NORWICH – Earlier this season, Norwich and Oneonta went the distance in the best-of-five with the Lady Tornado coming out on top after needing to the win the final two games in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference divisional match. In front of a packed gym, Norwich did the exact same Tuesday to defeat the Yellowjackets 3-2 on senior night.
With six seniors on the 2019 roster, head coach Shelly Alger, assistant coaches, the Norwich Volleyball booster club and the rest of the team honored all for their years full of dedication to the program. Lexi Whaley, Sam Binelli, Chloe Winton, Francesca Salerno, Mia Maiurano, and Sophia Dabbraccio then started on the floor for the first game of the five-set match
After a slow start to the opening set, the Lady Tornado attempted to come back but fell in the first 25-18 to the Yellowjackets.
Switching to the other side of the court, Norwich came out firing and put the opponent in a hole to climb out of. As it looked like the Purple Tornado were going to cruise to the set win, Oneonta mounted a slight comeback to pull within three points of the home team. Back-to-back points closed the second set to give the match a 1-1 score and forcing at least a fourth game.
With the same score of the first game, Oneonta took a 2-1 lead for the match and needed to win the next set to close out the road victory.
As the fans of the home Tornado looked on, Norwich wasn’t about to go down on senior night without a fight. With the 17-12 score in favor of the home team, it appeared the Yellowjackets were about to score point 13 and get the serve back on a hard spike attempt that looked like it was going to hit the ground on the Norwich side.
However, the Tornado defense volleyed the ball over the net after bodies were diving to the ground, hustling for the ball. As Oneonta wasn’t expecting the ball to come back to their side after the first hit by Norwich, the Yellowjackets began to hustle after the play but the third hit went into the net to give the point and serve back to the home team.
Norwich went on to win the fourth game 25-20, setting up the fifth and final match between the two rival schools for the second time this season.
Carrying the momentum from the fourth set win, the Lady Purple Tornado cruised to the 25-15 victory to win the match.
Megan Lindridge, Norwich’s libero (defensive player), came away with 10 digs in the match as she fielded several of Oneonta’s kill attempts to keep the rally going.
Francesca Salerno and Maddy Morris passed the ball well for Norwich as the two combined for 27 assists. Morris dished out 17 while on her senior night, Salerno set up 10 point plays for the home team.
Fellow seniors Sam Binelli and Chloe Winton came away with six and seven kills in the match while Mia Maiurano added an assist and Sophie Dabbraccio had a kill.
Lexi Whaley, a senior who was originally told she was likely to miss her final preseason on the court due to a knee injury in June, played in the match and recorded two aces, one assist, two kills and one dig.
Having a big day at the net for the Lady Tornado was middle hitter Lauren Squires. Alger made a move in the game to slide the middle hitter to the outside and the move paid off as Squires came away with a double-double for the game, finishing with 10 aces and 18 kills in the match. She added four digs and two assists as she had an immediate impact in game two.
The Yellowjackets were led by Laine Johnson and Liz Serafin’s 11 kills while Clarissa Shaw had 18 assists in the match. Serafin and Shaw combined for 14 digs in the loss, each finishing the game with seven defensive stops.
Norwich improved to 8-3 with the win over Oneonta Tuesday and two wins last week – three game sweeps over Susquehanna Valley and Chenango Forks.
The Tornado took all six games in the two matches by convicing scores as the most the team allowed their opponent to score was 18.
Salerno and Morris both had a good week passing the ball in the two matches. Against Sus Valley, Salerno finished with 14 assists while Morris also reached double digits with 10. In the later match against Forks, it was Morris who tallied 14 and Salerno came away with nine.
Squires had 11 kills against the Sabers and continued to swing hard against the Blue Devils, scoring 18 points with the balls smashed over the net.
Lindridge had eight digs against Susquehanna Valley and keeping with the number eight was Marissa Ramey with her kills scored.
Winton had eight digs against Chenango Forks to lead the team in the stat column while Linridge and Binelli added six each. Whaley also recorded five kills in the match win.
The Lady Tornado heads to Bishop Gibbons for a non-league match on Thursday. The contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. and is the final regular season match for the Purple Tornado before the postseason begins.
Norwich 3, Oneonta 2
18-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-19, 25-15
Oneonta: Laine Johnson 11 kills, 1 block, 1 ace; Ava Nunez 1 kill, 3 digs; Liz Serafin 11 kills, 1 block, 6 aces, 7 digs; Clarissa Shaw 4 kills, 18 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs; Haley Utter 5 kills, 3 aces; Keara Hazard 3 kills, 3 assists.
Norwich: Megan Lindridge 10 digs; Sam Binelli 5 aces, 1 assist, 6 kills, 2 digs; Maddy Morris 1 ace, 17 assists, 2 kills, 1 dig; Marissa Ramey 4 kills, 2 blocks; Lauren Squires 10 aces, 2 assists, 18 kills, 4 digs; Chloe Winton 3 aces, 3 assists, 7 kills; Lexi Whaley 2 aces, 1 assist, 2 kills, 1 dig; Mia Maiurano 1 assists; Sophie Dabbraccio 1 kill; Francesca Salerno 1 aces, 10 assists, 1 kills, 1 block.