All-Delco Volleyball: Maddie Wood’s leadership set stage for Garnet Valley’s ‘dream season’
CONCORD — Everyone sees the hitters in volleyball. The big swings are what brings the oohs and aahs from the crowd as well as the players on both teams.
Setters, though, are the players who set the tone. They make those big hits possible. They’re the quarterback, point guard and leader, and Garnet Valley had the best setter in Delaware County over the last three seasons, maybe ever, in Maddie Wood.
The 5-foot-7 senior was the engine that made the Jaguars go and as her game grew so did her leadership skills.
Wood learned that you can’t deal with every player the same. She admits to being a yeller earlier in her career but learned that method doesn’t always work. Players have to be handled differently. Some responded to an aggressive approach. You can yell at them, get in their face. Others have to be handled a little more delicately.
“It comes with maturity,” Wood said. “As a freshman, I pushed my teammates. I held my teammates to a very high standard. That hasn’t changed but I’ve found a form of communication that works better than a more aggressive form of communication. Lately, I will see what each player needs, if they need to have a private conversation or if I can just say it out to them. I’ve used different forms of communications with my teammates to help them grow.”
Garnet Valley coach Mark Clark credited Wood’s leadership as much as her physical skills as the driving forces behind the Jaguars’ playoff run that resulted in a District 1 Class 4A title and a berth in the PIAA Class 4A final, where Garnet Valley dropped a 3-1 decision to six-time champion North Allegheny.
“Her leadership was off the charts, especially in the playoffs,” Clark said. “She really stepped up her leadership game in the postseason. She’s really honed her skills and learned how to get the most out of her teammates.”
For that, Wood is the Daily Times Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
Joining Wood on the All-Delco team are her sister, Sarah and Garnet Valley teammate Kelly St. Germain; Notre Dame’s Margo Kemp, Sacred Heart’s Emily McKenna, Sun Valley’s Jenna Jones and Cardinal O’Hara’s Jasmine Sullivan.
Maddie Wood is a three-time, first-team All-Delco selection. St. Germain, Kemp, McKenna and Jones are repeat picks. Maddie Wood, St. Germain, Kemp and McKenna are seniors, Jones and Sullivan are juniors, Sarah Wood is the only freshman on the All-Delco team, which was selected by the Daily Times sports staff after consultation with county coaches.
Maddie Wood put up phenomenal numbers for the Jaguars. She posted 1,017 assists as a senior to bring her career total to an astonishing 2,806 helpers. The Daily Times does not keep county records for volleyball but it’s hard to believe that anyone had more career assists than Wood, especially when you consider one of those seasons was the COVID year of 2020, when the Jaguars only played 12 matches. She had only 28 errors in 466 service attempts for a .939 serve percentage.
She was at her best, though, in the playoffs, posting 325 assists for an average of 40.6 per match in eight postseason contests. She racked up 57 assists in Garnet Valley’s 3-2 victory over Unionville in the district final and 37 in the state championship loss to North Allegheny.
“Once you get to playoffs, especially as a senior, when you lose, you’re done,” Wood said. “We just had to keep going. It was a little hard at first to find the balance of getting the team motivated and getting them to be confident. It’s just so many things that play into it, so you really have to think about how you’re leading the team in the playoffs as the intensity picks up. I think they all responded really well.”
The Jaguars went 25-2 with the only losses coming to Unionville in the fifth match of the season and to North Allegheny. Along the way, Garnet Valley won the Central League title for the seventh year in a row, captured the district crown for the third time in school history (and first since winning the Class AA championship in 1996), and reached the state final for the second time since winning the 4A title in 2016.
“I said from the first scrimmage that I thought we could be great,” said Wood, who will play beach volleyball at the University of Tampa. “It was just the connection between the team and how the girls meshed together. It was really something special having Sarah on the team this season, she was a big part. She really helped keep the team together. We had an outlet, but it also opened up opportunities for Kelly (St. Germain) to score. I think those two really complemented each other nicely.”
Getting to play with her younger sister was a personal highlight for Wood. It’s something the siblings have done numerous times in beach volleyball but never had the opportunity for the the indoor game because of their age difference.
“It was so much fun,” Maddie Wood said. “She is by far the best hitter I’ve ever set and as the season went on we got so much closer. It was such a nice way to bond with my sister. She is so talented and it was so great not just playing with her on the court, but spending time together off the court. I know we’ve played together in beach, but this was just something else with the team aspect of it. It was just so great to play with my sister.
“We have been waiting for this, to play together, and I could not have asked for a better season with her. I could not have been happier to have this season with her. It was a dream season.”
