IAC VOLLEYBALL: EDISON PRESSES CANDOR EARLY IN 3-1 SETBACK (2021-09-09)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Southern Tier Sports Report
CANDOR — The Edison volleyball team may not be at the level of teams like Candor and Tioga, but the Spartans are serving notice to Newark Valley and Waverly that they aren't going to be a pushover.

After playing hard in a 3-0 loss to Tioga Wednesday, Edison battled to the bitter end before dropping a 3-1 decision to Candor here Thursday.

"We're just not a next-level team yet," said Edison coach Paul Richmond. "We did the same thing against Tioga. "I'm super excited that we start off against to of the best teams in the conference with Tioga and Candor."

"I think their serving was really strong in the first game and beginning of the second set," Candor coach Pam Quinlan said. "We sent probably more free balls than we usually send and then they used them. They set them up and just hit them back at us and we just struggled to defend them and to get a pass where we could get an offense going."

The Spartans battled in every set, topping the Indians in the opener, 25-20. They would struggle late in the second set in a 25-23 setback, then the Indians would take over and pull away in the last two for 25-14 and 25-12 wins.

Edison was up, 20-16, in the second game when Candor rallied to even the match.

"It's kind of a new group of girls out there and I think they're still getting comfortable, but having some senior leadership, I think they really kind of dug deep and started stepping it up and being leaders, and the other girls kind of take their lead from that."

The Spartans grabbed a pair of 3-point leads in the third set, but the Indians' Janelle Marsh snapped an 11-11 tie with nine straight service points.

Edison found itself in a 20-7 hole in the final set, but went on a brief 4-point run before Candor closed out the match.

"Candor tonight figured us out. So what happens, in the third set, teams start figuring out what we do," Richmond said. "We're not distributing the ball as much to some of our hitters, but we're woking on that. We're fixing it."

Maren Lutz handed out 10 assists and scored seven service points for the Spartans. She also had two blocks and two kills.

Emma Maggs recorded three kills and five points and Ashlyn Maggs contributed five kills

Jadyn Wood chipped in with four kills and two blocks, Harper Hoffman had three kills and three blocks, and Hayleigh Vanderhoff dished out five assists.

"Energy-wise, we're the best team in the league and I would say that to anybody, but we're not next level when it comes to playing teams like Tioga and Candor," Richmond said. "They're both non-divisional matches and we just love the energy, and I'm super proud of these girls, and as always, hats off to Candor. They're the best."  

It's difficult to beat a team who has a powerful hitter like the Indians' Shelby Swartz, who was a major force at the net with 17 kills.

"When we can get a pass or a ball to our setter and use her (Swartz), she's really worked hard to hit the ball from most positions on the court and on the net," Quinlan said. "She's a great weapon for us."

Swartz also had 13 digs and eight service points, five of which were aces.

Brooke Wilcox posted 11 points, including three aces, doled out 29 assists and added seven digs while Isabel Makie had 10 service points, two aces, and seven kills.

Janelle Marsh had 13 points and six digs; Kiera Heidl added three aces; Anna Greeno had six points and five digs; Grace Handy tacked on six kills; and Addison Aman came away with 14 dig.

Edison (0-2) gets its first IAC South Large School test Tuesday when it visits defending champ Newark Valley. Candor (2-0) gets a good test too when visits IAC South Small School rival Tioga (2-0) Tuesday.

JV: Edison won, 25-23 and 25-15.

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IN PHOTO 1: Edison's Jadyn Wood. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.