NEW BERLIN – The Section IV Class D realm of high school varsity volleyball featured two standout Chenango County teams in their tournament – top-seeded Unadilla Valley as well as second-seed Oxford – both unfortunately fell, effectively ending their 2016 postseason bids.
The Class D semifinals on Oct. 3, in New Berlin featured four Section IV teams play in round-robin pool-play style tournament to determine the top two teams that would advance to the section finals – Unadilla Valley, Candor, Delhi, and Oxford.
Top-seeded Unadilla Valley Storm slid tremendously, dropping each matchup they played on the night by a score score of 2-0.
Unadilla Valley entered into the tournament as the top seed with an overall record of 11-4 overall, this is a much improved record from the previous season where UV managed just a 8-7 record reaching just the first round of the sectional tournament.
“We made it to sectional pool-play which the program has never done before. At the beginning of the season we set the goal of going further than we went last year,” said UV head coach Bridget McHugh. “The girls showed up everyday ready to reach that goal. The six seniors we had this season are irreplaceable and will be missed greatly next year.”
In their loss, UV finishes as the fourth place team is Section IV Class D as well as officially being the only team Unadilla Valley history to make it to the semifinal round of the Section IV tournament. UV will be saying goodbye to their six graduating seniors: Keana Schrag, Tia Peck, Bailey Miller, Megan Carpenter, Sara Nogaret, and Gina DelSontro.
Combined statistics for Unadilla Valley in the sectional pool-play: Tia Peck three aces; Bailey Miller six aces, five kills; Megan Carpenter one ace, 10 assists, three kills; Erin Kelly four digs, three aces, 10 assists; Gina DelSontro five kills; Macie Franklin seven kills; Sara Nogaret two kills; and standout Keana Schrag racking up 43 digs in the three matches.
• For the Oxford Blackhawks, they enjoyed much more success from the second-seed spot in the tournament.
Oxford would ultimately enter into a tie with Delhi late in the evening to determine who would advance to the finals to face Candor – who notably cruised through the competition.
