The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Morrisville girls Class D champs
Morrisville-Eaton knocks off Old Forge in straight sets for Section III title
Last season, Morrisville-Eaton flew through the Section III Class D bracket as a No. 2 seed, securing the championship in a 3-0 win over DeRuyter.
This year, as the No. 4 seed, the Warriors took a slightly different path to the Class D title game. The result stayed the same. Wil Curtis’ Warriors blanked Old Forge 27-25, 25-16, 25-19 to secure back-to-back Class D titles.
“It’s easy to rest on the laurels of what happened last year, and we had players fighting for positions throughout the year,” M-E head coach Wil Curtis said. “They just really accepted every responsibility I gave them. The parents, the sports boosters, and the girls bonding played a significant part with the team in taking the pres- sure off when we just needed to play our game.”
“I think it’s just a thing we do. We like to win. It’s just Warrior blood I would say. Last year, we lost two great seniors, so we had to come in awith a different mindset and replace them. We filled those positions very well and I don’t think there’s much changed to be honest with you,” Warrior senior Kady Warner said of repeating. “Our spot serving and spot kills, I guess you could call it, were working well for us, and just the team spirit.”
Junior Kendra Waltz put away seven kills, four aces, and came up with 20 digs, including a kicksave from way back, for the Warriors in the victory.
“I was hitting the back line a lot and tipping to the free spot was very smart, too. We are all about teamwork, and we have an amazing coach who helped us
along the way,” Waltz said before touching on what impressed her the most about the two-peat. “We played our hearts out and played like it was the last game of the season, which it was. We are so close to each other, just love one another so much we just push through anything. We are almost scrappy. We don’t let any ball hit the floor, no matter what. We always hit a third ball.
Fellow junior Lexus Eaton handed out 26 assists. Senior Lizzie Spring and junior Kamryn Roher combined showcased some lethal serves, combining for 10 aces.
“When coach puts me out on the court, I always have to be ready because if I’m not, it never ends good. So, when I’m out there, I’m trying to focus on where I am trying to serve and where coach tells me to serve and it usually works out pretty good,” Roher said.
A recurring theme throughout the Morrisville-Eaton victory was big play from a trio of juniors up front against Old Forge senior Dayna DeAngelo. Molly Holcomb (4), Chesney Hawk (2), and Julia Patrick (4) combined for 10 blocks in the Warrior win.
“We changed our lineup to isolate Dana against Molly, Chesney, and Julia, our right side. We knew[the trio] put a taller offense in front of her, so even if we couldn’t shut her down with a block, we knew that at least if we got a touch on it and we could give her something to think about before she swung because she gets the primary set,” Curtis said.
used an 8-0 run, buoyed by TheWarriorswere in dana trio of aces from Roher to ger of dropping the first set take control of the second. despite having a 19-13 lead Old Forge began to creep after Holcomb came upwith back into the the second, but a block and kill. Old Forge the Warriors shut down any came roaring back to take a hopes of a comeback with 23-20 advantage, but Curtis’ a Holcomb kill of an assist side was able to force a 25from Eaton for a 2-0 advan25tage.tiebeforeclosingthefirst out with a Waltz kill and an Waltz came up with what Old Forge error to go up 1-0. was perhaps the play of the
With a 10-8 lead midway match on an incredible dig through the second, M-E late in the third with her kick-save to give M-E a 22-17 edge en route to a 25-19 total.
“I think that we definitely were prepared. Our strength of schedule played a big part of this. It was changing the mindset of our girls that we would have an undefeated season. Convincing themwe were a returning champion but we still had to put the work in. Losing a senior in the first fewweeks of the season and filling in that mid- dle position was key. Staying disciplined and forming one unit [was key] because it is a lot of pressure to repeat finishing No. 1. They adapted well. Theyput the gameplan into place of serving certain zones, serving one and five. Keeping the tips to a certain player, making them wear down a little bit,” Curtis said, breaking down the path to the repeat. “Another focus we had was that we had already seen them. We played them twice in the season, and we were prepared. We knew Dana, their great hitter, was going to score points and that we were just going to be patient and applaud when she scored, but we were going to try and neutralize her as best we could and get a touch on every ball she had. Then, we kept the pressure on her because we know that she touches the ball every rally.”
As excited as the Warriors were about their repeat title, thoughts were already turning toward next season after the championship presentation.
“Hopefully, we are looking for a three-peat. We know Remsen had four, and we have the team and program to do so,” Curtis said.
Added Roher, “Going into my senior year next year, I am pretty excited for that. Just knowing we have that title behind our back, I am really proud of all of us and the coaches, fans and supporters.”