Picture (L to R) Back Row = Sadye Dyne, Haley Mumau, Regan Kemp, Rylee Nickerson, Coach Kelly Goodsel, Emmalee Carr, Grace Allen, Aubrey Chase
Front Row = Sydney Woods, Ava Hallberg, Allison Sawyer, Makenna Moore, Bailee McCray, Sydney Mineo, Halle Albers, Brynley Watrous, Payton McCray
From Kelly Goodsel
Head Coach of Corry Volleyball
The Corry volleyball program rebounded from an opening match loss to Freeport to win the annual Fort LeBoeuf tournament on Saturday. Corry played well all day, winning the opening pool 3-0, winning the second pool (all 1st seeds from each of the first pool), and winning the playoff bracket.
The first round of play for all 16 teams (4 pools of 4 teams each) was one game to 25 against each team in their respective pool. Corry came out focused and took care of Fairview, Cochranton, and Titusville. Winning the first pool positioned Corry in the 2nd round pool against all of the other pool winners… Meadville, Warren, and Saegertown.
The second round of play format was two games each to 25 (game started with a score of 5-5). The senior-laden Corry team served really well in the first set against Meadville, keeping the Bulldogs out of system and the ball away from their Division 1 Marquette commit – Emma Parks. In the second set, Meadville jumped out to an early 12-7 lead, then 15-10, and finally another five-point lead at 20-15, but Corry kept chipping away and tied the score at 22-22 and 24-24 before scoring the final point to take the exciting win 25-24.
Corry served its way to a 25-18, 25-21 win over Saegertown. The highlight of these games was junior serving specialist Sydney Mineo who rattled off 5 aces and had a service run of 10 straight points.
Corry faced a familiar foe, the Warren Dragons, to determine the first seed going into the playoffs. In the first set, Corry jumped out to a 16-10 lead, but Warren battled back to tie up the game 19-19. With the score at 24-24, the Lady Dragons pounded a kill for the 25-24 win. Due to an earlier Warren loss to Meadville, whoever won the last set of pool play would claim the 1st seed. The game was decided when Corry took a tied game (11-11) and poured on the offense with kills by Aubrey Chase, Sadye Dyne, Allison Sawyer, Emmalee Carr, and Grace Allen, expanding the lead to 20-15 and cruising to a 25-19 win.
Corry went into the playoffs seeded #1 (Warren was #2, Meadville #3, and Saegertown #4). Corry swept Harborcreek 15-11 and 15-5 in the quarterfinals.
The Lady Beavers faced Saegertown, who beat the fifth-seeded Fort LeBoeuf in the semi-finals. Saegertown played inspired volleyball in the first set and took the first set after outscoring Corry 5-0 over the last five points to win 15-10. The second set was close throughout, but Corry led the entire game with kills by sophomore outside hitter Grace Allen, and seniors Sadye Dyne and Emmalee Carr. The third and deciding set was tied at 5-5 when Corry scored five straight points and cruised to a 15-8 win.
The tournament finals featured familiar combatants, the Corry Lady Beavers versus the Meadville Bulldogs. This group of seniors (for Corry – Albers, Carr, Chase, Dyne, McCray, Moore, Sawyer, and Woods; for Meadville – Neely, Parks, and Schleicher) have played against each other so many times over the last five years, often meeting in tournament playoffs. Meadville took the opening set 15-13, leading from 3-2 the entire way. In the second set, Corry came out with renewed energy and went on a roll behind two consecutive kills and then a big block by senior opposite hitter Allison Sawyer. Senior outside hitter Halle Albers closed out the game 15-10 with a kill down the line. In the third set, Meadville took an early 3-0 lead and held a 6-4 advantage when senior opposite hitter Emmalee Carr scored to tie the score at 6-6. Aubrey Chase served an ace, followed by kills from Albers and Carr, stretching the Corry lead to 10-7 and forcing a Meadville timeout. Senior setter Payton McCray executed a perfectly placed dump for a kill, and Sadye Dyne sealed the match with a serve receive pass and kill to win 15-11.
“It was a great day for Corry volleyball. We played against seven different teams, with 3 or 4 of them likely going to be in the District 10 finals (for their respective classifications) and possibly the PIAA State Playoffs. We had 16 different players participate, and we pulled out the wins when the pressure was on. We are a tough team to defend; while most teams have two or three players to focus on, we can spread the ball around and did so. We had 6 different players (Albers, Allen, Carr, Chase, Dyne, and Sawyer) register double-digit kills, and all had a positive hitting percentage,” said coach Kelly Goodsel. “Additionally, we gained valuable experience for underclassmen: sophomores Rylee Nickerson, Regan Kemp at the net, and juniors Brynley Watrous, Bailee McCray, and Sydney Mineo all played solid defense. Junior Ava Hallberg and sophomore Haley Mumau took on setting responsibilities, in addition to senior Payton McCray.”
From a statistical perspective, sophomore Grace Allen led the team with 41 kills (followed by Chase, Albers, Dyne, Sawyer, and Carr), set up by 80 assists from Payton McCray and 71 assists from Haley Mumau. Defensively, Corry was led by all-state libero Makenna Moore (81 digs) and rock-solid play by senior defensive specialist Sydney Woods (22 digs). Defense starts at the net with Allison Sawyer, Sadye Dyne, and Aubrey Chase putting up big blocks. Aubrey Chase, Halle Albers, and Sydney Mineo were tough from the service line with 27 aces combined.
Corry is currently 0-1 (loss to Freeport) and is ranked #4 in the PVCA (Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association) rankings. The Beavers are off this coming week and will host their first home match against the Maplewood Tigers on Tuesday, September 10th. The opening serve for JV is at 6:00 PM with Varsity action to follow. If you can't make it to the Beaver Dam, watch it live on the DeeJ Experience Sports Stream!
Scores:
1st Round – Pool Play, Corry went 3-0
Corry over Fairview 25-18
Corry over Cochranton 25-20
Corry over Titusville 25-13
2nd Round – Pool Play, Corry went 5-1
Corry beat Meadville 25-15, 25-24
Corry beat Saegertown 25-18, 25-21
Corry split with Warren 24-25, 25-19
Playoffs = best out of 3 games to 15 points
Quarterfinals – Corry beat Harbor Creek 15-11, 15-5
Semi-finals – Corry beat Saegertown 10-15, 15-13, 15-8
Finals – Corry beat Meadville 13-15, 15-10, 15-11
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