STAC VOLLEYBALL: OWEGO EXTENDS WIN STREAK TO 15 WITH SWEEP OF CHENANGO VALLEY (2021-09-21)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — It may not have been Owego's best performance, but the Indians still managed to extend their win streak with a 3-0 sweep of Chenango Valley in STAC girls volleyball action here Tuesday night.

It was the 15th consecutive win, including the 10 matches the team won earlier this year.

Owego trailed in every set, but rallied to post 25-16, 25-22 and 25-14 wins.

"We're struggling a little bit right now, obviously," Owego coach Brittney Race said. "We're struggling finding some energy. We're struggling with not really having a sense of urgency.

"We're pretty passive at the moment. We sit back and hope that other teams are going to make mistakes instead of us going out and making things happen and earning our points. (It's) something we've been working on, something we're going to continue to work on, see if we can find that spark somewhere."

The Warriors would build a handful 4-point leads early in the first set, but Owego came back and took the lead for good, 15-14, on a side out. The Indians scored 11 of the final 13 points.

CV looked like it would dominate the second game, jumping out to a 7-0 advantage. However, the Indians would chip away at that lead and knotted the score at nine.

Owego was unable to build a margin larger than two points until a 3-point run put the Indians up, 23-19, late in the set. CV came back to trim the lead to 23-22.

The Warriors built another 4-point lead in the final set, but Owego fought back again tying the game at 10, then scoring 10 of the next 11 points to make it a 20-11 contest.

The aspects of the game the Indians need to improve on are primarily due to the team's youthfulness.

"We are super young," Race said. "We are very inexperienced. Even my older kids, my upperclassmen, are pretty inexperienced at the varsity level. It makes a difference. We're trying to work through that. We're trying to figure that out. It's just taking some time."

Race has confidence in her players.

"I think we'll get there," she said. "I think we'll get to a point where we're flowing and things are going a little bit better, but we're in a rough patch right now, so hopefully we can get back at it this week and get better for next week."

Maggie Hamed had eight kills, five digs and an ace; Alex Senko handed out 24 assists to go with two kills and four digs; and Saylor Ayers contributed 11 digs and an ace.

Sophia Palladino chipped in with three kills, two digs and an ace; Sarah Terry recorded six kills and two digs; and Mia Puglisi had two kills, two digs, a block and an ace.

Julia Zepkowski pitched in with two kills; Michaela Terry added three kills; Emma Bryant registered three kills; and Shannon Maslin and Emily Wong tacked on one dig apiece.

Owego (5-0) hosts Windsor Tuesday.

——————

IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Saylor Ayers (17). ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.