After a dominant regular season this year, the Cardinals then marched through the first few rounds of the Section VI Class C2 playoffs to reach Wednesday’s finals against a league opponent they beat twice, Gowanda.

Against a very good defensive team in the fourth-seeded Panthers, No. 1 Randolph knew exactly where to hit the ball as it raced to the sectional title in three sets with scores of 25-13, 25-15, 25-15 at Southwestern Central School gym.

“This is a great feeling,” Randolph head coach Bayley Johnson said about winning the sectional title. “Randolph has always had a great program under other coaches and I’m excited for my first title as a coach here at Randolph. It’s awesome.”

Randolph came ready to play and it showed in the opening set as it stormed to an 8-1 lead. Gowanda’s timeout resulted in a short run, but the confidence was already built for the Cardinals cruising to their easiest win of the night at 25-13.

The Randolph Cardinals, their coaches and managers pose after winning the Section VI Class C2 championship Wednesday at Southwestern Central School. Photo courtesy of Mike Frame

“We talk a lot about momentum in volleyball,” Johnson added. “How important it is to start out strong to keep that momentum. That all plays in your favor.”

Both teams had a slow start to the second set, but once again it was Randolph pulling away as its offense found its rhythm. When the Cardinals offense was moving best it was through senior Eve Adams, who led the way with 25 kills, two aces, seven digs and a block.

“I am very proud of Eve,” Johnson said about Adams. “She came out to play tonight. She placed the ball where it needed (to be). We talked a lot about that in practice and she executed that tonight very well.”

On top of Adams’ impressive night, Donnilynn Sheldon hit three aces, four kills, four digs and a block; Aliza Hind recorded 30 assists, five digs and three kills; Allie Conley had an ace, two kills and a dig; and Avery Morrison added an ace, two assists and 10 digs.

After suffering a 25-15 loss in the second set, Gowanda was down to its final set of the season. Despite its offense not stringing together runs of points, the Panthers stymied Randolph for most of the third set, but once again tailed off at the end.

Randolph’s Eve Adams rises up for a spike. Photo courtesy of Mike Frame

“I told them to give me 110%,” Gowanda head coach Brenda Gernatt said about the third set. “Leave it all on the court. When you walk away, win or lose, I want you to know you’ve given your 110% and you left it all out there. I think that last third game is that they were showing they were leaving it all out there.”

Randolph brought it to the next level to close out the third set, beating Gowanda for the third time this season and claiming its first sectional title since 2019.

“It’s been a great year,” Johnson added about the season. “What I’ll say about this team is we talk a lot about giving 100% every practice and every game. So far this year they have done a very good job of that and I’m very proud of them.”

The Panthers’ effort was led by Holland Browning with four kills and 13 digs; Addison Kota contributed four kills, two blocks and 13 digs; Aubrie Heron put up two kills, two blocks and a dig; Lauren Kelly scored four kills, five blocks and a dig; Jillian Gernatt recorded 17 assists, two kills and four digs; and Ella Luther added 23 digs. Gowanda finishes its season with a 16-5 record overall.

“It’s a very special group of girls,” Coach Gernatt stated. “They’ve worked very hard all year, they’ve had a very good season. They work together, they are a very close team. We have a very young team, we only have three seniors and so a lot of the girls are coming back.”

Randolph’s season continues this Friday when it plays Class C1 champion Portville in the Class C crossover game at Southwestern at 5 p.m.