Posted: September 17, 2014
By KEVIN TRUDGEON
The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — The James Wood volleyball teams knows that it will face much tougher competition down the road than it did Tuesday night.
But for a team with state championship aspirations, every match is a chance to work on things and get better, and the Colonels did both of those things in a 3-0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-9) sweep of an overmatched Park View side Tuesday.
James Wood (9-1) totaled nine aces in the first set, had nine different players tally a kill and showed off their depth as coach Jill Couturiaux used her entire bench in the runaway victory.
“It is a conference match, so we didn’t want to come out and play flat,” Couturiaux said. “We definitely wanted to come out and get in, get the job done and get out.
“But there’s also some things we’ve been working on offensively, like running a faster offense and running particular offensive plays and it was a good time to attempt some of those things we’ve worked on in practice.”
The service game was in full force for the Colonels early on as senior outside hitter Katie Houser (match-high 14 kills and five aces) helped stake her team to a quick 12-2 lead in the first set with four straight aces.
Houser’s run was part of an impressive nine aces for James Wood in the opening set, with senior libero Ally Iden (seven digs) adding three of her own and seniors Abbye Prelip and Ashley Hillyard getting in on the action with one apiece.
Park View (2-2) managed to shore up its serve receive — the Patriots did not surrender another ace the rest of the way — but the Colonels kept the offensive attack coming.
Houser came out firing in the second set with five kills over the first six points and a Patriot service error sparked a 8-0 run by James Wood that featured a pair of kills from junior middle blocker Emma Montgomery, three more from Houser and quick strike from Hillyard (10 assists).
“We just wanted to make a statement and not play down, we wanted to play our game,” said senior defensive specialist Lexi Copley. “We wanted to keep the intensity up and not get down.”
After trailing 19-5 following a kill from sophomore opposite Leilani Burch, the Patriots managed to cut into the deficit thanks to a solo block from sophomore Amera Saber and a kill by sophomore Thy Dao, but the Colonels finished off the set with a 6-1 run punctuated by a Burch tip to win 25-9.
“We lost six seniors from last year’s team, so we are rebuilding,” said Park View coach Leanne Clarke. “Basically I told the girls to just have fun and that we’re going to learn from this, because otherwise they get inside their heads.”
The third set feature more of the same from the Colonels, with senior Lindsey Painter, sophomore Taylor Heishman, junior Kirsten Mullen, sophomore Ashanti Day, senior Savannah Yost and junior Sydney Furr contributing to the attack.
Five straight kills from Yost, Furr and Day off assists from sophomore setter Megan Hillyard (team-high 11 assists) staked James Wood to a 13-3 lead and it cruised from there, with Heishman providing the match-clinching kill.
“We just want to work as a team and be aggressive,” Furr said.
Couturiaux knows the competition will get tougher for her squad with the start of district play coming up and the when the postseason arrives, but she was happy with the way the Colonels took care of business Tuesday and allowed her to get everyone time on the court.
“The girls work so hard in practice and it’s nice to be able to reward the entire team with playing time,” Couturiaux said. “And I felt like it just showed the depth of our bench tonight because literally every girl contributed. And that’s what you want to see.”
— Contact Kevin Trudgeon at ktrudgeon@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports