WINCHESTER — Tuesday’s high school volleyball battle between Millbrook and visiting James Wood was pivotal for the home team. The 16-2 Pioneers, on the heels of a seven-match winning streak, were looking to even the season series after being swept by the Colonels on Sept. 23.
Though Millbrook took the opening set, James Wood ultimately won 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-17), improving to 23-1.
Colonels’ head coach Adrienne Patrick said her players’ trust in each other and their prowess at the net helped secure the win after a slow start.
“We were a little quiet on our side to get started, so we had to kind of find a rhythm,” Patrick said. “Everything we do is family-oriented. Everybody got to play tonight, everybody scored. I feel like we had more block touches and then more actual block points for blocks than we ever have had in any match so far this year. And a lot of that I can contribute to Reese in the front row, she was on fire tonight.”
Junior middle blocker Reese Justice was crucial for her squad, particularly in the third set, where she scored the final three points. Overall, she finished with four blocks and seven kills.
Tasked with meeting Millbrook’s aggressive, taller offensive threats at the net, Justice said remaining confident throughout the match was key.
“I know that I’m a shorter middle compared to some other players, and I just know to stay true to myself and believe in myself,” Justice said. “The timing is what’s key. If your time is right, you’ll be able to block that ball every time.”
In addition to Justice, Millbrook was led by Kennedy Spaid’s 23 kills, 11 digs and two aces, Brenna Corbin’s eight kills and 12 digs, Kylee Plumb’s 26 assists and 10 digs and Kyla Wilhelm’s eight kills, 10 digs and two aces.
The early stages of the opening set saw the opponents go back and forth, with neither team going on a significant run.
The action was tied five times before Aaliyah Green’s third kill of this stretch kicked off a 5-0 Millbrook run. This competitive period set the tone for the rest of the match, as the final three sets began similarly.
Following Green’s kill, the Pioneers also received back-to-back aces from Paisley Cook and a kill from McKenna Homans during the run.
After scoring two points, a pair of errors on the Colonels extended Millbrook’s lead to 15-9. The Pioneers responded with an error of their own, leading right into a 5-0 service run from Claire Keefer that cut the lead to 16-14. Justice, Spaid and Kyla Wilhelm scored during this stretch.
A kill by Justice and a pair of errors allowed James Wood to draw even at 17, but Millbrook responded with a 6-0 run that featured a kill, an ace and two highlight-reel digs from Green, making it 23-17.
James Wood scored three straight points, but a service error brought the Pioneers to set point. Soon after, a final kill by Lora Totcheva gave Millbrook a 25-22 opening-set win.
The second set kicked off with the two teams combining for six early errors, leading to a 7-5 James Wood advatage. Three straight kills for Corbin soon put her team ahead 10-6 and Wilhelm added two of her own to help extend the lead to 14-9.
Millbrook shifted the momentum after Green caught fire, recording six of her kills as well as a block during the second half of this set.
Powered by Green’s offense and strong defense from Kate Madden and Natalie Huck, the Pioneers put together a 6-2 run that cut James Wood’s lead to 16-15.
After Spaid and Corbin helped the visitors stretch their lead back out to 20-6, Millbrook responded with another run, as setter Paisley Cook engineered a 4-0 service run that gave her team a 21-20 lead.
After an error tied the set, a kill by Wilhelm and an error made it 23-21, Colonels. Green recorded another point before seemingly tying the set at 23. However, the official ruled her tip over the net an attack error despite the crowd and her teammates reacting as if she’d scored.
With James Wood now at set point (24-22) an attacking error made it 24-23. However, a service error on the Pioneers ended the set, knotting the match at 1-1.
Millbrook head coach Dave White said his team lost momentum heading into the final two sets, but also noted where his team improved compared to its prior meeting with James Wood.
“I think our energy was great in the start,” White said. “We lost a little bit of that, that was mostly due to their tough serving. Our defensive effort was much better than before. I felt like any hard, driven ball, we definitely got to touch on it.”
Set three saw Millbrook lead 5-4 early after Spaid and Green traded kills. Two more kills from Spaid and an ace by Wilhelm gave James Wood a 7-5 advantage before two kills by Green and another from Abby Claywell helped tie the set 9-9.
Justice recorded a kill to give her team possession, leading to a 3-0 Macie Hewitt service run. Two errors on the home team followed, pushing the Colonels’ lead to 15-11.
Contributions from Green, Homans and Claywell drew Millbrook closer, 18-16, but James Wood responded by outsourcing the Pioneers 7-2 to close out the set.
Justice recorded a block to make it 20-16, before scoring the final three points to help the Colonels win the set 25-18 and go up 2-1. Setter Bella Middleton assisted on two of these kills, as well as an additional one by Kennedi Bower.
“Reese is a really knowledgeable player,” Patrick said. “In the future, she would make a phenomenal coach because she sees the game in such a way, with a lot of prediction and knowing what to do. It’s her ability to read the court, read the floor and then know where she needs to go to block the ball [that makes her stand out].”
The final set was once again close at first, with the two teams tied four times early. Green recorded four kills by the time the scoreboard reached 11-11, while Spaid and Corbin kept their team rolling on the other end.
The Colonels went ahead by two before Justice tipped the ball over the net again to make it 14-11. Her point was the first of a 4-0 Claire Keefer service run that was followed by a 3-0 service run by Wilhlem that put the Colonels in an optimal position, 21-12.
Green recorded a pair of kills to make it 21-14, but eventually a pair of errors, along with kills by Spaid and Kylie Putt, allowed the Colonels to take the final set 25-17.
Having handed Millbrook two of its three losses on the year, James Wood once again proved it can take care of business against top teams. With the postseason around the corner, Patrick said she hopes the coaching staff’s consistent belief in its players allows the team to find success in November once again.
“We believe 100% in the girls and their ability,” Patrick said. “We feel that we have to show that to them for them to buy into even their own capabilities. They’re phenomenal athletes … I’m not on the court, they are. But, to know that no matter what happens, you have somebody that’s going to stand tall with you, catch you if you fall, that can propel you, and that’s what’s gonna get us to the finish line in November.”
With two regular-season matches remaining, the Colonels will visit Kettle Run at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Millbrook’s next match will be away versus Liberty at 7:15 the same day.
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
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