Blog Report By Kelly Goodsel
Corry Volleyball Head Coach
It was Corry vs Cathedral Prep round three on Tuesday night at McDowell high school. The winner would punch their ticket to Mechanicsburg to play for a state title. In front of a massive crowd of orange and black, the Corry volleyball team rebounded from a poorly played first set to win another 5-set thriller, winning the fourth and fifth sets to head to the state championship match on Saturday. Corry Defeated the Ramblers 12-25, 25-19,20-25,25-23, and 15-8.
Coach Goodsel commented after the match that the first set was probably the worst the Corry volleyball team has played all year, with every player contributing to mistakes in their own way (poor passes, poor sets, hitting errors), resulting in a very lopsided, 25-12 opening set loss.
The second set Corry responded. It started with better passing which allowed the offense to be more balanced (Grace Allen had 4 kills, Halle Albers and Aubrey Chase each had 3 kills, Sadye Dyne scored two and Allison Sawyer and Payton McCray each had 1) and kept the Prep defense guessing. Corry finished on a 17-11 run and took the second 25-19.
The third set was the Olivia Hutchinson show; the Cathedral Prep senior middle blocker dominated at the net, pounding over-pass kills to the floor, tipping to wide open spots on the Corry side of the net, and blocking nearly every ball that Corry tried to hit. “We just didn’t pass very well in the first three sets and made our offense very predictable which allowed Hutchinson to get square to our hitters and block a number of balls.” Said coach Goodsel. “After going down two sets to one, I asked the team… if you had the chance to play one game for a trip to the state finals, would you take it? The team responded with a resounding yes. Then I said, well here is your chance, let’s just go win one set.”
The fourth set was exactly what you would expect or want in a state semi-finals match, both teams playing well, both teams taking a two- or three-point lead only for the opposing team to come back and re-take the lead. Halle Albers and Sadye Dyne combined for a huge block of Hutchinson to take an important 19-17 lead and Prep took their first time out. Cathedral Prep responded with four straight points on two Prep kills a Corry hitting error, and a Prep block, forcing Corry’s first timeout trailing 21-19. Corry responded with their own four point run, capped off by an Aubrey Chase kill and a Makenna Moore ace. Prep took their second timeout trailing 23-21 and after a Prep kill, Halle Albers earned a cross-court kill and after a Corry serving error, Albers finished off the set with another kill to win 25-23.
The fifth set may have been determined on the very first point, with Prep’s Mackenzie Moore serving, Sydney Woods passed the initial serve perfectly and both Sydney and Allison Sawyer had two great digs to keep the play alive; after a couple of Payton McCray setter dumps were picked up by Prep’s libero Moore, Aubrey Chase was able to end the long rally with a kill to right back. After trading a point, Aubrey Chase went back to the service line and scored an ace and led 4-1. At 5-2, Allison Sawyer served an ace forcing a Prep timeout at 6-2. In an attempt to change the serve receive pattern, Prep was called for out-of-rotation and Corry led 7-2. Prep cut the lead to two (7-5), then Prep was called for a net violation sending Sydney Woods to the service line. With the huge Corry crowd cheering “Corry… Corry…Corry”, Emmalee Carr had a kill from the right side and Sadye Dyne had a perfectly placed tip over the block; Prep took their second timeout trailing 10-5. Corry and Prep traded the next six points putting Payton McCray at the service line leading 13-8. After a Halle Albers kill, Corry converted a freeball into an Aubrey Chase kill to right back to close out the match!
“To me, the turning point was in the fourth set when we started passing the ball better which allowed us to run a much faster, more balanced offense and put Prep on their heels. It allowed us to run our middles more which opened up our pin hitters for more effective swings.” Said coach Goodsel. “I have to comment on how it was a team effort, junior Sydney Mineo serving in high pressure situations, the energy the entire bench and players/managers that didn’t dress provided, and constant and deafening cheering from the Corry dominated crowd all contributed to this victory!”
While in the first set every player contributed to the loss, making uncharacteristic mistakes, in the end, every player contributed to the win. Steady Sydney Woods passed great, had 12 digs, and two service aces, and Makenna Moore led the team with 24 digs and had two service aces. Allison Sawyer had 2 aces of her own and six digs, and fellow right side hitter Emmalee Carr had 3 kills and a huge block. Our setters Payton McCray and Haley Mumau led the offense and contributed at key points on defense, Payton had 25 assists and 9 digs, Haley had 21 assists and 5 digs. The outside hitters led the team offensively, Halle Albers had a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs and Grace Allen had 13 kills and 4 digs. Our middles Sadye Dyne and Aubrey Chase hit really well; Sadye and 8 kills and 2 blocks and Aubrey had 7 kills, 2 aces and 3 digs.
Corry improves their overall record to 19-1. They are Region 4 champions with a 9-0 region record. The District 10 champions and now Corry advances to the PIAA State Finals and will play Trinity High School on Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School, in Mechanicsburg, PA. Corry is ranked #2 in the latest PVCA (PA Volleyball Coaches Association) rankings and Trinity is ranked #1. That game is slated for a 1:00 PM opening serve.
This is the end of the line for our video coverage as the PCN Network has exclusive rights to all finals. However, DeeJ Experience has put our request in to do an audio broadcast and we will await for their approval. Upon approval, that audio will be available in the normal places.
Statistical Leaders On The Day Include:
Post Game Interviews with Aubry Chase, Halle Albers, Sadye Dyne, and Head Coach Kelly Goodsel! (video may still be processing)
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