STAC VOLLEYBALL: OWEGO SWEEPS PESKY NORWICH TO REMAIN UNBEATEN (2025-09-30)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego ran its record to 8-0 with a 3-0 victory over Norwich in STAC volleyball action here, but the River Hawks had to scratch and claw their way to their sixth sweep of the season.

After cruising to a 25-9 win in the opening set, Owego found itself tested in the next two before prevailing by 25-23 and 25-19 verdicts.

“They actually had energy the first set,” coach Abbey Manning said. “After that, I think winning, 25-9, they kind of lost that energy and that's what kept us close with them.”

Maybe Owego kicked back and relaxed a little bit after cruising in the opening set, but the River Hawks clearly had to work to avoid losses in the next two sets.

“Go through the motions and go through the motions, and just point by point, but we need to learn to be able to not do that, because we have a big match tomorrow against Corning and Corning's not just going to sit back and let that happen,” Manning said. “We need to be able to be aggressive on every single ball.”

The River Hawks grabbed the early edge in game two, but two close calls near the back line which went in the Tornados’ favor gave the visitors a 6-5 lead. A couple of hitting errors helped Norwich extend its advantage to 12-9.

The two teams were tied at 13, 14, 15 and 16, then Evelyn Howe stuffed a Tornado player at the net for a side out and a 17-16 lead. Owego built 3-point advantages at 19-16,20-17, 21-18 and 22-19, but Norwich battled back to tie the score at 22 and 23 apiece before the River Hawks closed it out.

Game three started out close as well, but Owego pushed its advantage to 12-8 to force a Norwich timeout.

That helped briefly as the Tornado rallied to tie the score at 15, but the River Hawks scored nine of the next 10 points and create some space with a 24-16 lead.

Norwich attempted to put together one final surge, trimming the margin to 24-19 before Alyssa Harrington ended the match with a side out hit along the left sideline.

All-state standout Maggie Hamed recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, and she also received some help at the net from some of her teammates, including sophomore Ava McKeon, who seemed to be a distraction to Norwich at the middle of the net.

“She definitely showed up tonight,” Manning said. “She was blocking, she was swinging, she was earning us points, which is exactly what we needed, at good moments too. It wasn't like we were up five points. We might have been tied and we needed that momentum change.

McKeon finished with five kills and a block, as did senior Evelyn Howe. Freshman Braelea McLaren chipped in with eight digs, four kills and a block while junior Alyssa Harrington contributed 13 digs and seven kills.

Bella Miller, the River Hawks’ senior setter, handed out 33 assists, and also had three kills and three aces.

Owego has a tough challenge Wednesday as it hosts Corning.

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