Panthers go 6-1 in pool play, will meet Mount
Academy in search of 5th-straight NYS Class C title
GLENS FALLS – Ali Haynes was there a year ago.
Then on the heels of a breakout junior campaign, Haynes racked up 27 kills, 13 digs and three blocks to guide the Portville girls volleyball team to a four-set victory over Mount Academy in the New York State Class C championship game. On that day, she solidified herself as not just one of the best players in her class, but potentially the state.
On Friday, Haynes was back at Harding Mazzotti Arena as a senior star, the reigning Class C Tournament MVP and leader of another juggernaut Panthers squad.
So was Addie Walker, Mia Rhinehart, Maddison Ford, Leigha Stives and Gaitley Maiolo, all of whom played major roles on last year’s unbeaten (21-0) state champion (and most of whom were part of the 2022 AND ‘23 NYS title-winning squads, as well).
With so much experience, and talent, back from last fall – plus the continuity that came with transitioning from legendary coach Kelly Unverdorben to new coach Paul Mann, who’d served as the JV boss since 2022 – it seemed not just possible, but highly likely that the Panthers would make a return trip to the state final again this year.
And then, back in what has become their second home, they made it a reality.
Haynes, a 6-foot force at middle blocker, totaled 50 kills, 20 digs and four blocks to guide Portville to a 6-1 mark in state semifinal pool play on Friday in Glens Falls. The Panthers swept Port Jefferson (Section 11), 25-19, 25-14, and Mount Academy (Section 9), 25-15, 25-18, in their first and third matches and shook off a rare loss to edge Lansing (Section 4), 23-25, 25-19, 15-12 in three sets in their middle match.
And with that Portville will once again be competing for a state championship.
The Panthers will take on Mount Academy for the New York State Class C title on Saturday (4 o’clock) back at Harding Mazzotti Arena. Both teams, via convincing efforts against Port Jefferson and Lansing, had secured their place in the final before meeting each other in one of the last pool play pairings on the day. It’s a rematch of last year’s Class C title contest when Portville rallied from a first-set loss to down the Eagles, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-18.
The Panthers (20-1), seemingly as strong under their first-year coach, Mann, as they’ve ever been throughout this decade-long stretch dominance, are now one triumph away from the following:
Their fifth-straight NYS Class C state championship.
Their ninth state crown since 2014.
The 10th New York State title in program history.
“We’re just a complete team,” said Mann, whose Panthers had dropped just one match (a non-leaguer to Williamsville South on Oct. 23) and five total sets while collecting 19 sweeps before Friday. “Our defense has been outstanding, we’re hitting the ball well and we’ve just been a complete team. Not that we weren’t (in previous state title campaigns), but even the girls on the bench – they’re cheering, their roles are important. We’re complete; we can win on defense and offensive, and that makes it harder on opposing teams.
“Hopefully, we can finish it off tomorrow.”
Portville made a strong opening statement, downing Port Jefferson in two sets in a 2 p.m. match to open pool play. “We were dialed in, we played well, we forced our will early,” Mann said. “We were gelling pretty good.”
Given the circumstances – the Panthers had a bit of a breather after beating Port Jefferson and Lansing was playing back-to-back matches – Portville figured it would have a distinct advantage in Match No. 2. “It’s not that we underestimated them,” Mann maintained. “We just thought, and we were hoping, that they’d be a little gassed.
“But they smacked us right in the mouth. They were prepared; they were hyped up.”
Instead, the Panthers were tasked with overcoming their first real adversity of the day.
And they did just that.
After claiming the second set, 25-19, “we did what we do,” Mann explained. “The defense dug in, we started passing better, our attacks got better. We put the pressure on in that second set, forced a third set, and that’s where I think Lansing started to finally run out of steam a little bit. But it was nip-and-tuck.”
Up 14-12, Portville thought it had the set won, but had its final point wiped out due to an official’s call. Of the eventual game-winner, Mann added: “It wasn’t the best play to end the set on by any means, but our girl got her arms under it, we got a lucky bounce and we were able to take that third set.”
Against Mount Academy, Portville again asserted itself, using a 15-5 run to pull away from a 10-10 tie, which included a run of 12-straight service points from Ford, and maintaining control through its 25-18 final-set victory. Much like last year, the Panthers will meet the Eagles in the final after sweeping their matchup in pool play.
“We’re not going to underestimate them (in the rematch) by any means,” Mann said of Mount Academy. “But we do like our matchup with them better than what we had with Lansing; Lansing was just a tougher matchup and does a lot of the same things well that we do.”
He added, “But against Mount, and really on the day as a whole, we dug in. Our passing was where it needed to be; we were strong, fast, we had great showings from those veteran players – Addie, Mia, Ali (signed to Pitt-Bradford, where Unverdorben now coaches), Maddy Ford. If we can just carry that into tomorrow, then we should be in a pretty good position.
For the day, Walker compiled 86 assists, 13 digs, eight aces and six kills; Maiolo registered 24 kills; Rhinehart led the defense with 52 digs and Ana Haynes contributed eight digs for the Panthers. Additionally, Stives had eight kills and four digs, Ford notched six aces and seven digs and Marissa Carls had five kills, seven digs, two kills and two aces.
