IAC VOLLEYBALL: CANDOR REPEATS AS TIOGA TOURNEY CHAMP, NV TAKES THIRD (24 PHOTOS) (2019-09-14)

Tioga County Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — Candor successfully defended its title at the 2019 Tioga Invitational here Saturday while Newark Valley placed third.

Tioga dropped a 25-18 thriller to defending champs in the final after emerging from Round 2 of pool play as the top seed. 

The Tigers and Indians battled tough through more than half of the championship game. Hanging onto a 16-12 lead, Candor would finally start to inch away on the strength of a 7-3 run. Down, 23-15, Tioga hit a three-point burst before the Indians ended things on an unsuccessful dig attempt and a Jennah Kareem kill which split a pair of back row defenders.

In the semifinal, Candor would eventually pull away from Newark Valley for a 25-13 victory.

"It was a long week. We had three league matches this week," said Candor head coach Pam Quinlan. "I thought the girls came in today ready to play, still played hard even though they probably were a little tired.
"All the teams here, it was a great competition. Semifinals, during pool play, great finals against Tioga. Our setter (Braelyn Hornick) runs a great floor. We have a lot of options for her to go to. I think our passing is pretty good and we get our offense going, and even after a long day we're still playing hard at the end of the day."

Round 1
Candor defeated Moravia, 25-16, 25-12; Chenango Valley, 25-14, 25-17; and Dryden, 25-9, 25-10, to tally 72 points. 

Tioga dropped Oneonta, 25-18, 25-18; Southern Cayuga, 25-6, 25-14; and Lansing, 25-18-25-16, to finish with 60 points. 

Waverly split with Newark Valley, 12-25, 25-15; Union Springs, 25-12, 23-25, and Trumansburg, 19-25, 25-16.  NV bested Union Springs, 25-7, 25-14, but lost to T-burg by 25-12 and 25-22 verdicts.

Round 2
The Tigers defeated Waverly, 25-17, and Moravia and Southern Cayuga by 25-11 scores to collect 36 points. 

Waverly was eliminated from contention with the loss to Tioga, but beat Moravia, 25-23, and Southern Cayuga, 25-9, to finish with 10 points.

One of the highlights for the Wolverines was a record-setting performance by Lewis. She blocked nine shots on the day, to run her career total to 69. That number surpassed the 67 set by Erin Fagan.

Candor edged Oneonta, 26-24, for the top spot in its pool, chalking up 22 points. The Indians also downed Lansing, 25-16, and Union Springs, 25-14.

Newark Valley would emerge as the third Round 2 winner, avenging a pair of first-round losses to T-burg with a 25-20 victory. The Cardinals also topped Chenango Valley, 25-10, and Dryden, 25-15, and ended up with 36 points.

"In the morning, I think we were still trying to wake up," said NV head coach Kelsey O'Donnell. "It was just not clicking and then finally by that second pool.

"They did really well in the end. Obviously, we didn't win, but I'm still really proud of my team overall. No complaints."

For Candor, Shelby Swartz tallied 22 service points, including eight aces, 28 kills, one block and four block assists; Kareem contributed 14 service points, 31 kills, one block, and one block assist; Hornick chipped in with 19 service points, six aces, 85 assists, one block and four block assists; and Megan Henry had 29 service points, six aces, 16 kills and one block.

Brayden Watkins added 19 service points, had Kori Strong 18 service points and Selah Ray had three blocks.

Newark Valley did not track individual stats.

NV hosts Waverly Monday.

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IN PHOTO 1: Candor's Arianna Aman. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR