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Columbia hitter Sinei Wood is the LCR’s Volleyball Player of the Year. (MANDI SLOAN/Special to the Reporter)
A funny thing happened on the way to Georgia.
The Columbia volleyball team was heading to Valdosta to face off against Lowndes. But on the way there, the team’s bus driver made a bit of an unscheduled detour. Tigers middle hitter Sinei Wood doesn’t remember too much of it, but from what she tells, the bus ran over a fence.
It didn’t impact the team’s travel schedule. Wood claims it didn’t impact the team’s performance either. Nobody got hurt. There was no payoff to the situation that brought dramatic closure, no revisiting the scene of the crime, no ego to embellish the facts. Instead, Wood would’ve liked to talk more about the impact of facing off against the multiple future college athletes Lowndes had on its roster.
It’s just the type of player Wood is: humble.
But as modest as she is, even she can’t deny the impact she had on her team. The other fact she can’t deny?
Being awarded the LCR Volleyball Player of the Year.
It isn’t the first offseason award she has received. The freshman middle hitter reeled in another accolade prior to that when Columbia head coach Trudy Andrews gave Wood her team’s MVP award. Andrews said she rarely, if ever, gives that to a freshman.
“I think in all the 20-something years that I’ve been coaching, I’ve never given a freshman an MVP award,” Andrews said. “She’s definitely a six-rotational player.”
Andrews had good reason to award that to Wood. She led the area with 247 kills, good for 3.4 per set, as a terrifying presence for opposing defenses. She led her team with 52 blocks and came fourth on her squad with 51 aces and 168 digs as the Tigers finished 17-9. If Wood got a fist to a ball, there was roughly a 50-50 chance of it ending up with a Tigers point.“She’s definitely a dynamic, all-around player, that’s for sure,” Andrews said.
Wood said she was more than happy to accept the rare achievement.
“It made me feel very honored,” Wood said. “It made me feel really excited about it and just really happy that I got it.”
Wood’s development into the offensive powerhouse began just a year ago in eighth grade, she said, with the Gainesville Juniors National 14 Black club team.
“We had just gotten done with our season, and we started our travel season with GJ again,” Wood said. “And I just really liked it. I liked playing this sport, I liked having fun with my friends, and I just really enjoyed being on the court.”
While she’s not a violent person, some accidental violence has taken place in several of Wood’s matches, much to her satisfaction. She said she’s hit multiple people in the face with kill attempts and blocks over the past few years, often prompting the opposing coach to sub out that player for a bit.
“Whenever they do (get hit), I think they kind of go out,” Wood said. “I do say something after the game (to them).”
Wood said it wasn’t just the experience with Gainesville Juniors that got her hooked on the sport. Her older sister played, prompting an interest from a young age that stuck with her.
“I’ve just grown up around volleyball for such a long time,” Wood said. “Everyone said I’m just so tall, I should go out to play. So I went out and I played, and I made the team, and then I really started to like it.”
When it came time to join her high school team, Andrews immediately saw the potential in Wood.
“She was already swinging hard and had good mechanics,” Andrews said. “So she came in, she’s got the height. She’s a gritty player.”
Andrews got her first big taste of what Wood could bring to her own program back in July, a little over a month before the Tigers’ regular season got underway. That’s when Andrews and her girls took a trip south to Gainesville to participate in the University of Florida’s volleyball camp. The camp featured a mini bracket of high school teams competing in between different segments of the week that taught valuable on-court skills to Columbia’s players.
“She went to UF camp with us and then to tryouts. And definitely, in the UF camp, she performed at a high level,” Andrews said. “We were able to win our division in camp. That’s the first time that CHS has won a UF camp division. That was huge.”
For all her on-court accomplishments in her life so far, however, it wasn’t enough for the Tigers. Columbia fell to Vanguard in straight sets in the 2-5A District semifinals, who would make it all the way to the state semifinals. Again, no dramatic closure. And, again, it’s just who she is.
“She’s a great young lady,” Andrews said. “She’s a selfless teammate. She’s a great player, tenacious teammate. She plays wholeheartedly, and I think she has a maturity beyond her years.”
The freshman exhibits it. She credits a lot of her own success to her teammates, particularly senior setter Madison Glenn, who assisted on 575 kills for the Tigers this season.
“I wouldn’t really be getting this (award) without her,” Wood said. “She always just really counted on me to put the ball away. She’s very loud. She always knew how to keep the team going and up on their heels.”
With Glenn graduating this year, Wood will be without that unique support. But that isn’t stopping her from dreaming big for her future goals. She wants to get to the state tournament, a feat no other Columbia volleyball team has ever accomplished. While her humbleness nearly stopped her, Wood said she had an eye on winning a state title with her teammates.
When asked to take all this into account with how she’d describe herself as a player, Wood took a measured pause and thought back to the lessons she learned from her mother growing up.
“I would say I’m very… humble I guess?” she said. “I like to keep things to myself but still play my own game, do my own thing, and just do it. Just play as hard as I can.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
MH/OH: Sinei Wood
Columbia, freshman
The LCR’s Volleyball Player of the Year led the area with 247 kills, averaging 3.4 per set, and she contributed across several stat categories to help the Tigers finish 17-9 for their best record since 2012. Wood also led CHS with 52 blocks, and was fourth on the team with 168 digs and fourth on the team with 51 aces.
OH: Kennedy Walker
Branford, junior
Led the Buccaneers with 204 kills and tied for the team lead with 59 aces. She was also third on the team with 212 digs.
OH: Zimora Owens
Suwannee, senior
Led the Bulldogs with 230 kills and also chipped in offensively with 14 aces. She was a force defensively as well, recording 122 digs and 47 blocks.
MH: Rachel Smith
Suwannee, junior
Set a new school record with 107 blocks, which was an area best, while also recording 188 digs defensively for the Bulldogs. Offensively, she finished the year with 137 kills and 36 aces.
S: Madison Glenn
Columbia, senior
Set a new school record with 575 assists and was a key cog defensively for the Tigers, recording 206 digs. She had a nice serve as well, tallying 65 aces.
S: Andi Sabourin
Branford, sophomore
Led the area with 588 assists and was second on the team with 239 digs. She also served up 29 aces for the Buccaneers.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Mendy Sikes, Branford
What was thought be a rebuilding season for the Buccaneers turned into a surprising playoff berth. Sikes led Branford to a 19-7 record — best in the area — and a runner-up finish in District 6-1A. The Bucs fell to Union County in the district championship and then again in the Region 3-1A semifinals, but Sikes has the team trending upward into next season where they should be a regional contender. Her squad was the only team in the area to qualify for the playoffs.