SECTION 4 VOLLEYBALL: HORSEHEADS VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS WAY TO SECTIONAL TITLE (24 PHOTOS) (November 9, 2025)

Southern Tier Sports Report
TIOGA CENTER — A year ago the Horseheads volleyball team won three matches on the season.

On Sunday the Blue Raiders capped a huge turnaround, winning the Section IV, Class AA Championship in three sets over Vestal, 25-21, 25-13, 25-21.

The Blue Raiders avenged an earlier season loss to the Golden Bears in the win.

Alexxa Johnson had seven kills, six digs, two blocks and an ace and Kaelyn McCarthy had 15 assists, four digs and an ace.

Kailey McCormick had seven kills, two digs and three blocks and Jemma Randall finished with six kills and three blocks.

Emelia Clark had three kills, a dig and a block and Madden Foster had 10 digs, while Kaitlyn Procopio had four digs. 

“Dustin (Sherman) and I are so incredibly proud of how our team came out and played today,” Horseheads coach Megyan Merrill said. “We have been working hard these last two weeks to achieve this goal. The girls were hungry for a win and played their hearts out. They left it all on the court. We are excited to get to continue on for another week.”

For the players this was a special moment.

“It feels amazing,” McCarthy said. “It honestly is so surreal after not even getting a bid (to sectionals) last year. I think our team was hungry for a comeback and a good underdog season. We got swept by Vestal earlier in the season and were held to nine kills, and for us to turn around and come back to sweep them, I couldn’t be more excited.”

The players have seen the improvement over the year, and know how big this is for the program.

“I am beyond proud of our team and the improvements that we have made during this journey,” Johnson said. “Coming into the game, we knew Vestal was a strong team as we have not won against them this season. But, we also knew what we had to do and we accomplished it by playing our best. This is huge for the Horseheads volleyball program knowing what our record from last year (was).”
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR. . . TEAM PHOTO PROVIDED. 

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