James Wood never cut the deficit to less than two the rest of the way.

On match point with a 24-21 advantage, Sirbaugh clinched it with her fourth kill of the set.

Sherando coach Chuck Ashby said he always expects a tight match whenever his team faces the Colonels.

"It's like Virginia-Tech-Virginia, and it doesn't matter what the records are," Ashby said. "It's all bets are off and everybody's going for everybody. Both teams were wound up and fired up and ready to go.

"They all played like seniors, and James Wood, we knew they'd play scrappy and play defensively. That's a tremendous effort to dig Brooke and Morgan all night long."

James Wood junior Kelby Jackson led the Colonels with 16 digs. Houser had a team-high 12 kills (with only two hitting errors), and Emilee Payne led the Colonels with 30 assists.

"I was pleased with how my girls played," Lester said. "All of my hitters hit in the positive [percentage-wise] and that's the first time in 10 games that we've done that.

"We kept battling even when we were down. Tonight, we struggled to pass, and Sherando did a good job serving. Usually passing is one of our strengths, so we'll just continue to work on that. We'll see Sherando again."

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