Norwich’s Mia Maiurano goes up for the block at the net as Susquehanna Valley’s Jenna Cotter attempts to spike it onto the Tornado side. Maiurano ended the night with four aces and nine kills in the Norwich 3-1 match win. (Evening Sun Photo, Frank Speziale)

Bobcats and Hornets come away with wins; Trojans fall to Spartans

NORWICH – It was a game of comebacks for the Lady Purple Tornado during Thursday’s match with the visiting Sabers of Susquehanna Valley. Norwich’s late set rallies in three games led the home team to a win despite Sus Valley stealing game number two of the match.

In game one of the match, Susquehanna Valley held a 16-6 lead but the Tornado didn’t give up as they fought back point by point to pull within two points. As the two teams went back-and-forth between those two points for eight points, Norwich put together a quick run to tie the game at 21-21 before taking the first game 25-23.

Fending off the Tornado’s comeback attempt in game two, the Sabers took the set with a score of 25-21.

Games two and three were nearly the same at the first, with the Norwich coaches calling a time out after SV went on a run to gain a big lead. Following the quick break in action, the Lady Purple Tornado rallied their way back into the games and one by two points each time (27-25 and 26-24).

Norwich’s Lauren Squires led the net attack for her team, coming away from the game with 12 kills and three blocks – all very needed for stop the Sabers run from continuing – while teammate Mia Maiurano ended the night with nine.

Maiurano added four aces in the match, a stat that was hard to come by for Norwich as their serving percentage was well below what head coach Shelly Alger and assist coach Pete Komendarek want it to be.

“We did not play our best volleyball,” said Alger. “However, we didn’t give up and that is how we were able to come away with the win.”

Squires and Francesca Salerno tallied two aces each. Salerno, one of the team’s setters on the roster this season, ended the night with 14 assists. Another setter on the Norwich team Maddy Morris registered 13 assists as the Tornado’s passing was on.

Libero Megan Lindridge recorded sevens kills and Marissa Ramey added six kills in the Norwich win.

The Purple Tornado head to Johnson City Saturday morning for the Wildcats’ annual tournament. Round robin match play begins 9 a.m. Following the pool play rounds, the teams will be placed into different brackets based on the record from earlier in the day and will have a chance to take a gold, silver or bronze title home.

Norwich 3, Susquehanna Valley 1

25-23, 21-25, 27-25, 26-24

Bainbridge-Guilford 3, Sidney 0

BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford (6-0, 3-0) remained unbeaten after taking two matches in two days, one over a higher class Union-Endicott Tigers team.

Thursday night, the Bobcats defeated Midstate Athletic Conference opponent Sidney in three straight sets, 25-7, 25-7, 25-11.

During the match, B-G’s Erica Selfridge had a big night serving as she finished the night with 12 aces. Her Bobcat colleagues Sasha Lamoree (4), Makenna Clark (2), Taylor Parsons (2), Abby Delello (3) and Samantha Cersena (1) combined for another 12 to give Bainbridge-Guilford 24 for the match.

Lamoree also had a game-high 12 assists while Clark recorded a game-high six kills. Selfridge, Parsons and Ceresna scored on four kill attempts each and Abby Delello added two more kills with two blocks.

Selfridge dished out nine assists in the win as well.

Sidney was led by Baylee Jones’ four kills and Amber Rogers’ three assists. Seycelle Kolic finished the night serving up two aces and Kaitlin Bartels totaled one kill and one ace.

Wednesday saw the Bobcats squad face U-E, non-league opponent, on the road and return home with a 3-1 win over the Section IV Class A school.

The host Tigers stole game one from B-G 26-24 but the visiting team battled to win the next three games, 25-17, 25-9 and 25-21.

“It was an intense battle from start to finish,” said Bobcats head coach Tami Selfridge. “It’s nights like the U-E game that make our goal of returning to Glens Falls seem achievable. We still have a lot of work to do but it’s possible.”

Coach Selfridge said daughter Erica had big night as her hits were on fire but the team’s depth was apparent with Clark and Parsons also hitting the ball well during the match. “It’s tough for teams to defend when they don’t know where we are hitting from,” said Coach Selfridge.

The Bobcats head coach also noted that Bree Barber has been playing great defense of late as she has been making the other team’s hitters work for a kill. Barber returned to the lineup this season after missing last year’s championship run with a foot injury.