OFA, Canton surge from opening set losses to sectional volleyball titles
Nov. 3—MASSENA — The comeback trail was the path most taken on Thursday night, at Massena Central School, as OFA and Canton claimed the Class B and Class C Championships of the Section 10 Girls Volleyball Tournament.
Both the Blue Devils and the Golden Bears rebounded from first set losses claiming the Class B and C sectional titles and advance the Overall Section 10 Playoffs on Saturday back at Massena. It will be an All NAC West Final Four with OFA and Class D Champion Madrid-Waddington playing at 10 a.m. and Class A Champion Indian River and Class C Champion Canton meeting at noon.
The Northern Conference Awards Ceremony will be held following the sem-final games and afterwards the two winners will play for the Overall Section 10 Championship.
DEVILS PREVAIL
This match was what the ups and downs of volleyball is all about," said OFA Coach McLean after the top seeded Devils were able to grind out wins of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-19 after the Shamrocks rallied from a 25-19 deficit to snatch the first game 25-23 as Keidance Sunday served the last seven points of the game.
"Losing the first game shook the girls up but they didn't cave in. They pulled together and won. They are a special group, nothing bothers them. They deserve this."
A special group which banded together to make key plays throughout the last three sets and overcome 13 emphatic kills by Shelby Jock, four kills by Audrey Terrance and 10 points Gracie George of the Shamrocks who rallied from a 14-3 deficit in the third set to gain a 23-23 tie before Kaylee Kline's tip kill at the net broke the tie.
In the fourth set the Devils fell behind 14-10 but rallied as Cadey Cole served up four straight points and they made a decisive run with their defense sparked by Zoey Williams who ran down a ball well beyond the endline and played it back Clara Cole who redirected the ball from the left sideline to score on the right side.
Williams and Brooke Barr both made a diving digs to score on the returns of serves, two Cadey Cole sets dropped just over the net for points for a 21-16 lead and the Devils traded points to the finish.
"Nothing came easy but they got the victory. They scored in a lot of different ways" said Coach McLean.
"Tonight showed how they are the epitomy of a team. Nobody had a big number in the stats but it was balanced and everyone contributed."
Cadey Cole delivered a team-highs with 9 kills and 8 assists and added two aces and Clara Cole passed out 6 assists with 2 aces, 4 digs and 1 kill; Laylee Kline posted 7 kills with 1 ace and 1 block; Sam Santos tallied 4 kills; Tava Colburn contributed 5 digs, 1 ace and 1 kills; Brooke Barr supplied 5 aces, 6 digs and 4 kills; Zoe Williams came through with 4 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces and 2 assists and Abby Williams dropped a well-placed and well-timed kill off the bench.
OFA will host a regional match on Wednesday with a 12-8 record and Salmon River finished its season at 9-10."
"We made some nice comebacks tonight and we have been able to do that all year, said Salmon River Coach Alicia Mitchell.
"Shelby Jock has been an outstanding player at the net four us."
BEARS REPEAT
Canton (10-8-1) also had to recover from a first set loss to repeat as the Section 10 Class C Champions. Upset minded Tupper Lake (7-14) seized early control of the first set and secured a 25-15 win and Canton reeled off wins of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-15.
Leading the Golden Bears were: Josie Gabriel with 10 kills, 4 assists, 11 points and 3 aces; Emma Logan with 7 assists, 10 points and 2 aces; Laurel Whittier with 6 assists and 8 points; Haley Perins with 4 kills, 4 assists, 10 points and 1 ace and Calie Klassen with 5 kills, 5 digs, 8 points. 2aces.
