By Tommy Keeler Jr. -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — With a critical doubles victory hanging in the balance, James Wood freshman Headley Wilson turned to teammate Kari Pope and said, 'no worries, we got this'.

Wilson and Pope had already done their part for the Colonels. Now came the tough part: watching their teammates. James Wood's No. 2 doubles team of Kylie Vess and Brooke Buckley ensured the Colonels had no worries. The pair rallied from a set down to give James Wood a 5-3 win over Sherando in the Northwestern District tournament semifinals. The win gives the Colonels a Region II berth and advances them to today's tournament final against Handley.

"It was intense," Vess said of the deciding match. "We just tried to stay focused. It's amazing."

With James Wood (14-3) clinging to a 4-3 lead, Vess and Buckley knew the match's importance. Things got even more nerve-wracking for the pair when they lost the first set, 6-4, to Sherando's Laura Gibson and Hannah Rossi.

"We tried not let our spirits get down," Buckley said.

The James Wood pair battled back to win the second set 6-2, but fell behind early in the third. Gibson and Rossi went up an early break and held a 3-1 lead.

Two games later the James Wood pair broke back to even the set at 3-3.

"We just tried to stay positive," Vess said. "We knew anything can happen."

The James Wood pair made things happen throughout the remaining three games. They broke the Sherando pair for a 5-3 lead, and Buckley served out the match at love to send James Wood into the regionals for what is believed to be the first time in school history.

"I can't even describe this feeling," Buckley said. "We wanted this so bad."

Wilson and Pope watched the match anxiously, but never had a doubt they would come through.

"I had faith in them," Wilson said. "I trust everybody on this team. I know that even in tough situations they will pull it out."

Added Pope: "I was so nervous watching. I'm glad that we pulled it out. It's definitely tougher watching than playing, because when I'm playing at least I have some control over what happens."

Pope, Wilson and Vess gave the Colonels a quick 3-0 lead with wins at 1, 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Sherando battled back with wins at 4 and 5 by Gibson and Anna Lee. The match at No. 6 lasted two hours, 28 minutes with Sherando's Karen Davis pulling out a 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4 win over Amber Knox.

By the time that match was over, James Wood's Pope and Wilson had already won at No. 1 doubles, 6-1, 6-0. The pair lost the first game, but then ran off 12-straight in the victory.

"After we lost that first game I was like 'uh-oh, I hope we're not going to play a sloppy match,'" Pope said. "After that we got it together, and we played well."

Sherando (11-6) was playing without normal No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles player Cara Gallaher, who sprained her ankle earlier this week. Sherando coach Gary Sawyer subbed in Rossi, a freshman who had never played a varsity singles match.

Despite the loss, Sawyer was very happy with his squad's performance.

"These girls have come a long ways," Sawyer said. "I'm really proud of all of them. I think we definitely excelled with the lineup that we had. James Wood played well."

The Colonels will play in the Region II quarterfinals next week, but first they have a match against Handley, the defending Group AA state champions.

"We're just going to play our all. We have nothing to lose," Wilson said. "It's really exciting to be going to regionals. I'm just glad I had the chance to be on the team when it happened. It's a good feeling."

*Contact Tommy Keeler Jr. at tkeeler@nvdaily.com

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