By SPENCER BATES
JAMESTOWN — It is not often a team completes a sweep over another for a section title and their performance is still considered far from their best.
But that is exactly what the Portville girls volleyball team managed to do, securing its fifth consecutive Section 6 title after sweeping Eden 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 in the Class C Final on Nov. 6.
“This wasn’t our best win as far as how it looked,” Portville coach Paul Mann said. “I know our girls didn’t play to the level that they can, but the resilience that they have shown me, the leaders, my three captains, they find a way to will a victory. There’s no quit in them, there’s never any die in them. They fight like dogs and cats. They just get out there and they do what they need to do.”
The perennial Panthers went back-and-forth with Eden for a good while in each of the match’s three sets. But the biggest edge Portville had in the match was that it knew how to handle the pressure.
Even amidst point runs from the Raiders, smiles were still visible on the faces of Portville players. A team that had not only won four section titles before this season, but four New York State titles as well, does not wilt the moment something goes wrong. And according to Mann, there was a significant amount that went wrong on the night.
“Kudos to Eden, that is a very well-coached team and they put us in trouble in a few different positions,” Mann said. “I think what I’ve noticed is that this group does not get tight, doesn’t get too far down to where they allow a point run against a good team to really impact them. They just dig in deeper, they claw even harder, and they just find a way to make that play to slowly start shifting that momentum back in our direction. Then, once we get on top, it makes it even more difficult for teams. The enthusiasm goes up, the energy goes up, and they just start playing at the next level.”
Portville’s Ali Haynes (22) rises up for a kill against Eden. Haynes led the Panthers with 17 kills in their Section 6 Class C Championship. (Spencer Bates)
The most glaring issue for the Panthers was its serving. Statistically off-color, Mann admitted it was hard to watch some of his most seasoned players miss in the way that they were. But, once again, they were able to make up for it by being just about perfect in every other aspect.
“It was frustrating trying to watch veterans out there serve long,” Mann said. “I don’t get frustrated necessarily with serving as much as how they’re missing it. And we were missing bad tonight. But again, they dug in. They didn’t allow their service game to impact the rest of their game. They still took it up. They still turned it out. They still set well, they still passed well, and I think that helped counteract our service percentage, which was below 70% tonight, which is uncustomary for this team.”
For this resilience, Mann heaped credit onto his veterans. Ali Haynes, who had a team-high 17 kills to go along with 12 digs, Mia Rhinehart, who had 15 digs, Adelyn ‘Addie’ Walker, who finished with 34 assists and Maddison Ford.
It was not only their contributions, but their level heads and mentalities in the face of adversity that kept the Panthers on track.
“I can’t do what I do, and we can’t do what they do without any of those three,” Mann said. “You can’t take any one of them out. Obviously, Ali is an offensive monster in front and she can’t do that, if Addie is not doing her job, but Addie can’t do her job, if Mia’s not sticking passes and running all over the place doing the defense that she does. Then you throw in Maddie Ford in the mix, she’s digging all over the place. I’ve always believed that offense gets you there, but defense takes you over the finish line. And our defense was, I thought, very good tonight.”
Gaitley Maiolo added 12 kills while Gracie Maiolo and Marissa Carls contributed four kills to the team effort for Portville as well.
Portville’s Mia Rhinehart (11) serves a ball into play against Eden. Rhinehart tallied 15 digs against Eden. (Spencer Bates)
While this may now be the fifth consecutive section title for this Portville team, it has special meaning for Mann, who is in his first year at the helm of the program. After longtime head coach Kelly Unverdorben left to take the head coaching gig at Pitt-Bradford, Mann was handed the reins. And frankly, he cannot fully put into words just how special this experience has been for him.
“You never want to say early in your career that it’s a team for the generations, but it is,” Mann said. “I’m sure I’m going to coach for a while, I’m going to have other teams, but this team is special. What they do is special. Having six seniors is special, and the program is going to be definitely missing all six seniors out there, especially the four that are on the floor. It’s going to be a big, huge change next year, and I really can’t put into words what it actually means.”
Portville secured itself a place in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Far-West Regional with the win. They will face either Le Roy, Avon, Bloomfield or Lyons on Nov. 15.
