Dragons Clinch South Division With Win At Panama
PANAMA — The 2016 New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D volleyball championship may belong to Panama, but thanks to a resilient five-set win on the road Wednesday evening this season’s Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association South Division champion is Maple Grove.
After falling in a two-sets-to-one hole to begin the night, the Lady Red Dragons caught fire on offense in the fourth and fifth frames on their way to a 25-18, 17-25, 13-25, 25-11, 25-17 win.
“It was a big win,” said Maple Grove coach Bayley Johnson over the cheers of the Red Dragon student section that had poured onto the court. “I came out and just told them, stay calm, play your game and be confident. Panama is a great team, (Tammy Hosier) is a great coach. I knew we were going to have to work hard, and every point was going to matter.”
The Lady Red Dragons ended the regular season at 20-1 overall and 12-1 in the South Division, with the only blemish on their record coming after losing another five-set classic to Panama on Sept. 26.
After narrowly losing their first meeting of the season, there was little that needed to be done in the way of motivating Johnson’s team Wednesday night.
The Lady Panthers will now enter the postseason with a record of 14-3 after finishing 10-2 in league matches.
“We played so good for the two sets there and then, we just had a few errors and they came on strong,” Hosier said. “They’re a good team, they’re well coached and they cover the court everywhere and the two games when we did great we were covering the court.”
Entering a must-win fourth set after Panama was able to come out firing in the second and third, Maple Grove started out on the right foot with a cross-court kill by senior Olivia Pembridge.
Adding to the fast start was Maddy Russo with a service ace while Maddie Welsh was able to pick up a block on Madalyn Bowen to catalyze the early lead. Another block by Bre Hill made it 8-2, forcing Hosier to call a timeout in an effort to stem the tide.
That break in the action allowed Panama to regain some composure as Kylie Schnars returned to the court with a kill off a set by Quinn Payne, but that effort was short-lived as Hill continued to fire home spikes for a 13-4 Maple Grove lead. The Lady Red Dragons then sent a spike well long but it was ruled a tip by Panama, while Hill stepped to the service line and the Lady Red Dragons cruised to the finish line to even the night at two sets apiece.
Maple Grove was able to maintain its offensive momentum from the fourth set moving into the evening’s decisive frame, thanks in part to a pair of early spikes by Welsh. With the Red Dragons up to an important 4-1 lead, the Lady Panthers got a break as Madalyn Bowen sent a spike traveling wide of the court that was tipped by a Maple Grove defender.
“We had hitting errors, our passes weren’t getting to the setter. They took us out of our game and we never could recover,” Hosier said.
Another overhand by Welsh and a spike from Russo that landed right on the baseline gave the visitors a 6-2 lead, which quickly grew to 8-3 after a long rally was kept alive by blocks from Courtney Hemminger and Alyssa Steen, before the latter was able to finish off the point with a tip-winner at the net.
“It was my whole team working together,” Johnson said. “Getting those passes and getting it to my setter Olivia, and Maddie Welsh really came on strong. Blocking, everything, she did what we told her to do tonight. I said, ‘you guys have to believe in yourself, and you can do this.’ I just said ‘work hard, believe in yourself and never give up,’ and they did that for me.”
Welsh certainly had the right stuff in the middle of the set, earning a block and a kill to give the Lady Red Dragons a lead at 17-8, forcing another Panama timeout with the match slipping away.
Ultimately, it was a pair of hitting violations that ended the final set in favor of Maple Grove.
While the Lady Panthers struggled at times Wednesday, the rest of their season can now be counted one game at a time as they look to repeat as NYSPHSAA Champions.
“One match at a time,” Hosier said. “I’m sure we will be facing Maple Grove at some point in the playoffs.”
If history is any judge, that match should be another classic.
NOTES: Pembridge finished her night with 40 assists and two blocks. … Russo 14 kills and five digs. …. Welsh 16 kills and four blocks. … Hill 12 kills and two blocks. … Emma Wirsen totaled 10 aces for Maple Grove. …. Leading Panama was Bowen with 16 kills. … Payne added five kills, 31 assists, 10 points and an ace. … Alexys Marsh and Gillian Figueroa both finished with four kills and three blocks for the Lady Panthers.
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