STEPHENS CITY — Tuesday night’s high school volleyball matchup between Sherando and James Wood featured two great teams looking to bounce back from rare losses. Last time out, the Colonels’ undefeated season came to an end with a 3-0 loss to North Hagerstown, while Sherando also suffered a sweep, seeing its eight-match win streak snapped by Millbrook.
With both teams fired up and aiming to get back in the win column, James Wood emerged with a hard-fought 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-5) victory. Outside hitter Kennedy Spaid recorded 26 kills, 11 digs and three blocks, while outside hitter Brenna Corbin added 12 kills, 19 digs and six aces.
Additionally, libero Macie Hewitt made 19 digs and, in the absence of injured setter Kylee Plumb, middle blocker Reese Justice recorded 25 assists and eight digs. This win improved the Colonels to 19-1, while Sherando fell to 11-3.
After a deflating loss in the fourth set, the Colonels stormed back and avoided defeat. Both Spaid and head coach Adrienne Patrick attributed this to the players remaining confident in each other through adversity.
“We definitely have a lot of challenges right now, because we have some hurt players,” Spaid said. “So I think we’re moving positions. And I feel like [tonight], we built trust throughout the game, we won and we pulled it off.”
“At the end, we talked about just trusting each other, trusting your team,” Patrick said. “They have all the skills that they need to play and to win. It just has to all click together. They had a commitment that they weren’t going to let down. And I think that’s what got them through in the last set.”
Before the match reached a tense final stretch, James Wood kicked off the first set by going up 5-1 behind three kills from freshman middle blocker Kennedi Bower, who finished with seven kills. Sherando rallied and tied the set at six before a pair of Hannah Beck kills helped it go ahead 10-8.
A trio of errors, along with an ace by Hewitt, cut Sherando’s lead to 14-13. The action was tied at 15-15 and remained knotted at 17-17, 18-18 and 19-19 across the ensuing serves.
From here, the Colonels caught fire and embarked on a 6-2 run to win the opening set. Spaid recorded three kills across this stretch, while Bower recorded an ace and Corbin added a kill. Justice assisted on two of Spaid’s points.
Patrick said Spaid, fresh off breaking the school record for career kills two matches earlier, continues to be a difference maker as a “phenomenal hitter.”
“I think at least two of her kills today were her swinging with her left hand, and she’s right-handed,” Patrick said. “Her versatility at the net, to be able to swing and find holes, push through the block … it speaks to her fortitude. Her ‘I’m not going to give up, I’m going to keep fighting.’”
Following Spaid’s strong finish to set one, her team opened set two on a 4-0 run. A pair of kills by Avery Curtis helped Sherando fight back, but the Colonels led 10-6 early.
A block by Kyla Wilhlem and an ace from Corbin extended James Wood’s lead, but back-to-back errors on the Colonels made it 14-10.
A service error, a Clarie Keefer ace and a kill by Spaid gave them a stronger cushion (17-11), but it wasn’t strong enough to preserve the lead.
After an attack error on James Wood, Sherando gained possession and went on a 6-0 service run that was engineered by Carleigh Ritter. During this stretch, Ritter recorded two aces and Curtis tallied three kills, helping the Warriors take an 18-17 lead.
From here, the Warriors continued excelling. Beck recorded three kills and a block, while Addy Collins recorded an ace and Riley Alger made a kill to propel Sherando to a 25-21 set victory.
Warriors head coach Chuck Ashby said he was impressed with his team’s efforts, especially near the net.
“I couldn’t be happier with our kids, I thought they did amazing,” Ashby said. “That’s what we worked on in practice all week. We worked on blocking, we worked on blocking seams. [Curtis and Beck] just have been pretty solid there all year round.”
Sherando carried this momentum over into set three, going up 8-3 early. James Wood stormed back, cutting the lead to 11-10 behind kills from Spaid, Corbin and others.
Curtis, Beck and Sophia Zimmerman scored points to extend the Warriors’ lead to 15-11, and two errors on the Colonels made it 17-11. Yet, the error bug soon hit Sherando much harder.
Late in set three, the Warriors committed two attack errors, two ball-handling errors and a service error. Additionally, two kills from Spaid and another from Wilhelm helped James Wood tie the set at 20 before the second-ball handling error gave the visitors a 21-20 lead.
From here, Spaid recorded two kills and a block before Corbin made the set-winning kill to give the Colonels a 2-1 lead. Ashby said he felt his team “playing too tight” late in the set, and said it played with more freedom in the fourth set.
“I just felt like there was a lot of confidence knowing that they really had nothing to lose,” Ashby said. “You’ve got to get a fourth to get to the fifth, and I think they just were aggressive.”
Sherando’s aggression allowed it to respond by going up 10-4 to kick off set four. Beck, Alger and Ashley Smith each scored two points during this time.
An ace from Beck, a pair of kills by Curtis and two James Wood errors furthered the lead to 16-7. Cami Golliday and Collins added points to help push the score to 21-11, before three errors on the Colonels led to Ritter recording a set-winning ace to tie the match at two sets apiece.
During the fifth and final set, James Wood responded with vigor. Corbin opened it on a 6-0 service run, before a service error gave Sherando a point.
Spaid made two kills to help move the lead to 10-1, before a Colonels’ error and a kill by Smith made it 11-3.
Spaid and Keefer each notched another point before a match-deciding attack error gave James Wood the 15th point it needed to earn a 3-2 victory.
Ashby said he felt Sherando playing its first five-set match of 2025 hurt it late.
“To have the girls go into the fifth, you could tell we were a little nervous, a little hesitant,” Ashby said. “And I’m sure James Wood was probably used to pushing five. James Wood is a great team. I wish we could play someone like that all the time.”
Patrick said the key to responding to set four was taking a deep breath and taking things one play at a time during the final set.
“I think we had moments when we were kind of in a scramble for sure, and we just needed to settle down on our side,” Patrick said. “So anytime you can get serves in a row, pass well and just take it one point at a time, I think that’s what can help you.”
Following this win, James Wood will return to action on Thursday by hosting Liberty at 7 p.m., while Sherando will visit Handley at 7:15 p.m. the same day.
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21