By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — The Owego volleyball team clinched the STAC Central Division title with 3-0 sweep of Chenango Valley here Tuesday night. The River Hawks won the “Pink Out” match by scores of 25-5, 25-17 and 25-20.
The victory gave the Red Hawks a 9-0 division record while second place CV slipped to 5-3 in the division.
It was also the team’s first match this season in the recently renovated gymnasium, which possibly ignited Owego’s dominant performance in the first set.
“I think our big motivator today was being in the new gym finally,” coach Abbey Manning said. “We've waited since August 22, whenever we started, and now we're in here and we're ready to go.
“We get to host regionals this year, which is super exciting for us as long as we get past that sectional game, so being able to be at our home court and playing that match, hopefully it was a great experience.”
Owego stormed out of the gate to build a 10-0 cushion in the opening set as Bella Miller served nine points. CV would never get closer than 14-4 and 15-5. Braelea McLaren was at the service line for the final nine points.
Miller and Evelyn Howe served the home team to an early 6-2 lead in game two, but CV refused to let the River Hawks pull away. After falling behind, 13-8, the Warriors battled back to close the gap to 14-12.
Owego would eventually create a little space with a 7-2 run to take a 23-15 lead, then split the final four points.
Game three saw the Warriors start out with a 3-1 lead, but the River Hawks rallied in front, 5-4. Keely Wicklund would serve up four points to give Owego a 12-6 advantage.
CV would rally from a 13-8 deficit to make it 13-12, fell behind 16-12, then trimmed the gap to 16-15, but Owego extended its lead from there and the Warriors never got closer than three points down the stretch.
The play of Maggie Hamed at the net caused problems for CV throughout the evening as it struggled to defend against the all-state outside hitter.
“We've been working on a lot of different shots,” Manning said. “She's had them, but being able to disguise those shots, I guess, before approaching and attacking has been wicked beneficial. Being able to go line, cut, deep corner, and then being able to push the ball in the three spot has been crucial for us because we need to be able to know how to switch up our offense.”
“One that also impressed me tonight was Evelyn (Howe) with her blocking back row ball. Her timing was perfect and we've been working on that, not necessarily in practice, but like the timing piece and where she needs to be on her blocking offense.”
The serving of Miller and Braelea McLaren, who chalked up six and five aces, respectively, was also a problem for the Warriors. Seven different River Hawks combined to record 18 aces on the night.
All 15 players contributed to the Owego stat sheet.
“A lot of the girls came off the bench and did their job tonight,” Manning said. “I saw a lot of good things from them, which is exciting for the years coming.”
Hamed finished with 18 kills and two assists; Alyssa Harrington had three kills, three digs and two aces; Keely Wicklund handed out with seven assists to go with three digs and two aces; McLaren added four digs and two kills; Peyton Coolbaugh came away with seven digs; and Miller also dished out 10 assists.
Howe had three kills and two blocks; Emme Bennett pitched in with five digs and two assists; Macey Shaw recorded six assists and an ace; Ava McKeon had two kills and a block; Gracie Zimmer had an ace and a dig; Mikaela Nichols had two digs and one assist; Natalie Morris contributed two kills; Kylie Craven scored an ace; and Taylor Talbut tacked on one kill.
Owego (10-1 overall) visits unbeaten Oneonta Thursday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Maggie Hamed. IN TOP PHOTO: Bella Miller (L) and Evelyn Howe. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
