IAC VOLLEYBALL: NEWARK VALLEY SWEEPS S-VE AS PANTHERS DEAL WITH HEAVY HEARTS, INJURIES (24 PHOTOS) (2019-09-19)
BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportNEWARK VALLEY — The S-VE spikers came to town Thursday hoping to pull off an upset, but with heavy hearts and injuries to key players, the Panthers were no match for Newark Valley, which would post a 3-0 IAC South crossover sweep.
The Cardinals pulled away to win the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-15, but S-VE wasn't about to give in and made the home team work a little harder for its 25-16 win in the final game.
The Panthers would jump in front in the last set, 5-2, then it turned into a back-and-forth battle until NV put together an eight-point run to grab a 23-15 advantage.
"I did tell them, try some trick shots, try some shoots, try whatever they call different things, like when they shoot around and different things like that," said NV head coach Kelsey O'Donnell. "I think that threw them off initially, because they weren't getting those trick shots like we planned, but it was the time to do it and I don't regret it."
Despite an emotional couple of days, S-VE head coach Sarah Heveland praised her team for their effort.
"They played really hard. I'm happy with them," she said. "The past couple of days have been rough at Spencer with losing their teacher, so we didn't practice yesterday and we had all of our memorial stuff at school today, so it was a rough day on the kids, so I think they played hard with everything going on."
On Wednesday, John Everett, a popular teacher and coach in the district, passed away unexpectedly, leaving family, friends, co-workers and students with heavy hearts.
If Everett's passing weren't tough enough, the Panther roster has been depleted by injury.
"We do have three starters that are still injured, and one more out, so having four out is tough," Heveland said.
Clearly, the injuries are hurting S-VE's performance.
"Definitely, the three starters sitting for injuries takes a toll on our communication and our leadership," Heveland said.
Not everything was gloomy for the team, however.
"They didn't give up," Heveland said. "They worked hard and I did see a couple young leaders come out, so that made me happy."
Meanwhile, NV seems to be finding its niche. The Cardinals placed third behind perennial powerhouse Candor and Tioga at the Tioga Invitational and defeated defending IAC Large School and Section IV Class C champ Waverly in a divisional showdown Monday.
Despite Tuesday's loss to Candor, which has won 27 consecutive regular-season matches are still in the driver's seat to win the South Large title.
O'Donnell is dealing with an injury issue as well, but it's actually not a bad dilemma to have.
"I'm glad to have one of my middles back, Chelsie Fuller. She was out with an injury. That's why I brought up Gracie Gardner," she said. "So, now I'm in kind of a pickle. How do I use both of these really tall middles on the same team? Hopefully, at practice tomorrow we can figure out a new game plan so I can really be intimidating in the front row, maybe even have both of them in the front row at some point just to double block and be even stronger."
Allie Wandell handed out 13 assists for NV to go with eight digs, six kills and a pair of aces. Jordan Stiffarm served up 10 aces, and added nine digs and three kills; Emma Graves had seven kills, four digs and two blocks; Fuller had three kills and a dig; Kayla Malarkey had three digs and a kill; Kimi Mertson chipped in with three digs and two aces; Libby Northrop had three kills; Gardner had two assists; Kate Maine had one assist; and Leah Hartenstein added an ace.
For S-VE, Sam Deppe dished out eight assists and had five digs; Lizzie Graham had four kills and three digs; Daisy Vallely contributed two digs, two assists and a kill; Sophia Dutra pitched in with two kills, two digs and an ace; Emily Jones had two kills and a dig; Ashleigh Morais had two kills, two digs and an ace; Gillian Jackman had two aces and a dig; and Lydia Diboun and Makayla Dacey added five digs each.
On Monday, Newark Valley travels to Newfield and S-VE hosts Tioga.
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IN PHOTO 1: NV's Kayla Malarkey. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR
