By Kelly Goodsel
Corry Volleyball Head Coach
Corry volleyball avoided a letdown after defeating state ranked Maplewood (#7 in class A), traveling to Cochranton on Thursday night and playing another state ranked team (#6 in class AA), defeating the Cardinals in 4 sets.
Corry jumped out to an early lead with a kill by senior opposite hitter Allison Sawyer, and ace by senior outside hitter Halle Albers, and then a great block by Sawyer and senior middle hitter Aubrey Chase. Similar to the Maplewood match, Corry’s balanced offense was a key to victory. Seniors Chase, Sawyer, Albers, Emmalee Carr, and sophomore outside hitter Grace Allen all had kills building a 20-10 lead.
The second set saw Corry jump out to an early 8-4 lead again on a big kill by Sawyer and a double block by senior middle hitter Sadye Dyne and Allison Sawyer. Cochranton responded and took an 11-8 lead on several kills and a number of Corry errors. Corry tied the game up at 13-13 and the rest of the set was a one or two point game. Corry had the lead at 24-23 with the serve, but Cochranton responded with a kill. Corry’s Halle Albers had a nice line shot to tie the game 25-25, but a Corry hitting error and a big kill by Cochranton tied the match up 1-game for each team.
Despite the disappointing end to the second set, Corry jumped out to a big 7-1 lead and forced an early Cochranton timeout. Corry led 10-3 when some inconsistent serve receive passing gave Cochranton new life and tied the score at 12-12. Corry had a 5-point run to regain the lead 17-12 and scored the last six points of the 3rd set to close the game 25-16.
The Cochranton Cardinals did not give up, jumping out to 5-2 and 9-6 leads early in the fourth set. Corry tied the game up 11-11, 13-13, and with the game tied at 19-19, Corry scored six of the next nine points. Aubrey Chase had a service ace, then senior middle hitter Sadye Dyne earned two points with back-to-back kills. Allison Sawyer pounded a kill down the line just missing the Cochranton libero and Halle Albers finished the game with a service ace.
“Early in the season, I’m never sure how kids are going to react to “first times”… playing Maplewood was our first home match, was first time some kids played varsity, and for nine seniors it was the last first home match of volleyball. So, after that big match winning in 5, to travel two days later to Cochranton and play another state ranked team was quite a mental and physical challenge. I’m pleased with how we responded… I don’t think we played particularly well, especially in serve receive, but I was impressed with how our team handled the pressure, handled the quick turnaround, handled the hot gym, and how we pulled out the ‘first road’ victory!”
It will probably be a theme all season… “balanced offensive attack”. In the first set, we had five different players get multiple kills (Albers, Allen, Carr, Chase, and Sawyer) with Aubrey Chase leading the team with 4. The second set, six players had kills and Grace Allen led team with 4 kills. The third set also saw six players get kills and Aubrey Chase led the team with 5 kills before Grace Allen leading the team with 4 kills and Sadye Dyne had 3 kills.
Defensively, Corry was led by Makenna Moore who had 22 digs for the second consecutive match, Halle Albers had 15 digs, and Sydney Woods had 8 digs. Senior setter Payton McCray led the team with 32 assists in addition to 8 digs. Sophomore setter Haley Mumau had 16 assists and 7 digs.
Corry improves to 2-1 on the year and plays the two home matches next week. The Beavers host Iroquois on Tuesday September 17th, and a Homecoming special event on Wednesday September 18th against a major Region 4 opponent Cathedral Prep.
Corry volleyball beats Cochranton 25-16, 25-27, 25-16, 25-22. Statistical leaders include:
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