Even in defeat, the Tompkins Cortland Community College volleyball team showed its heart on Sunday, rallying back from two sets down to tie the match and force a decisive fifth set. Niagara County Community College won the match, 3-2 (25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 15-3), for their second straight victory, improving to 2-5 on the year. Tompkins Cortland falls to 1-5.
Things started slowly for the Panthers, with Niagara jumping to a 9-2 lead and holding a comfortable lead the rest of the way in taking the opening set. The second set was tight the entire way. The score was tied five times and neither team led by more than three points until Niagara took a 22-18 advantage. The Panthers rallied late to pull within two points at 23-21, but the home team finished the set with a three-point win.
The third set final saw the Panthers start strong, jumping ahead 8-1. Niagara responded with a 14-3 run to move ahead 15-11. After a timeout, Tompkins Cortland broke the Niagara serve and then Nikya Cook (Cortland/Dryden H.S.) rattled off four straight service points to pull ahead 16-15. The teams traded points until a great dig by Madison Kelly (Moravia/Moravia H.S.) turned into a point, and sparked a run of four straight service points for Kelly that put the Panthers up 23-19. The Thunderwolves responded with five straight points to come within one point of ending the match, but the Panthers stepped up, scoring the next three points to win the set, 26-24.
The fourth set followed the same pattern as the third, with the Panthers moving ahead early. The lead was as big as six points at 12-6, but Niagara chipped away, eventually pulling within one point at 17-16. But unlike set three, the Panthers wouldn't relinquish the lead in set four, inching the lead back to five points before settling in at the final four-point margin.
Fighting back from down two sets took its toll on the Panthers in the final set. With the decisive set going to just 15 points, a hot start can go along ways in determining the outcome, and that's exactly what happened as Niagara came out hot, scoring the first ten points of the set. This time the hole was too big for the Panthers as the Thunderwolves claimed the set and match.
Kelly finished with a nice stat sheet of 5 digs, 4 kills, 3 aces, and 2 digs. Hope Comfort (Cortland/Homer H.S.) recorded 6 kills, 3 digs, and an ace. Arianna Manwaring (Tioga/Tioga Central H.S.) posted 5 kills, 3 block, and 2 digs. Ashley Hoyte (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) pulled up 7 digs to go with 6 assists and an ace; Adrianna Royce (Newfield/Newfield H.S.) had 8 assists and 2 aces; Cook had 5 digs, 3 assists, 2 kills, and a block; and Cassi Seng (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) had 7 digs.