Poland tops Mooney in straight sets
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CORTLAND -- The start of tournament play always marks the dawn of a new season. Cardinal Mooney came into Monday evening looking to break a losing skid, while Poland anticipated its first taste of Division III playoff action.
Taking it one moment at a time was the Bulldogs' approach as they enjoyed a 3-0 victory over the Cardinals in straight sets at Lakeview High School.
"Just one game at a time, one point at a time moving on from there," said Poland coach Aleah Diamond. "It's definitely something that we gotta work on, to stop those long runs, but just trying to play the volleyball, trusting your teammates, knowing who you have on the court around you.
"Being that we have nine seniors, I have a lot of trust in them to figure it out as well, so it's helpful on the court."
The Bulldogs previously competed in the Division II tournament, but now find themselves participating in the Division III Orwell district.
Mooney battled throughout the first set, each team trading blows to keep it within a point or two.
Poland found a way to close out the final couple of points to earn the set victory, but it was more about keeping composure than anything.
"I think we just realized that we all want to play. We realized that we're all seniors pretty much, and this would be the end of it, so we all came together and realized we want this more," said senior Morgan Bailey. "We realized we needed to communicate more to bring up the energy more, and just kinda collectively do our jobs."
Mooney (8-14) trailed by several points late in the second set, eventually tying the game at 22.
"That's obviously a little nerve-wrecking seeing them come up and have the energy, but I think we just had a timeout, realized we got to shut it out down, and we just came out there and knew what to do," Bailey said.
Again, the Bulldogs just needed to close out when needed to keep their edge on the scoreboard, winning the game 25-23, following their 26-24 victory in the first game.
Poland (11-9) eventually prevailed in the third set, 26-24, earning a first-round victory, and its fifth straight-sets victory of the season.
Senior Sarah Forsyth led the Bulldogs with 12 kills. Bailey added 13 assists and a pair of aces. Fellow seniors Madelyn Ray tallied 10 digs, while Katie McDonald earned four blocks.
The Cardinals graduate five seniors: Maria Fire, Abby Mitchell, Marissa Bowman, Mara Blasko, and Addison Stacy. Coach Toni Chahine felt that her team played a tough match, but was happy to have coached the group of outgoing seniors.
"I feel like they played well. We were always down most of the time in the sets, but they always rallied and fought back, but we just couldn't finish it tonight," Chahine said. "The goal for the offseason is to get people touching the ball year-round. Volleyball has amplified in our area. It's gotten so competitive, and we can't get by on being athletic anymore, so our girls need to play club and get more reps in the offseason so we can be a better team."
Meanwhile, Poland advances to play fourth-seeded Lakeview on Thursday at Crestview High School, with a 7:30 p.m. start in the sectional finals.