Tornado reaches new heights amid loss in sectionals
OWEGO – The Norwich varsity volleyball team, under the leadership of head coach Shelly Alger, has reached new heights for the program in 2016 – achieving something no other Norwich volleyball team has done in recent memory.
“I am extremely proud of these girls. We had a super great season. The competition in the STAC league is highly competitive,” said coach Alger of her 2016 squad. “We played some excellent teams. Ours girls accomplished something that no other Norwich volleyball team has done before making it this far in the playoffs.”
Norwich most recently played in the semifinals of the Section IV Class B sectional tournament on Thursday Oct. 3.
In this semifinal pool-play round – featuring the four teams of Norwich, Windsor, Oneonta, and top-seeded Owego – Norwich first played powerhouse Windsor.
In the Windsor match, Norwich managed to take the first set from the Black Knights, winning 25-23; before dropping their second set to Windsor 25-16.
In the second match of pool-play, Norwich was faced up against the one-seed, the Owego Indians. Owego proceeded to win both sets, however, a scrappy Norwich squad did not go down 0-2 without a fight as the first and second set scores were 25-21, and 25-18, respectively in favor of the Indians.
In their final round-robin match of the evening Norwich was faced with rival Oneonta in a make of break situation. The Norwich ladies left nothing in the tank against Oneonta, however, dropped both sets. Norwich would battle to set scores of 25-18 and an impressive 28-26, both going in favor of the Yellowjackets.
“It was exciting to us when we took a game from Windsor during pool-play cause that put us in the drivers seat,” said coach Alger. “But then Windsor turned around and took a game from Owego, and then we lost our drive when it came to play Oneonta. We had problems getting our digs to setter to set for the attack. The other teams had very strong attackers.”
The 2016 Norwich team finished ranked fourth in Section IV, coming off a 9-5 overall record, where they also finished second in the division behind Windsor. However, according to coach Alger and her knowledge of the Norwich volleyball history, advancing to the pool-play semifinal round of the Section IV tournament, officially makes this squad the most successful in Tornado history, as no other team has made it past the first round of sectionals.
“I took over the team three days before the season started in 2009, we did not make sectionals that year, but we have every year since. But this year is the first year we made it to the semi's,” said coach Alger. “As a coach, you hurt because you feel the pain of the girls, when you see them come so close and cant finish on top. Measuring success is not always measured by wins and losses. Rather it is measured by player development and team improvement. So these girls were winners. We were competitive with some of the best teams in Section IV.”
Combined statistics for the Tornado girls in the semifinal round of the tournament are as follows (Oneonta, Owego, Oneonta): Layla Burton, two digs, two digs, three digs; Meghan Komendarek,one ace, four kills, five kills, and five kills; Riley Strong, four assists, one assist; and one assist; Kara Evans, one kill, and three blocks; Kalie Binelli, four kills, one dig, five digs, and two digs; Leahanne Humphrey, two assists, three assists, and nothing; Alexis Taylor, one ace with two digs, followed by one dig, and one kill.
“I am very, very proud of this years team. They have worked hard from May of this year in two different summer leagues until present. They have been one of the best group of girls I have had the opportunity to work with,” said coach Alger. “I must say that I will extremely miss my four seniors. They were exceptional role models for the younger girls. We will take a few weeks off and we will start working hard again towards our next season.”
Norwich will be waving goodbye to their four seniors: Kalie Fleming, Meghan Komendarek, Kara Evans, and Madison Shackelton.
Despite a Norwich loss – taking fourth place in semifinals – the top two teams in the pool-play did advance to Corning to play in the finals of the Section IV Class B tournmanet. In the finals Owego claimed a 3-2 win over Windsor to advanc to the NYS championships.
“I am extremely proud of these girls. We had a super great season. The competition in the STAC league is highly competitive,” said coach Alger of her 2016 squad. “We played some excellent teams. Ours girls accomplished something that no other Norwich volleyball team has done before making it this far in the playoffs.”
Norwich most recently played in the semifinals of the Section IV Class B sectional tournament on Thursday Oct. 3.
In this semifinal pool-play round – featuring the four teams of Norwich, Windsor, Oneonta, and top-seeded Owego – Norwich first played powerhouse Windsor.
In the Windsor match, Norwich managed to take the first set from the Black Knights, winning 25-23; before dropping their second set to Windsor 25-16.
In the second match of pool-play, Norwich was faced up against the one-seed, the Owego Indians. Owego proceeded to win both sets, however, a scrappy Norwich squad did not go down 0-2 without a fight as the first and second set scores were 25-21, and 25-18, respectively in favor of the Indians.
In their final round-robin match of the evening Norwich was faced with rival Oneonta in a make of break situation. The Norwich ladies left nothing in the tank against Oneonta, however, dropped both sets. Norwich would battle to set scores of 25-18 and an impressive 28-26, both going in favor of the Yellowjackets.
“It was exciting to us when we took a game from Windsor during pool-play cause that put us in the drivers seat,” said coach Alger. “But then Windsor turned around and took a game from Owego, and then we lost our drive when it came to play Oneonta. We had problems getting our digs to setter to set for the attack. The other teams had very strong attackers.”
The 2016 Norwich team finished ranked fourth in Section IV, coming off a 9-5 overall record, where they also finished second in the division behind Windsor. However, according to coach Alger and her knowledge of the Norwich volleyball history, advancing to the pool-play semifinal round of the Section IV tournament, officially makes this squad the most successful in Tornado history, as no other team has made it past the first round of sectionals.
“I took over the team three days before the season started in 2009, we did not make sectionals that year, but we have every year since. But this year is the first year we made it to the semi's,” said coach Alger. “As a coach, you hurt because you feel the pain of the girls, when you see them come so close and cant finish on top. Measuring success is not always measured by wins and losses. Rather it is measured by player development and team improvement. So these girls were winners. We were competitive with some of the best teams in Section IV.”
Combined statistics for the Tornado girls in the semifinal round of the tournament are as follows (Oneonta, Owego, Oneonta): Layla Burton, two digs, two digs, three digs; Meghan Komendarek,one ace, four kills, five kills, and five kills; Riley Strong, four assists, one assist; and one assist; Kara Evans, one kill, and three blocks; Kalie Binelli, four kills, one dig, five digs, and two digs; Leahanne Humphrey, two assists, three assists, and nothing; Alexis Taylor, one ace with two digs, followed by one dig, and one kill.
“I am very, very proud of this years team. They have worked hard from May of this year in two different summer leagues until present. They have been one of the best group of girls I have had the opportunity to work with,” said coach Alger. “I must say that I will extremely miss my four seniors. They were exceptional role models for the younger girls. We will take a few weeks off and we will start working hard again towards our next season.”
Norwich will be waving goodbye to their four seniors: Kalie Fleming, Meghan Komendarek, Kara Evans, and Madison Shackelton.
Despite a Norwich loss – taking fourth place in semifinals – the top two teams in the pool-play did advance to Corning to play in the finals of the Section IV Class B tournmanet. In the finals Owego claimed a 3-2 win over Windsor to advanc to the NYS championships.
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