The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
VVS boys defeat rival Oneida at the net
With a trip to the Class B Section III final on the line, Oneida and VernonVerona-Sherrill met one more time this season on Tuesday for a playoff tilt.
The old rivals split their previous two regular season league contests, VVS blanked Oneida 3-0 in the first meeting, but Oneida won a thriller the second time the two sides tangled, going up 2-0 before fending off a ferocious VVS comeback attempt to hold on for a 3-2 win.
During Tuesday’s rubbermatch, Oneida took an early 1-0 lead courtesy a 25-19 first set. VVS recovered to take the next two, 25-19 and 25-22, for a 2-1 advantage.
Fittingly, Oneida forced a fifth and final set with a 25-20 win in the fourth to take the contest the distance.
This time, the Red Devils were able to close, taking the fifth 15-11 to advance to the Class B Section III finals for a rematch of last season’s title bout against Chittenango.
The Red Devils best offense on Tuesday was often times their defense.
“Defense. That was the big thing. Our first lineup was working offensively, but defensively we had too many holes in the block,” VVS coach Alex Rose said. “Kyle Greenewas the difference in the game. That is 100 percent what is was. We put Kyle Greene in...Noah Savage is a fantastic middle on Oneida. Our whole game plan was to try and shut himdown.
Kyle Greene was able to effectively do that, and that was the difference. Their offense is great, but just changing it up a little bit to get the block involved, that made the difference. Jake Starke, Gavin Miller, Cole Smith, even some of our setters and Nate Brewer. They stepped it up defensively. It was really the block and defense.”
VVS posted 21 block kills as a team, fending off powerful shots from Savage and outside hitters Michael Hood and Zander Farr throughout the contest. Matt DeNova led the way for VVSwithnine block kills; Kyle Greene added five; Owen Rose collected four, and Adam Durfee came up with three.
Offensively for VVS, Brennan Miller and Owen Rose set the table, collecting 13 assists a piece. Durfee put away seven kills, followed by Brewer and Rose with six each. Brewer added 14 digs onthe night, andSmithdug out 17 shots.
Brewer also gave Greene props for the defensive performance, attributing Greene’s performance and the electric atmosphere for boosting VVS after the No. 2 seed stumbled out of the gate.
“That was intense. We had our game plans going in, trying to block down Savage because he is amonster in the middle there. Kyle Greene did a great job blocking him,” Brewer said. “We came out slow in the first set, but the crowd was here tonight. I know for a fact we play better when the crowd is here. The energy in here was just driving us along.”
Michael Hood crushed 20 kills to pace the Oneida attack; Savage finished with 10 kills and six blocks. Teammate Zander Farr added eight kills, two blocks, and 12 digs. Justin Holmes tossed out 27 assists for the visitors, followed by Drew Fielder with 21. Blaine O’Moore led Oneida in digs with 19.
“Be aggressive and limit our mistakes, try to ride momentum,” Oneida coach Rik Ano said of the Oneida strategy. “That’s what it came down to in the last set. You cannot drop down 7-1 in the last game. We fought back and made a game out of it, which I am proud of the kids for doing, but it’s tough to do. You have to play completely mistake free, and we weren’t.”
Oneida used a 10-4 run to claw its way back to within three at 14-11 in the fifth on a Farr kill, but the visitor comeback ended there.
“I’m just proud of them,” Ano said of his departing seniors. “These kids have had a couple of tough seasons...most of these kids come up as sophomores. They’ve grown a lot as players and attitudes. Two years ago, we would have lost as soon as we got behind.”
Oneida finishes the season 12-5, and for the second season in a row, sees its season close witha loss to VVS.
VVS has a day to recover and prepare before taking on Chittenango in a rematch of the 2017 Class B final, where the Red Devils will look to avenge a 3-0 loss.
“Anything could happen. Everyone is 12-4. Everyone is doing well,” coach Alex Rose said. “Everyone pretty much has the same sets won and lost. We have to play hard. We need to come out fast, gung-ho, ready. We have to have the energy.”