Forestville’s Iris Muck and teammate Justice Yarborough attempt to block Sherman’s Emmersen Crawford during Monday’s CCAA Division 4 volleyball match in Sherman.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
SHERMAN — After giving up a 7-point lead to drop the first set against Forestville, Sherman needed a response if it was going to secure a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 4 girls volleyball victory.
The Wildcats got the exact response they needed, rattling off three straight victories to win 25-27, 25-21, 25-23, 25-23 Monday evening on Mel Swanson Court.
“We’ve had a lot of swings this year where we’ve gone on great runs and like in the first set gave away a bunch,” Sherman head coach Pat Burns said. “But we’ve had enough practice at it now that we’re starting to accept it and realize the girls have the knowledge and attitude that they can fight through it.”
Both teams struggled to put together anything offensively in the opening set, but it was Sherman slowly building a lead and reaching match point at 24-17. Forestville then rallied to protect its unblemished record in the young league season, finally stringing together points and building some confidence.
“We’ve worked on overcoming obstacles for quite a while now,” Forestville head coach Sarah LoManto stated. “This team is just a strong team of girls that enjoy playing with each other and I think that they bring that to the court.”
Forestville’s Kaitie LoManto passes to a teammate during Monday’s CCAA Division 4 girls volleyball match in Sherman.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
Forestville once again found itself down again in the second set trailing 18-12, but that was too big of a hole to dig out of.
With the contest tied again, Forestville tried its hand at leading early in the third set and it looked like the Hornets were on the way to a victory. Forestville set the pace when it scored five points in a row early, then built a 19-13 lead as it channeled the magic it found in the first set.
However, down the stretch Forestville kept making too many self-inflicting wounds and allowed Sherman to creep right back into the contest.
“We need to clean up our errors,” LoManto said about her team. “We need to clean up our errors for sure and just be more solid all the way through.”
Forestville needing three more points to secure the set, allowed Sherman to score seven of the last eight points to win 25-23.
“I was worried through both of those final two sets,” Burns added. “They had 20 points and we were still underneath them. But the girls did come back, they came around, they pulled together and followed through. They didn’t get scared and kept playing volleyball.”
Then, needing the crucial victory in the fourth set, Forestville once again established an early lead and raced to 18-13 before Sherman made its run.
The Wildcats rattled off four straight points, which triggered a Forestville timeout, and with the deficit manageable Sherman just waited for the Hornets to make their own mistakes again. Sherman ended the final set with a 4-point run to win 25-23 and delivered Forestville its first league loss.
“It was a very tough league match,” Burns stated. “We let them into the game a little more than I wanted to, but the girls were able to respond. They were able to fight and not let it slip away in both the third and fourth sets. I was very proud of them for that part.”
Sherman (6-3, 3-1) was led by Kenadi Long with six kills, five aces and 11 assists; Emmersen Crawford scored six kills, two aces, two digs and a block; Kelsey Wagner made five kills, three aces and three assists; Caylee Pinzok made seven assists and two aces; and Jayden Zenns added three kills, four aces and two digs.
The Forestville (2-4, 2-1) effort was led by Megan Gruber with four kills, two assists, four blocks, an ace and six digs; Kaitie LoManto scored a kill and made nine assists; Iris Muck made 10 blocks, two kills and two assists; and Carilene Sliwa had three kills, four blocks, a dig and an assist.
“It was some good volleyball,” LoManto said about the match. “All the girls came out to work hard and it showed. I think on both sides they fought right to the end.”