SECTION IV VOLLEYBALL: S-VE GOES WINLESS IN CLASS C SEMI-FINAL POOL PLAY (24 PHOTOS) (2023-11-02)
By TIM BIRNEY
Tioga County Sports ReportTRUMANSBURG — It was a rough ending of the season for S-VE here Thursday night, going winless in Section IV, Class C semi-final pool play.
“I think the girls came in expecting to do well,” said first-year S-VE coach Charity Meyers. “When we didn’t start out well … we just never recovered.”
The third-seeded Panthers opened the night with a pair of close losses — 25-21 and 25-22 — to second-seeded Walton.
“Losing those first two close games (to Walton) absolutely took some steam out of us,” said Meyers.
“Walton is one of those teams that when you watch them warm up, you’re not really expecting a lot, and then everything you’re hitting at them, they’re digging up … they’re scrappy.
“Yeah, I think that deflated us quite a bit,” added Meyers.
S-VE then dropped two sets to top-seeded Trumansburg, which advanced to Sunday’s finals with a 6-0 mark in pool play. The Blue Raiders won by scores of 25-11 and 25-14.
“We all knew Trumansburg was the team to beat tonight,” said Meyers. “They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason.”
The Panthers had a chance to play spoiler at the end. Winning one of two sets against third-seeded Tioga would have eliminated the Tigers. However, Tioga prevailed 25-23 in a hard-fought first set, then cruised to a 25-10 win in the second set.
“I thought we played pretty well, and were in it in the first set,” said Meyers. “We already knew we weren’t moving on, so when we lost the first set, I think the girls were tired, and we were done.”
The Panthers finished the regular-season with a 12-4 record, then beat B-g in the Class C quarterfinals to advance to semi-final pool play. They also won the program’s first overall IAC Small School title since 1995.
“We had a good season,” said Meyers. “We won the IACs for the first time in 28 years, and we’re proud of that … and we had a good win over B-G (in the quarterfinals).
“I knew it was going to be tough here tonight,” she noted. “I’ve been here before, but the girls haven’t. I think there were some nerves early on, and I thinking it was a learning experience for our girls.”
The Panthers graduate seven seniors, but Meyers feels good about the future of the program.
“We have seven senior … it’s a great group of girls,” she said. “We’re going to miss them.
“We have a good group coming up from JV … most of them are playing travel ball,” added Meyers. “I think we have a good program going.”
Trumansburg will face Tioga, which went 4-3 in pool play, including a win over Walton in a playoff, in the Class C finals Sunday at noon at Corning-Painted Post H.S.
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PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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