By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORTVILLE, NY – In a meeting of the top two teams in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association’s Division 1, the Portville volleyball team kept their undefeated season unblemished as they took down Falconer in three clean sets.
In CCAA Division 1, no one comes close to the powerhouses of Portville and Falconer. As the top two teams, both the Lady Panthers and Lady Golden Falcons have blown through the competition. While Falconer has just two losses hanging on their record, Portville has played to perfection, boasting a 13-0 record which includes 10 divisional wins. Even more impressive, the defending four-time state champions have lost just two sets throughout their run and come into Tuesday’s matchup on the tail of five consecutive sweeps.
“It’s always tough to say what our potential could be. We lost three great seniors, two great hitters and a great defender,” said Portville head coach Kelly Unverdorben. “We’re extremely young. We’ve got two freshmen out there, a sophomore out there but they seem to be very composed. I also think we have the experience in our senior Adriana Ensell. She keeps them in line.”
Falconer proved their worth early on. Immediately after the first serve, the Lady Golden Eagles fought to return and rally every shot that went over. While they weren’t able to take the lead, they hung close in the early goings at 5-3. From there, however, the Lady Panthers got to work. With the help of Ali Haynes’ powerful slams above the net, Portville shot out in front to outscore Falconer 15-6 through the next 13 points. Unable to stop the missiles being launched over the net, the Lady Golden Falcons puttered out in the first set, dropping by a score of 25-12.
Fueled by an early win, the Lady Panthers picked up right where they left off for the second set. After giving up the initial point on a missed rotation, Portville reasserted themselves at the net and dialed in at the service line for six consecutive points. They followed that with another run, this time five straight, capped off with three consecutive aces from Haynes.
“Haynes is not only a great player, great blocker, hitter, everything she does, but she’s also such a great friend to the entire team,” said Unverdorben. “They all kind of have their go-to person, and I almost believe she belongs to everybody. That’s the kind of player and person she is. I can’t say enough about her.”
All the while Portville ran up the score, the Lady Golden Eagles struggled to string points together, instead taking the scraps left by Lady Panthers miscommunications and 50-50 battles at the net. Despite this and following another six-point run from Portville, Falconer found some life late in the second set. Starting with three aces from Augustine Krenzer that narrowed the deficit to 21-12, Falconer embarked on their own run, tying on six unanswered points.
Despite the energizing surge, it was too little too late. Already down big, Falconer’s run was cut short before the Lady Panthers quickly finished them off, winning 25-14 and sitting just one win away from another sweep.
By now, Portville held all the momentum and for the third time in as many sets, the Lady Panthers got off to a hot start. Between solid work on defense and a handful of slams and aces, they looked down at the Lady Golden Eagles from a 14-3 advantage early on.
“If there’s one thing I can say about the team it’s that they love the game. They get out there, they’re fired up, they’re ready to play and they just want to play volleyball,” said Unverdorben of her team’s ability to build an early lead. “They love the game and they’re just out there having fun.”
Again, the Lady Golden Falcons managed to put together small runs at a time, but none rivaled their earlier burst. Sooner rather than later, Portville got hot and stayed there, finishing Falconer off at 25-10 to complete the night’s sweep as well as the season sweep.
Haynes paved the way for the Lady Panthers with 11 kills, 10 digs and six aces. Ensell had nine kills, 12 digs and five aces while Laney Vincent had 11 kills and 17 digs in the win. Mia Rhinehart had 22 digs and floor general Addie Walker had 36 assists and two aces.
The Lady Panthers have just two more games on their schedule, the first being on the road against Southwestern before closing out the regular season at home with a non-league game against St. Marys of Lancaster next Wednesday. After that, Portville will enter the playoffs once again, chasing a repeat of the State Championship title from a year ago.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. Working hard, staying focused mentally and staying humble too,” said Unverdorben. “There’s never going to be a day where we say ‘oh yeah, we’re going to states, we’re going to win it all this year.’ We’re never going to say that because you have to give credit to other teams. We’re in a tough bracket this year so it’s going to be a tough year to get out of Section VI. No doubt about it.”
