Colonels edge Judges in five-set thriller

October 12, 2011
By Robert Stocks

WINCHESTER- One coach said she was breathless, and one of the players admitted she was left in tears for the first time following Tuesday night's Northwestern District match between Handley and James Wood.

And Tuesday's match might be the best illustration thus far of how tightly contested the district race - and tournament - will be.

James Wood took the opening two sets against Handley, and the Colonels appeared to be in control with a 12-point advantage in the third. The Judges, however, made sure James Wood wasn't going home early.

Handley rallied to take the third set, carried that momentum to another win in the fourth, and then both teams had multiple match points in the fifth and deciding set.

James Wood junior Tarah Wampler finally sealed the match with an ace that handcuffed Handley senior Dierdre Carter, giving the Colonels a thrilling 3-2 (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 22-25, 19-17) win over the Judges at Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium. James Wood coach Jill Lester said her team let the momentum slip away with a 2-0 advantage.

"It was a lack of intensity and just no urgency. We definitely let up, and I started subbing," Lester said. "Every one of our players played tonight, and it was good to give the other players the experience to play a rival such as Handley. If something would happen to one of our starters, they're going to go in so you want them to have a little experience. But at one point we had an 11-point lead and there are no excuses for not finishing that out. No excuses."

The Colonels (10-4, 3-1) overcame 10 ties, five lead changes and a 9-6 deficit in the fifth set.

The Judges' three-point lead (despite three service errors) forced a James Wood timeout.

Both teams committed several hitting errors as nerves seemed to affect both squads in the decisive set.

After the timeout, James Wood reeled off six-straight points, getting a pair of kills by Eleanor Kent (10 kills, four aces and two blocks) to close the run and put the Colonels ahead 12-9.

From there, the set was knotted four more times before Wampler's kill put James Wood ahead 17-16 for the Colonels' second match point.

James Wood freshman Ashley Hillyard and Carter (11 kills) traded service errors, giving the Colonels their third match point.

Wampler sent her service deep and it appeared Carter hesitated, seemingly trying to judge if the ball was going to sail long, and then tried to play the ball but it glanced off her hands for an ace to end it.

"It came down to who was going to make fewer errors there in the last few points," said Lester, whose team made six hitting errors in the fifth set. "I was just so relieved that I can finally breathe that it was us that made the fewer errors. But give credit where credit is due - Dierdre is hard to stop. I don't think we blocked her - stuff blocked her - one time, and Alex Barnett did a good job going deep line on us."

Handley (9-4, 1-3) committed six service errors in the fifth set, including one on a service error on the Judges' first match point with a 14-13 lead.

"The fifth game didn't come out how we would like it but again the girls fought hard for each and every point," Handley coach Lindsay Hazelette said. "The biggest thing we can take away from it is learning from it. And also learning that every serve is definitely important because we made six service errors."

James Wood freshman Katie Houser dominated, particularly in the first two sets. She finished with a career-high 24 kills.

"Volleyball has ups-and-downs like every other sport," said Houser, who called the fifth set "scary." "They got back in the game, but we just fought back when they did. All of the matches are like this, and it's how bad everyone wants to win."

After the Colonels jumped out to a 13-1 lead in the third set, Barnett sparked the Judges, putting away four kills and adding a block to help Handley rally back to knot the game 21-21.

The third game was tied two more times before Carter's kill put Handley ahead 24-23, and then Judges middle Anna Lehman completed the stunning rally with a kill off Wood's Rachel Rau.

After a relatively quiet start to the match, Barnett came through with clutch play again in the fourth set, putting away back-to-back kills that put the Judges ahead 22-19 and forced a James Wood timeout.

From there, Handley committed a net violation and Wood sent an errant shot out of bounds to give the Judges set point.

A tip by Hepner and an errant hit by Handley kept the Colonels in it, but Barnett's kill on the Judges' third set point sent the match into a fifth set.

The Colonels pulled out that fifth set, but Barnett said her team should be able to build on Tuesday's loss because her teammates dug so deep to stay in it.

"We wanted to focus, fight and get through it and we won the third and fourth set," said Barnett, who had 11 kills and four blocks. "It was so intense. It's the first time I've ever cried during a game. It was so intense, and as a team we were so focused on trying to win, that all that emotion built up.

"We kept our Handley pride through everything, and we tried our best."

Kelby Jackson had a team-high 19 digs, and Emilee Payne led the Colonels with 42 assists.

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