By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
CANDOR — Defending state champion Candor took the next step in repeating as queens of the court by posting a 5-1 record in Section IV Class D volleyball pool play here Thursday.
Coyotes swept Oxford, 25-15 and 25-17, and Newfield, 25-13 and 25-23, to secure a spot in Sunday’s championship match. They would split with neighboring rival Spencer-Van Etten, dominating, 25-8, before dropping a 25-23 thriller.
“I thought the overall performance tonight was fantastic,” coach Pam Quinlan said. “I think we brought some great energy from the get-go and some real excitement for good plays and big defensive plays. Defensive plays and people just making some good choices, maybe spot serving. Obviously going to sectional finals, that's a success.”
CANDOR 25-25, OXFORD 15-17
With Emmi Maki at the service line, the Coyotes grabbed a 6-2 lead in the opening set, and Hazel Ray helped boost the advantage to 10-3 with a side-out and an ace. The Blackhawks fought back, narrowing the margin to 10-8, but were unable to get any closer.
Candor slipped behind, 3-1, to start game two, but surged ahead, 4-3. With the score knotted at five following a Maki side-out hit just inside the right sideline, Malley Heidl stepped to the service line and reeled off 10 consecutive points.
Oxford’s Bridgette Foster would serve her team within 17-11 and the Blackhawks would keep the gap at six points three more times, the last being 20-14, before the Coyotes scored five of the final six points.
CANDOR 25-25, NEWFIELD 13-23
Candor worked a 6-5 edge to start the set, then Ray served up a 7-point streak to make it 13-5. The Trojans would come back to make it 19-13, but four service points from Heidl helped the Coyotes pull away.
Game two saw the two teams battle to a 5-5 deadlock during the early-going, but Candor would go on a 7-1 run to build a 12-6 advantage. Solid serving by Payton Bevins and Paige Bassi, combined with a few Coyote miscues, allowed the Trojans to trim the lead to 14-12.
Candor would win six of the next eight points to go up, 20-14, but Newfield rallied again, tying things up at 23 on a Bevins ace.
CANDOR 25-23, S-VE 8-25
The Coyotes put S-VE in a big hole to begin the first set as Nicola Soper served nine points on the way to a 10-3 advantage. The Panthers cut the lead to 11-6, but Candor pulled away from there.
Candor went ahead, 4-1, in the second set, but S-VE trimmed the lead to 7-6. The Coyotes then worked a 12-8 advantage, but S-VE came back again, making it 12-11. The Panthers would tie things up 14 on a Candor hitting error, then take advantage of more Coyote miscues and a Gillette hit just inside the end line to build an 18-14 lead.
Candor would call a timeout and regroup, and eventually go ahead, 20-19, on a pair of key hits by Soper. Hazel Ray served the home team to a 22-19 edge, but the Panthers picked up a side-out and made it 22-21 when the Coyotes hit the ball into the ceiling rails. A Panther service error made it 23-21, but Candor committed a pair of hitting errors to tie the score at 23. Trinity Dashler’s ace made it 24-23 and a Coyote hit into the net gave the S-VE the win.
Teamwork was key for the Coyotes throughout the evening.
“I think everybody pretty much has been kind of steady, our core group of hitters,” Quinlan said. “I think passing, I think we did a little better job there than sometimes we've done of getting the ball to our setter so we can use our hitters. I would say pretty much everybody kind of came through in an expected way.”
A trio of Candor players finished with double-doubles. Malley Heidl recorded 24 service points, which included eight aces, 53 assists, one dig; Nicola Soper had 20 service points with eight aces, 26 kills and six digs; and Emmi Makie pitched in with 15 service points, two aces, 30 kills and six digs.
Hazel Ray registered 24 service points, seven aces, five kills and five digs; Jill Teribury had 12 service points, two aces, one kill and two digs; Tracy Reynolds chipped in with eight service points and two digs; Ava Fernando had one service point, three kills, two blocks and two digs; Nora Young contributed three service points, one ace, one kill and one dig; Valeria Polanco-Gil added five service points, one ace and one kill; and Montana Vorhis had one service point and one dig.
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IN PHOTO 1: Jill Teribury. IN TOP PHOTO: Emmi Maki. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
