By HUNTER O. LYLE
PORTVILLE, NY – Three sure things: death, taxes and the Portville volleyball team being a contender for a state championship.
Over the past decade and change, the Panthers have been constant contenders for the coveted New York Public High School Athletic Association State Championship banner and through multiple iterations of teams and rosters, they have secured nine. The four most recent have all come in a row and as Portville dispatched Chautauqua Lake with a sweep in in the Class C semifinals, they moved one step closer to unbroken ground: securing five consecutive state championships.
This year, Portville had a slightly different look to the team. While the Panthers welcomed back a large swath of last year’s championship team, they began the 2025 campaign without their veteran head coach Kelly Unverdorben, who left the team to take a head coaching position with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Nonetheless, the foundation she had laid over the years, coupled with the fresh infusion of new head coach Paul Mann, proved solid as Portville concluded another successful regular season at 15-1.
“We had a few ups and downs to be honest. Not in terms of wins or losses but in terms of our mental state and how we played a couple sets that were closer than they should have been, but when you have veteran leadership, they always find a way to pull it out,” said Mann. “Obviously you can’t knock a 15-1 record but it wasn’t as clean as it could have been.”
After sweeping Newfane in the quarterfinals, the Panthers continued on their hot streak in the early goings against Eagles.
Following an initial back-and-forth, Portville broke away from CL sooner rather than later. Leaning on their power in front, notably Ali Haynes and Gaitley Maiolo, the Panthers strung together runs of four and then five unanswered points as they pulled ahead 11-5. As the tandem duo worked to continuously send thunderous spikes over the net as well as deny any coming their way, the Eagles struggled to match their intensity, allowing the lead to snowball to 21-9.
Looking up at a massive deficit, CL found a late surge, producing their first run of the night at 6-3 to cut the lead to nine. However, the first-set tide was unchangeable and after one final miscue, a serve into the net, Portville snubbed out any sign of a comeback to win 25-15.
In the second, the Eagles drew on their own power hitters. This time, the early ebb and flow would favor CL and after finding a couple well-placed, hard-hit shots to the floor, they found their biggest lead of the night at 6-3. Although the Panthers quickly countered, the Eagles weren’t going anywhere.Matching spike for spike and point for point, both squads slowly added to their side of the scoreboard. An ace from Alice Scarpine knotted the game at 12-12.
However, the Eagles’ new-found aggression could only keep up for so long. Starting with back-to-back spikes from Maiolo and Hines and an ace from Leigha Stives, Portville began to start their engines once again. Their initial run quickly swelled to seven unanswered points, pushing the lead out of reach.
“My three senior captains Ali, Addie (Walker) and Mia Rhinehart, there’s no quit in them. Even when it gets tight, they find a way to claw and dig and scratch and pull and kick and do whatever they have to do to turn that momentum around,” said Mann. “There’s no quit in them and obviously you can see how they perform on the floor.”
Although CL once again found a burst at the buzzer, an ace from Marissa Carls gave the Panthers a 25-17 win and a 2-0 set lead.
Forced to the brink of elimination, the Eagles collapsed. Portville opened what would be the final set of the night by running the score up to 7-3. With Haynes leading the charge and setting the tone, the Panthers couldn’t be stopped, let alone slowed and as they continued to dominate their home court, they completed the sweep with a 25-15 victory.
Haynes ended with a team-high 19 kills while Maiolo followed in suit with 14. Haynes also recorded 11 digs and four blocks, while Mia Rhinehart had 26 digs and an assist. Carls contributed three aces and a block alongside Addie Walker, who ran the floor with 34 assists.
Advancing to the Section VI Class C championships, the Panthers return to a familiar stage where they will see either No. 2 Eden or No. 3 Falconer. That game is slated for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and will be played at Southwestern High School. Securing a win there, Portville’s dream of five straight state championships will stay alive.
“I want (the fifth title) more for them than for me, honestly. I have six seniors out there and they’ve just spent their whole lives dedicated to volleyball and they play it at such a high level,” said Mann. “I never want to look past the next match, but if we continue to play the way we’ve been playing, I think we’ll be a lot of trouble for anyone that gets in front of us.”
