District volleyball race is wide open

September 27, 2011

By Kevin Trudgeon
The Winchester Star

It's been awhile since the Northwestern District title race was wide open in volleyball.

In fact, last year it wasn't even a two-team race as Sherando cruised to the regular season and tournament championships.

But when the Warriors host James Wood and Millbrook travels to take on Handley in a pair of district showdowns at 7 p.m. tonight, the running narrative seems to be that it's anybody's ballgame.

All four local teams - Skyline is the fifth member of the district - are coming off impressive preseason performances and believe that they can contend for a district title.

The defending-champion Warriors are 8-1 and haven't lost since dropping their season-opener against Liberty in a five-set thriller that coach Chuck Ashby said was a learning experience for his bunch.

"We've just come together as a team since we lost to Liberty," said Ashby, who lost Northwestern District Player of the Year Lauren Wilkins and first team all-district selections Megan Sirbaugh and Casey Haycocks from last year's team.

"We've been more consistent in terms of defense. We've made no secret as to where our power is going to come from with the two seniors [Morgan Sirbaugh and Brooke Schneider] on the outside, but we've mixed it up with our setter rotation and mixed it up with our middle hitters."

Ashby said that one of the best demonstrations of his team's growth early in the season was a 3-0 win over Kettle Run where the Warriors scored 16 straight points at one point.

That's the same Kettle Run team that defeated James Wood, 3-2, this past week, but don't think that means the Colonels are out of the running for a district crown.

Despite the loss of its top two hitters from last year (all-district first team selections Emily Shannon and Hannah Tierney), James Wood is 6-3 and coach Jill Lester is excited about her young talent.

"I really didn't know what to expect [coming in], we lost five of our six starters from last year," Lester said. "But with that being said, I think we're doing well considering our youth. Eleanore Kent is doing a tremendous job filling the role as a leader on the court and fortunately for me I have a group of competitors that have a lot of heart and just don't quit."

Two of those competitors are freshmen Katie Houser and Ashley Hillyard, whose play is a big reason why the Colonels feel they can hang with anyone despite being in what Lester acknowledge was a "rebuilding stage right now."

A team that wasn't rebuilding, but rather looking to take that next step, was Millbrook, which had just three returners last year, and the Pioneers have not disappointed.

At 9-3 they've already eclipsed their win total from last season - when they went 6-13 - and coach Eric Heflin isn't surprised by the fast start.

"I can't say that I didn't expect it," Heflin said. "We're getting smarter and we're working more as a team. And that's really helping these girls improve each game ever since we started the regular season."

And then there is Handley.

With seven returners from a squad that won nine games coach Lindsay Hazelette thought she might have something special heading into her fourth year at the helm, and the Judges have done nothing to prove her wrong.

Sporting a perfect 8-0 record and with a championship at the Blazer Classic under their belt, the Judges have been the talk of the town so far this season.

"I think already people have got their eye out for us and they want to compete against us a little bit more than last year," said Hazelette, whose team is wearing neon yellow shirts as part of their mantra to not go unnoticed this year.

"I'm not shocked [by our start], I knew they had it in them. There's just been so much teamwork and everyone is getting along and we have a lot of hitters and strong defense and we're just putting it all together."

So who is the favorite to finish on top?

"I think it's up for grabs," Hazelette said. "With volleyball it just depends on the night, the different opportunities that you get during play and what you do with them. I just want my girls to go out and battle for every point that they can and I think they can be one of the successful teams in our district."

With no clear-cut favorite, district play should provide hard-fought, down-to-the-wire matches, which should please both the spectators and the participants beginning tonight.

"I want to celebrate how far volleyball's come in this area," Lester said. "We're looking forward to playing everybody.

"We keep playing these West Virginia schools [in the non-district] and there's no rivalry there. We don't go in fired up as if we're going to play Millbrook or Sherando or Handley. Playing them adds intensity to the court. Everyone plays better, jumps higher, hits harder. I can't wait for district to start, it's going to be really exciting."

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