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TORONTO – The Toronto volleyball team has gotten back on track.
After back-to-back losses, the Red Knights have now won three-straight matches as Toronto defeated rival Wellsville, 25-18, 25-14, 22-25, 25-12, in a varsity only match Monday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.
“Once we settled down, got our passing going and were consistent with our offense, we did well,” Toronto (10-2) head coach Shannon Bahen said. “We got off to a slow start tonight. We had Homecoming this past weekend, so we did not practice Saturday or Sunday. We started off slow, but then we showed flashes of where we want to be and where we needed to be.”
Individually for Toronto, Jayna Reeves recorded 30 kills, two blocks and five assists, Haley Bodnar delivered 15 digs, three aces and one assist and Danielle Sutherin tallied 42 assists and five aces. Also, Sydney Fisher finished with four aces and 10 points, Jaylee Brown collected eight digs and one ace and Kylie Mitchell contributed four blocks and two kills. Finally, Josey Dickinson chipped in with two kills and one block, Emma Parello produced one block and one kill and Addison Dobbs added 10 kills.
Teams want to start out a match with a win in the first set, and the Red Knights were able to do just that.
Toronto was the first team to 10 in the set, but Wellsville battled back and pulled to within 14-12. The girls in white tallied the next point to go up by three before building a 20-13 advantage. The visitors fought back and closed to within 22-18, but the girls from Jefferson County rose to the occasion and scored the final three points of the set to win it by seven points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
“I told the girls they were not going to score 11 points on one rally, and for them to just do their jobs,” Bahen said. “We have to be consistent. We have make one pass at a time. They’re teenage girls. They tend to overthink things. They take things hard. We want them to play loose. We want them to play loose no matter who we are playing.”
The second set was tight early on, however, the girls from the Gem City collected 11-straight points to build a 16-7 advantage. The Red Knights went on win the set by 11 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
“Sydney Fisher is a sophomore,” Bahen said. “Her number was called, and she went on a serving run. It was fantastic. She played lights out tonight. Jayna Reeves had 30 kills tonight. That is a career high for her. We want to get the rust off from this weekend.”
The Tigers (5-7) came out strong to start the third set as the girls in black were looking to avoid the sweep.
The girls from Columbiana County tallied the first five points of the set to take an early lead, and they extended their advantage out to 9-3 resulting in Bahen calling a timeout. Wellsville increased its advantage to 13-4.
Trailing by nine points, the girls from the Gem City refused to throw in the towel, as they regrouped and stormed their way back into set ultimately knotting the score at 16. The Tigers countered and scored the next two points to go up 18-16, but the hosts responded with the next four points to take a 20-18 lead.
Facing the possibility of getting swept by Toronto for the second time this season, Wellsville dug deep, and the Tigers ended the set with a 7-2 run to win the set by three and close to within 2-1 in the match.
“We try to get in some girls who don’t play as much,” Bahen said. “It is a mix, and it threw off our chemistry. The girls panicked. There were new girls on the court. We settled down and adjusted, but then they went on to win that set. We showed a lot of improvement in that set. We were down like 16-6.”
The fourth set was knotted at 8-all. The Orange-and-Black took a 10-9 lead, but five-straight points by the Red Knights forced the Tigers to call a timeout with them trailing 14-9. Toronto built a 21-11 advantage before winning the set by 13 points to win the match, 3-1.
“It was our passes,” Bahen said. “Every time I talk to you I talk about our backrow passing. It’s a weak spot. It is something we are working on. The kids want to improve. The more reps we have the better. I am OK with us losing the third set if we are able to get more reps and we ended up in the win column.”
The Red Knights opened the season by sweeping the Tigers Aug. 22 up at Wellsville. Toronto won its first nine matches before dropping two in a row with the losses coming to Madonna and Big Red.
“The kids work hard,” Bahen said. “They are constantly watching film. They are always asking me for more reps and what they can do better. I love this group. I am proud to be their coach. We just want to keep this train rolling.”
After falling to Big Red in four sets Sept. 10 at home, Toronto responded by defeating Southern, 3-1, before sweeping Edison last Tuesday at home.
Toronto is set to take on Big Red in a rematch today on the road inside the Crimson Center.
“Big Red is well coached,” Bahen said. “I have known Logan (Colabella) my whole life. We know they are going to be ready, but we will be ready, too. We want revenge.”
The Red Knights are one win away from matching last season’s win total of 11.
“All of the credit goes to the kids and my assistant coaches,” Bahen said. “They want more reps. They are always asking me to unlock the gym. They’re freaks. They love the game, and they play for each other.”
Wellsville is scheduled to play today at home against Southern Local.