By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego swept Waverly in STAC volleyball action here Tuesday evening, earning the River Hawks their 10th sweep of the season. The scores were 25-7, 25-16 and 25-13.
“It was a full team effort today,” said Owego coach Abbey Manning. “Everyone did their part and had their pull and they all succeeded at a very high level. I think that's extremely important for us at this point in the season because we have big games coming up. We're in the STAC final and we get to host so we get to be in our gym ready to roll on Friday the 24th or whatever day it is.
“I think being able to have these games and the players understanding that they all have that role because that was specifically talked about yesterday in practice. I ran a pyramid practice which is solely on them. We struggled in practice Friday and then in our tournament Saturday so yesterday's practice kind of got them into gear a little bit and I think they're ready to move forward to our second half of the season.”
The Wolverines put up a few challenges throughout the evening, but couldn’t maintain the consistency to stay with the defending Section IV Class A champions.
“We're going through a couple injuries,” Waverly coach Hailee Rote said. “We've got a couple concussions, a couple ankle injuries. We had another injury tonight. We're trying to work through our lineup and our next three games coming up are important ones that are must-wins for us, so trying to work some things out tonight and then look forward to those next three games.”
Manning was impressed with the Wolverines’ Brilynn Belles, one of three seniors on the visitor’s roster.
“I'm going to give a lot of credit to Bri on the other side. She was digging everything and she had quite the game. Maggie, she swung a lot and Bri was picking everything up.”
The Wolverines led, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 during the early going, but a couple of aces by Braelea McLaren helped Owego grab a 6-4 edge. Several River Hawks contributed to a 12-1 run to build an 18-6 cushion.
Owego received seven service points apiece from Bella Miller and Peyton Coolbaugh to help secure the game one win.
The River Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game two and extended its advantage to 19-7 with some help from Natalie Morris at the service line before Waverly attempted a comeback. “She's been working on her serve,” Manning said. “She's a hard float server and she really showed that tonight.
The Wolverines took seven of the next of the next 11 points to close the gap to 23-14, thanks to solid serving from Adriana Presher and Emma Richards-Randall, and a couple Owego hitting errors.
The final set of the night saw the River Hawks build a 10-1 bulge as all-state standout Maggie Hamed served eight points. Owego worked a 20-10 lead, then the Wolverines trimmed it to 20-13 before the River Hawks scored the final five points.
"They're always good,” said Rote. “You’ve got to know that coming in. And then they always have a student section that's in there talking and it's a tough environment to play in, but we worked on some things that we had to get better at and that's what we have to look forward to from now on.”
To qualify for the postseason, teams must win 40 percent of their matches. Waverly must win its final three to move on.
Manning was also pleased with Taylor Talbut’s performance at the net.
“She's a blocking machine, and I think almost surprised herself in a way, which is pretty cool, but she has grown so much this season that it's great to see that.”
Hamed led Owego with a double-double including 11 kills and 10 digs, and she also had four aces. Alyssa Harrinton had five kills and two digs; Gracie Zimmer added two kills; Emme Bennett scored two digs; Kylie Craven had one dig; Miller dished out nine assists to go with three digs and an ace; Keely Wicklund handed out 14 assists and had four digs; Natalie Morris contributed five digs; Evelyn Howe chipped in with four kills and a dig; Ava McKeon added three kills and an assist; McLaren had six digs, two aces and one kill; Coolbaugh chalked up six digs, two aces and two assists; Mikaela Nichols added six digs, two kills and one block; and Talbut tacked on two kills and two blocks.
Richards-Randall, who went out late in the match with what appeared to be an ankle injury, had eight digs, five assists and a block; Foster contributed four kills, Belles chipped in with seven digs, two kills and one ace; Presher tallied 11 digs and an ace; Emma Williams recorded two digs and an ace; Addison Hunt had one block, one kill and one ace; Mya Chamberlain handed out four assists;and Mady Briggs pitched in with a kill and a dig.
On Thursday, Owego (12-1, 11-0 Central) hosts Seton Catholic (0-9, 0-9 Central) while Waverly (3-6, 3-9 Central) heads to Chenango Forks (2-9, 1-9 Central).
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IN PHOTO 1: Keely Wicklund (7) and Taylor Talbut. IN TOP PHOTO: Alyssa Harrington (L). … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
