Corry pulls off a double sweep over improved Seneca Bobcats

Senior Ava Halberg Sets Riley Nickerson during Varsity Action at Seneca on Wednesday night. Halberg tallied a career high 36 assists and had three kills and seven digs on the night.

Report by Kelly Goodsel

Corry volleyball head coach

Wattsburg, PA- Corry volleyball moved to 8-0 with a sweep over the improving Seneca Bobcats. While it wasn’t always pretty, Corry battled through some rough spots on their side of the net and some good play by Seneca to win in three straight games 25-17, 25-23, 25-22.

The first set Corry jumped out to an early 5-1 lead on two kills by sophomore Lauren Brundage and a kill by junior Regan Kemp. Senior setter Ava Hallberg continued to spread the ball around with juniors Rylee Nickerson and Grace Allen each getting a kill to expand the lead to 11-6. Corry’s lead reached seven points 21-14 on a setter dump by Hallberg. Freshmen setter Maci Kemp came in for her first varsity action and immediately served an ace to make the score 24-16, as a result of a Seneca service error, Corry won the set 25-17.

The second set, Seneca came to play with solid defense and scored points on offense with

aggressive swings and several setter dumps. Corry took their first time out trailing 9-5 and then the second timeout down 21-14. At 22-15, Corry finally responded with a Regan Kemp kill and three consecutive Grace Allen kills made the score 22-19 and Seneca called a timeout. After trading a couple of points, Rylee Nickerson cut the lead down to two points (trailing 23-21) with kill from the middle and after two Seneca hitting errors, Seneca took their final timeout down 24-23. Ava Hallberg set Lauren Brundage who pounded the ball for a kill and the big second set comeback.

A couple of key second set adjustments aided the comeback, freshmen Alivia Swan came in as a middle hitter and got her hands on a couple of Seneca attacks that slowed the ball down enough for Corry to play defense and convert those digs into instant offense. Regan Kemp and Sydney Mineo each served really well for four points each when the pressure was on.

Corry jumped out to an early 9-5 lead in the third set on kills by Brundage, Nickerson, and Hallberg via another setter dump. Sophomore Naomi Brown came in for Hallberg to provide some taller blocking and played effective, getting several block touches and collected her first varsity assist on a kill by Regan Kemp. Seneca didn’t give up, they tied the game up at 13-13, but three consecutive kills by Brundage, and two Allen kills put Corry up 16-13 and forced a Seneca timeout.  Corry and Seneca played even the rest of the set and Corry closed out the set and the match, 25-22.

“Tonight, you saw what mental fatigue or homecoming week excitement overload looks like. After two big matches last week, the tournament on Saturday, homecoming activities all week, and then the second match in a row… the kids were mentally tired. The coaching staff saw it in warm-ups and despite warning the team, it took us until late in the second set to wake up and get focused” said coach Goodsel. “While we didn’t play well, you have to give a lot of credit to Seneca, they played really well, especially, setter Sophia Primavere and outside hitter Madison Morvay.”

Defensively, Corry was led by seniors Brynley Watrous and Sydney Mineo combining for 24 digs and two service aces a piece. Junior defensive specialists Alison Yetzer and Ellie Carey both contributed in the back row with five more digs. Ava Hallberg led the offense with a career high 36 assists, 7 digs, and 3 kills.

Maci Kemp sets middle hitter Alivia Swan during Wednesday's match at Seneca. Kemp racked up 13 service points including four aces. She also tallied four kills, six digs and 17 assists on the night.

Corry varsity improves to 8-0 on the year and 4-0 in region four. JV also won last night as they Swept the lady Bobcats in two straight sets 25-12 and 25-13. This may have been Corry's most dominant JV match this season as Corry servers kept Seneca out of system right from the start, serving 50 times and scoring 38 / 50, including 13 aces. 

Corry hitters, passers, and defenders also dominated.  “The hard part about playing a match like this, is staying focused and engaged from start to finish.” JV coach Mark Brenner said. “I felt like we were able to control the ball, and exercise the discipline needed to execute decent volleyball play throughout the match. This credit should go to the whole team.”

Notable play included long service runs and aces by Libero Mikayla Comitz and Setter Maci Kemp. Outside hitter Lauren Brundage and Kemp were also efficient at killing the ball, both having hitting efficiencies of .444.

Corry serving leaders were Kemp (13 service points, 4 aces), Comitz (8 service points, 1 ace), and Brundage (5 service points, 4 aces).  Corry hitters were led by Brundage, middle hitter Liv Swan, and Kemp with 4 kills apiece.  Defensively, Libero Jordyn Watrous led with eight digs, and Kemp had six digs.  Kemp also had 17 assists on the night.

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Our Varsity "Crotty Chevrolet Player of the Game" Regan Kemp paid us a visit after the match and here is her take of the nights action.

Corry will look to the rest of festivities that homecoming brings. The JV team will compete Saturday at the Maplewood JV Tournament while the next match will be Tuesday Night September 30^th at home against the Fairview Tigers. JV opening serve is at 6:00 PM with Varsity action to follow. As always if you can’t make it out to the Beaver Dam you can watch all the action live on the DeeJ Experience Sports Stream

Varsity statistical leaders on the day.