WINCHESTER —The last time James Wood and Handley met, the Colonels won 3-2 after being taken to five sets for the first time this season. This time around, James Wood took care of business with a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-16, 25-15), improving to 22-1 this season. Handley fell to 12-8.
Besides earning a win over a local rival, Thursday was also a special occasion for James Wood because the match marked its yearly Volley For A Cure match. The Colonels wore pink uniforms to raise awareness for breast cancer, and head coach Adrienne Patrick said the program would be donating the money raised at the event to the non-profit Special Love.
After the match, junior setter Kylee Plumb said she and her teammates were motivated by both the chance to support this cause and the opportunity to earn a statement victory.
“It’s another reason to want to fight out there. We’re fighting for something bigger than us,” Plumb said. “We’re out there just trying to really prove ourselves, while also helping raise awareness for this cause.
“I think we just wanted this one more. I think last time we kind of underestimated [Handley] a little bit. This time we knew what we had to do and walked in and got it done.”
The win also marked a significant milestone for Plumb, who recorded her 1,000th career assist. In her second match back since returning from injury, Plumb tallied 20 assists and five digs, while Kennedy Spaid (15 kills, 13 digs, four aces) and Brenna Corbin (10 kills, eight digs) also made key contributions.
The opening set saw James Wood jump out to a 5-1 lead behind kills from Spaid, Corbin and Reese Justice. An ace from Kinley Duvall and a kill by Breeze Johnson helped Handley get right back in it, 5-4.
The two teams continued going back and forth until an ace from Corbin made it 12-10. This kickstarted a 4-0 run for the Colonels. Two kills by Sadie Bailey helped Handley cut the lead to 17-12, but the Judges called timeout once the score hit 19-12.
Coming out of the brief break, Johnson added a kill and an ace, helping Handley draw closer, 20-15.
Despite this, Handley’s momentum soon faltered. It committed two service errors, a ball-handling error and a set-sealing attack error down the stretch, causing James Wood to take set one 25-18.
Handley head coach Kristen Larson said she didn’t feel her team brought its A-game against the Colonels following a busy past week that included a recent 3-0 loss to Millbrook.
“Our team did not play to the best of their abilities tonight, and I think that was evident,” Larson said. “It’s just kind of given us some things that we need to look at and work on. We’ve had a long couple of weeks here with lots of events, our Dig Pink and our Senior Night, and Sherando and Millbrook and James Wood. It’s really hard to play three in a row against that level of competition.”
The second set saw Handley keep pace with the Colonels initially, with James Wood leading 10-9 early on. The Judges got strong contributions from Johnson and Bella Hines during this stretch, as each scored two points. On the Colonels’ side, Plumb set Spaid up for three kills to help their team carve out its one-point lead.
James Wood then pulled ahead, going on a 7-1 run behind kills by Corbin, Kyla Wilhelm and others. During this run, Plumb recorded her 1,000th career assist, setting up Corbin to make it 12-9.
Plumb called the achievement something “I’ve been working for since I made the team,” while Patrick said she was impressed with her standout setter.
“It’s a tremendous milestone, especially to be able to do it in your junior season,” Patrick said. “The fact that she can do it with the players that she’s been playing with [for years], I know that means a lot to her as well.”
Handley scored another point to make it 17-11, before freshman Kennedi Bower helped her team score four straight points.
After recording a kill, Bower led a quick 3-0 service run to put James Wood in a comfortable 21-11 position. Bower also set up Spaid for a kill to make it 23-14 before an ace by Corbin and an error on Handley wrapped up set two 25-16.
Patrick described Bower as a “quiet sponge,” crediting her for fitting in seamlessly with a group that’s used to competing at a high level.
“The veteran girls say something, boom, she’s absorbing all of that,” Patrick said. “She wants to learn. She’s a student of the game, and she already has a pretty high IQ. She has limitless possibilities.”
The final set began with a kill and an ace for Corbin, before Handley fought back to tie it up 4-4. Bella Middleton subbed in for Plumb and set up Corbin and Spaid for kills to help extend the lead to 8-6.
Another Corbin kill led into a 5-0 service run for Macie Hewitt, who recorded an ace during this stretch. Bower and Claire Keefer added kills to make it 13-6.
Handley would continue fighting back, but could never sustain any sort of run. For every point or two it scored, an error or a timely James Wood kill followed. The Judges cut the lead down to 16-13 at one point, but three errors across the next four serves put them in a tough spot.
Larson called time once her team went down 19-13, but an ace for Kyla Wilhelm out of the break only added to James Wood’s momentum. From here, kills by Spaid and Kylie Putt helped make it 22-14.
Spaid added an ace and Corbin added a kill to make it 24-14 before an error gave Handley one final point. Middleton then set Spaid up for the match-winning kill, thus handing the Judges a second straight defeat.
After the match, Patrick said a variety of factors contributed to her team’s win.
“To start off with, we had a goal in mind to stay determined, stay focused … we didn’t have any hiccups to interrupt that,” Patrick said. “People always say that there’s some type of home court advantage, and I would agree. I feel that that played in our favor a bit. Other than that, we are on the mend. We have our full roster that’s eligible to play, so things like that are also helping us out.”
Handley was led by Johnson (10 kills, nine digs, two blocks), Teagan Braun-Duin (17 assists, 11 digs) and Tenley Mattison and Bella Hines (three blocks each).
Following this victory, the Colonels will next visit 16-2 Millbrook on Tuesday, while the Judges will return to action against Skyline that same day. Both matches are set for 7 p.m.
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21