Colonels hold off Pioneers in four

October 5, 2011

By Robert Stocks

WINCHESTER- After watching her team come up empty on its third match point of the fourth set, James Wood volleyball coach Jill Lester called for a timeout.

She wanted to calm her team down after watching them commit three straight hitting errors to make a 24-21 advantage over the Pioneers disappear.

Instead of talking to her players about strategy or execution, Lester decided to lighten the mood - especially after watching the Colonels fail to convert five match-point chances against Millbrook in the third set.

"I just wanted to ease their nerves, so we told jokes during the timeout there for the whole entire minute and a half," Lester said. "I just wanted to ease their nerves because we had a couple of hitting errors right there and all we had to do was put the ball away. I just wanted them to relax."

Colonels senior Erica Hepner broke from the team huddle laughing, and it seemed like Lester's timeout served its purpose. Once the Colonels settled down, they settled things on the court, too.

Hepner responded with a kill, and freshman Katie Houser followed with a kill that the Pioneers couldn't handle, sealing James Wood's 3-1 (25-16, 25-14, 28-30, 26-24) Northwestern District win over Millbrook at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium Tuesday night.

Houser came up big in the final two sets, putting away 12 of her team-high 18 kills. Junior Tarah Wampler added 11 kills for the Colonels (8-4, 1-1 Northwestern).

"Katie always has a big game," said James Wood senior Eleanor Kent, who had five kills, a team-high seven aces and three blocks. "We're really lucky to have her on our team, and we're really proud of her."

And the Colonels can feel proud of their performance in that fourth set, surviving 14 ties and 10 lead changes to close out the match.

A hitting error by Wood helped Millbrook (10-5, 1-2) pull even at 21, but Wampler answered with back-to-back kills followed by a Pioneers' hitting error to give the Colonels match point at 24-21.

On three straight match points, the Colonels committed hitting errors (they had 24 total in the match) before Lester called timeout.

From there, Hepner and Houser put the match away with consecutive kills, but midway through the fourth set it looked like Millbrook might extend the Colonels to a fifth and deciding set.

Millbrook led 18-14, but Wood quickly erased the deficit, getting a tip from Houser and an ace from Kent and took advantage of a pair of hitting errors by the Pioneers.

Millbrook made 10 service errors in last Thursday's 3-0 loss at home against Sherando, and the Pioneers had nine against the Colonels and 22 hitting errors.

"[We] were playing better in the fourth [set], and then we just let them back in it," Millbrook coach Eric Heflin said. "Passing and serving again hurt us tonight."

Millbrook overcame five match points for the Colonels to take the third set. On the first two match points, James Wood committed hitting errors, and then Jessica Craft's block kept the Pioneers in it on the third match point.

A kill by Hepner (five kills and team-high four blocks) gave Wood its fourth match point, but Nicole DeRemer's kill evened it at 27-27.

Wampler blasted a spike that hit the net and rolled over, giving James Wood a 28-27 advantage. On the fifth match point, a bad set by the Colonels resulted in an errant hit into the net.

From there, Parkes (who tied with DeRemer with a team-high 10 kills) blasted a kill through a double block by Kent and Hepner to put the Pioneers ahead 29-28.

On the Pioneers' first match point, Houser's kill attempt sailed wide to give Millbrook the set.

"That was really long and really intense," DeRemer said of the third set. "It was really stressful, but we really wanted it."

Houser's errant hit on match point was perhaps her only miscue in the third set. The Colonels' freshman helped her team overcome a 20-17 deficit, reeling off three straight kills to tie it at 20 and then three more later that knotted the score at 23.

"Millbrook really rallied back, and they were giving us some great competition in that fourth match," Kent said. "I give credit to Millbrook because they played really, really well in that third set."

The Colonels never trailed in the second set and never fell behind by more than a point in the first set, jumping out to a quick 2-0 advantage. In the second set, James Wood used an early 5-0 run and then reeled off seven straight points to take a commanding 16-5 lead. Millbrook never cut the deficit to less than seven from there.

"In the first two sets our offense was really aggressive," Lester said. "I think we tried to get a little fancy with our attacking when all we need to do is set a nice high ball to the outside and let our outsides do what they were doing in the whole entire match. We kind of got away from that in the third set. We were setting the ball back, and a little too quickly, and I think we needed to settle down and go back to what we do best."

Junior Emilee Payne had a team-high 39 assists, and junior libero Kelby Jackson led the Colonels with 21 digs.

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