GLENS FALLS – Written on an index card were the words, “Defend our title.” Those words were put down on the card by Bainbridge-Guilford’s head coach Tami Selfridge prior to the start of the 2018 season as a goal for the Bobcats Volleyball team.
Sunday, needing one final point, the Bobcats’ Erica Selfridge delivered the serve over the net. After three hits set up a spike for Panama, B-G’s Marissa Cuozzo was there for the backline pass to Erica. The sophomore then made a set in the air for her sister, Abi Selfridge, who sent the kill attempt at the Panthers.
The Panthers’ Madalyn Bowen went up with two hands for the block. The ball deflected off her arms and landed out of bounds, giving the Bobcats a sweep over the Panama Panthers and their second straight New York State Class D Championship.
“It feels awesome,” said Selfridge (as she began to show emotion following the win.) “We all wanted it so badly. We just had to focus on just one point at a time. The girls came out and they played awesome. We played awesome last year at the state championship match and we did it again this year. I’m just super proud of them.”
The Bobcats saw Panama in the finals for the second year in a row. The two teams battled in a four set finals a year ago with B-G coming out on top 3-1. This year, Selfridge knew that it was going to be the same type of battle with them just in Saturday’s pool play action.
Match one: The Mayfield Eagles
First, the Bobcats had to face Mayfield from Section II.
Mayfield jumped out to an early lead as it appeared that the Bobcats nerves were on display for the first few points of the team.
Shaking off the butterflies, B-G put together a run to capture the lead and extend it out to 10-5. The Bobcats continued to hold their advantage, reaching a score of 17-10 before closing out the first of two games, 25-12.
The second set started nearly the same as the first with Mayfield taking the first lead at 3-1. Bainbridge-Guilford quickly closed the margin and took control of the match at 4-3 and didn’t lose the advantage again.
Mayfield did close the Bobcats lead down to two points at one time in the set but B-G grew their lead to 17-12 before ending the match at 25-19 to go up in pool play 2-0.
Match two: The Mount Academy Eagles
Next on the schedule for Bainbridge-Guilford was the Mount Academy Eagles out of Section IX. The Eagles volleyball program for the small school made their debut just this season.
Mount Academy took the floor against Panama first and delivered quite a scare for the 2017 runners-up. The first set between the two teams was a long-fought set with Panama taking the 1-0 lead by winning the game 25-22.
The second game went back and forth as well. At one point in the set, Mount Academy led 18-17. The Panthers battled back to take game two 25-21 to also go 2-0 to start pool play.
The Eagles stayed on the court to face the defending champs for the next to games played in Class D.
Bainbridge-Guilford started the first game with a lead of 8-3 as they were led by the hard swings from Erica Selfridge for the kill points and Zamira Caldwell, who was controlling the net defensively as she made back-to-back block attempts work for the Bobcats.
Mount Academy battled back to close the lead down to one point (12-11) before tying B-G at 15-15. Keeping the set close for the reminder of play, Abi Selfridge was set up by sister Erica for the kill and she placed the ball just inside the back baseline for the 25-20 win.
What happened next wasn’t something anyone was expecting.
The second set was a fight throughout, as nearly every run was matched by the opposing team. Marissa Cuozzo of the Bobcats helped her team gain a 10-5 lead but the Eagles climbed back into the set to trail 12-11.
Bainbridge-Guilford countered, going on a run to take jump out ahead 16-12 however the Eagles weren’t going away anytime soon. Setting up yet another rally, Mount Academy closed down the Bobcats’ lead to tie the match at 16-16.
Prior to the weekend, Coach Selfridge said the one aspect of B-G’s game that could hurt them were their serves. She was right.
As the second set neared the end, the Bobcats’ serves began to struggle. The Eagles took full advantage, taking a lead at 22-21 before holding on to take the game 25-23.
When asked about Mount Academy following the match, Coach Selfridge said, “[Mount Academy] was difficult to play. They played an unconventional game and struggled with sets but they found a way to make it work. They dug and hit extremely well. Get them a good setter and they would be tough to stop.”
Match three: The Panama Panthers
After their two-set match was done with Mount Academy, the Bobcats faced Panama – who was also 3-1 after Mayfield took the first game in an upset, 29-27.
All Bainbridge-Guilford needed was to win one set of the two against the Panthers to move into Sunday’s championship.
The Bobcats took an early lead over Panama and extended the score to 10-5. However, the Panthers weren’t going to go away quietly.
Panama responded to B-G’s early set run with one of their own to trail 14-13. A few points later, the Panthers took the lead at 16-14.
Bainbridge-Guilford came clawing back, tying the first set at 19-19. The game tied again at 22-22 and at 23-23.
A rocket of a spike by Abi Selfridge gave the Bobcats a 24-23 lead and the serve. B-G’s Alexis Carr sent her serve short, just getting over the net. The ball landed on the Panama side to give Bainbridge-Guilford the 25-23 win, putting them one step closer to a repeat as state champions.
