Eagles honor volleyball seniors, cancer fight

WELLSVILLE — Senior night can be a double-edged sword, especially for girl athletes.

The hype of the festivities sometimes overshadows the task at hand.

The Wellsville High School volleyball team Tuesday played through all the possible distractions in Kermit Deterding Gym.

The Eagles posted two wins over Prairie View. The second match went three games.

“I thought we were a little nervous,” Wellsville coach Eric Evans said. “When we were aggressive, we played well.”

The Eagles had a few bumps but righted the ship throughout the matches.

Wellsville won the opener in two games, 25-16, 25-13. Wellsville rebounded from a first game loss to win the nightcap, 22-25, 25-10, 25-16.

“It was an amazing way to go out,” senior hitter Jordan Dickey said. “We gave our coach a few more grey hairs. It was fun.”

There were a lot of memorable moments. Besides honoring the seniors, the Eagles had their breast cancer fundraiser. The team sold T-shirts and will donate the proceeds to the Franklin County Cancer Foundation.

It was “Play for the Cause.”

The Eagles did play with a passion.

“They brought a high level of energy to the court,” Evans said. “There was a lot of emotion.”

The coach said he was pleased with the way the whole night turned out.

For the seniors, this was a night that all five played as Madison Chambers served the first two points of the second match.

Dickey said it was exciting for the seniors to play together for the final time.

“We wanted the win,” Dickey said. “There was a lot of want to. It was our last time. We had to live the moment.”

Wellsville sustained big runs. The first came early with a 9-0 spurt to break open the first game. The Eagles went from 3-3 to 12-3.

The Buffaloes rallied to 16-9 but could not come any closer.

The second game saw the Eagles use a 7-1 run to go from a 10-9 lead to 17-10.

The second match saw the Eagles make a few more errors in the opening game. Prairie View rallied from a 12-8 deficit to steal the momentum and build a 23-19 lead.

Wellsville controlled the final two games from start to finish. The Eagles led 14-3 in the second game and cruised to the victory.

The Eagles rolled to an 11-4 lead and led 19-11.

Evans said when the Eagles cut down on the errors, they played solid.

Wellsville (15-20) plays Saturday at home in a 3A sub-state. Pairings and times will be released later this week.

Greg Mast can be reached at sports@ottawaherald.com