As Sherwood formed a circle and celebrated its five-set road victory over No. 1 Northwest, a grimacing Kaiya Heyliger-Powell peeled away and limped to the padding on the gymnasium wall, stretching away the pain.
All season, the Warriors have been searching for ways to win points without relying on their powerful 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter, but in Wednesday's 25-19, 25-17, 16-25, 19-25, 15-12 upset of the defending Maryland 4A state champions, they didn't have a choice.
While Heyliger-Powell battled leg cramps and remained on the court, her teammates stepped up and finished the job for the Warriors (14-3). On match point, senior setter Megan Wilson dished a high pass to Madison Bliss, whose shot deflected off the tape and landed for the kill.
“I was really looking forward to just slamming the ball down and making sure to bring my team back up,” Bliss said. “You always got to swing strong, no matter what.”
Heyliger-Powell, an East Carolina commit, overpowered Northwest from the left side in the first two sets and finished with 24 kills. Wilson's 34 assists were spread across the lineup, with Bliss and junior Sarah Le notching six kills and freshman Grace Aceto adding five.
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“I’ve been working with Madison and all the hitters to try and take some pressure off Kaiya,” said Wilson, a Virginia commit. “But I think I just trusted all the hitters to put the ball down, and that’s what brought us this match.”
For the Jaguars (11-1), the loss snapped a 31-match winning streak lasting 23 months. Northwest has been adjusting without senior outside hitter Anya Chepurnova, who suffered a torn torn anterior cruciate ligament last week against Wootton. Facing a two-set deficit, sophomore Rachael Bennett put on a white libero jersey — switching from outside hitter — and began pumping up her teammates.
The Jaguars battled back with Bennett defending the back row. Sophomore Hana Rim served up aces to build a 5-0 lead in the third set while sophomore Dasha Kurochkina's blocking, Leilani Mayer's aerial attacks and All-Met sophomore Jenaisya Moore's power shots extended the match to five sets.
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“I was really proud of them because they could have come in here, with a brand new lineup and completely folded,” Northwest Coach Stephanie Blake said, “and yet, we almost won.”
Cramps forced Heyliger-Powell to the sideline in the fourth set. Coaches and teammates handed her water and Gatorade bottles, while the trainer worked on getting her back in the match.
She limped back on the court and notched several timely kills in the fifth set. Her final kill set up match point, then Bliss sealed the victory and set off the celebration.
“I think this game really lit a fire underneath us,” Wilson said. “We’re going to push it all the way through playoffs, and if we see them again [in the finals] we know what to expect and we know how to come at this.”
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