Wilkins spurs Warriors to win

By Tommy Keeler Jr. -- tkeeler@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- With her team trailing by seven points early in the second set, Lauren Wilkins knew Sherando needed a spark. The junior made sure they got it by getting fired up after every point and pumping up her teammates.

"I love getting pumped up," Wilkins said. "The intensity picks up and you just feel it. That's what keeps me going. The adrenaline gets going. I don't play well if I'm not pumped up.

"I felt like somebody needed to step up and so I just tried to get everybody going and get everyone excited. I like getting everybody pumped up."

Wilkins and her teammates turned the set around and went on to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 25-15) win over James Wood in Northwestern District action on Thursday night.

Sherando cruised through the first set, led by the play of Brooke Schneider, who had two kills and a block. James Wood responded quickly to start off the second set as Emily Shannon had two kills, and Hannah Tierney had a kill and an ace to help give the Colonels a 10-3 lead.

After a James Wood service error, the Warriors finally got their act together. Sherando senior Taylor Henshaw served 13 consecutive service points, including four aces. Wilkins had three kills to lead the way during the run and Schneider had two kills of her own as Sherando rallied for a 17-10 lead.

"I'm not sure what it was -- it was like this fire just got lit," Henshaw said. "All of [a] sudden everything just started clicking.

"Lauren [Wilkins] is definitely our most intense player. When she gets pumped up, I think we all feed off of that."

The Colonels (9-6, 3-2) battled back, cutting the lead to 19-16, but again Wilkins led the way for her teammates. Wilkins served three consecutive aces to extend the lead to 22-16. James Wood would get no closer than three points the rest of the set.

The third set started off much like the previous one. The Colonels built an early 13-7 lead, but the Warriors battled back. Sherando finally evened the set at 22-22 on back-to-back kills by Wilkins and Henshaw.

The teams went back-and-forth until a tip by James Wood's Elanor Kent and a Sherando error sent the match to a fourth set.

The Warriors (12-5, 4-1) made sure they started off quickly in the set and built an early 7-3 lead. James Wood hung tough and cut the lead to 11-10 on a Tierney kill. Sherando responded and finished the match with a 14-5 run, led by three kills from Wilkins.

"I remember looking up at the scoreboard when we had 11 points and thinking, 'we don't have enough points up there,'" Sherando coach Chuck Ashby said. "James Wood is always tough. They never back down."

James Wood was led by Shannon with 15 kills. Carly Mullin had 23 assists and five aces, and Cady Schaffer had 16 digs.

It was the third Northwestern District match this week for the Colonels, and coach Jill Lester said that had an effect on her team.

"They were just tired," Lester said. "Even colleges don't play three conference are 15-,16-,17-year-old girls.

"We just had too many hitting errors. We had 25 hitting errors and we still didn't get blown out."

Wilkins led the Warriors with nine kills and five aces, while Morgan Sirbaugh had eight kills and one block. Sherando is now tied with Millbrook for first place in the district. The two teams are scheduled to meet Monday and Wilkins won't have any problem getting pumped up to play another big rival.

"I'm excited. I'm ready for it right now," Wilkins said. "I'm ready for them to bring it."