By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
ITHACA — Ithaca flexed its volleyball muscles to sweep Owego, 3-0, in the STAC championship match here Monday evening. The Little Red won by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-17.
“We were messy for sure and we have some major things to fix before it becomes sectionals time,” coach Abbey Manning said.
The favorite coming in, Ithaca jumped to an early lead in the first set as Kalina Korinek served up a 5-0 advantage.
The River Hawks would battle back, closing the gap to two points three times, the last at 15-13, before Ithaca pulled away.
With the Little Red up, 16-3, Wren Mauro stepped to the service line for a six-point run to build a 22-13 cushion.
Owego’s Alyssa Harrington served four points to give the visitors a 4-3 edge in the second set, but Samantha O’Connor and Mauro combined to serve nine points to give Ithaca a 14-5 advantage.
Emme Bennett, who played a key role off the bench at libero for the River Hawks, served four points to narrow the margin to 14-8, but Amiya Patterson served four points for a 20-9 lead.
“I think Emme Bennett truly stepped up in the libero jersey and we needed that on our side,” Manning said.
Alyssa Harrington squeezed a sideout shot into the back corner, Evelyn Howe made a nice tap at the net for a sideout and Ava McKeon drilled a sideout blast off Ithaca standout Kiara Thurmond at the net, but Owego was unable to capitalize down the stretch.
The final game saw the Little Red build a 10-3 advantage as O’Connor served up five points.
With the River Hawks behind, 19-8, Bella Miller came up with some big serves as Owego attempted a comeback, but the gap was just too much.
Maggie Hamed recorded 11 kills, a block and five digs for Owego (14-3), Miller dished out 18 assists to go with three aces and three digs; Braelen McLaren chipped in with nine digs, two kills and a block; Howe posted three blocks, two kills and a dig; McKeon notched five kills, Bennett finished with seven digs; and Peyton Collbaugh tacked on two digs and one assist.
The Little Red (12-1) chalked up a combined 48 kills, 28 aces and 23 blocks on the night. Patterson had 25 kills and eight blocks; Thurmond contributed 10 blocks and eight aces; Ava Keating pitched in with a double-double which included 16 assists and 11 digs; Korinek added eight kills and six aces; Mauro had seven digs and four aces; Brooke Parker handed out 10 assists; and O’Connor added five aces.
Next up are the Section IV championship tournaments. Seeds are expected to be released on Wednesday.
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego’s Emme Bennett (front) and Alyssa Harrington. IN TOP PHOTO: Owego’s Ava McKeon. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
