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Late-season spoiler

Randolph interrupts Gowanda's perfect D2 season

By CHRISTIAN STORMS 5 min read

RANDOLPH -- The first time Randolph faced Gowanda in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 volleyball action the Panthers swept the Cardinals in three straight sets.

Since then, Gowanda claimed the league title and needed just two more wins to finish undefeated in the division.

Gowanda made the trip to Randolph in search of its 11th league win on Thursday evening, but it would not be the same squad it swept last month. Back from an injury, Randolph senior Addyson Shawley was honored prior to the match for reaching 500 career kills and she added 29 more over four sets as she was the difference maker for the winning Cardinals, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22.

"My girls came to play," Randolph head coach Bayley Johnson said about the win. "They knew what they needed to do and I'm so proud of them. Addyson Shawley, my outside hitter, was out with injury and she's back. But tonight I will credit every single one of my players for working together, executing our game plan and doing a great job."

Shawley was the go-to hitter for Randolph (8-7, 6-5) and whether it was on the outside or from the back line, her booming spikes caused troubles for Gowanda.

"Addyson Shawley, we are very proud of her 500 kills," Johnson added. "She puts a lot of her own time and effort into volleyball. She's just a great teammate and leader."

Gowanda looked business as usual in the opening set, jumping out to an early 6-3 lead courtesy of a 5-point run. Randolph got right back into it and even seized the lead after a few short runs set the score at 15-14 in favor of the Cardinals.

The Panthers put together another 5-point run to pull away at the end of the set, but even in the 25-20 loss Randolph was right with them.

After putting together the longest run of the night in the second set at six straight points, Gowanda had a 13-9 lead early and looked. Randolph called a timeout after the fifth point and from there the Cardinals buckled down and began inching back.

Three short runs of three over the course of the remainder of the second set allowed Randolph to pull ahead of Gowanda and secure the 25-23 win.

Energized from the win, Randolph controlled the entire third set and even triggered a Gowanda timeout early after a 4-point run for a 7-4 lead. The break did not slow down the Cardinals and they worked to a 21-14 lead they would not relinquish despite Gowanda's best effort ultimately winning 25-21.

"I expected these matches to be very close," Johnson said about the match. "I expect it because we're playing another great program. With that we have talked a lot about the mental side of this game and we have to move on. We can't live on one point, we have to move on to win games."

With an all-around great team performance, Randolph had the league champions on the ropes. Standing out on the night for the Cardinals were Aliza Hind finishing with 32 assists, three aces and five digs; Sophia McCue had 10 digs and three aces; and Tessa Brown provided 12 assists, three kills, an ace and five digs.

"My team is very excited," Johnson said. "We just beat a very great program and that is what we needed for our confidence for playoffs."

Just like the first three sets, the fourth was close down to the wire and it was Randolph pulling away with two late runs of three to earn a 25-22 win, handing Gowanda its first league loss of the season.

"That's kind of where we're at," Gowanda head coach Brenda Gernatt stated. "We had a lot of mental mistakes, not all my girls were headstrong tonight. I told them that in order for us to go far in playoffs we all have to be in it. We did have a lot of mental mistakes that I hope will get figured out, in practice we'll try to get those mistakes fixed."

While the loss stings, Gowanda will learn from the defeat and in the regular season the Panthers will get to play another day.

"A loss always stings no matter which way you look at it," Gernatt stated. "But I told these girls that this one here we're going to take advantage of it. I'd rather lose now then when we get further into playoffs. I'd like them to know that they can be beat at any time. This was our first league loss so it stings, but kudos to Randolph, they're getting better every time we play them. They came out strong tonight, ready to win and ready to take us on and they succeeded."

The Gowanda (12-2, 10-1) effort was led by Envy Cross with 16 kills and two blocks; Lilliana Pierce had nine kills and three blocks; Maleina Moses provided eight kills and six digs; and Bella Maines dealt out 34 assists along with six digs.

"I keep telling the girls that even though we have the league title and everything that every team is coming after us," Gernatt said. "Every team wants to give us that loss and it's up to us to not have that happen. Tonight, as I said before, Randolph did an excellent job. They came out strong and our girls kind of came out where they didn't think they would lose. I would rather lose now than lose deeper into the playoffs."

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