In a meeting between two rival schools, the Homer girls volleyball team picked up a definitive road victory against Cortland, winning in straight sets. The Trojans move to 4-0 to stay perfect on the season, while the Purple Tigers drop to .500 at 2-2.
The Purple Tigers managed to keep the first set close as the Trojans appeared sluggish. Junior middle hitter Nellie Lucas had a huge block to kill a Trojan run and tie the set at nine, but the opening momentum fizzled out after that.
A series of unforced errors for both teams ended as the Trojans stepped on the gas to finish the set strong. A long volley put them up nine before eventually taking the set 25-17.
The second set was dominated by the Trojans. The Purple Tigers can’t string a run together while their opponent went on long streaks of scoring. Senior Izzi Tutino had several of her 15 kills during a massive run for the Trojans. A 25-9 set put Homer firmly in the driver’s seat going into what proved to be the final set.
The third set started off close, as Cortland scored three straight points to keep itself in contention. Senior Bailey Dady finished a long volley with a huge kill for her Trojans and inspired a return to the dominance shown for the entire game. The Purple Tigers kept fighting, but were finally defeated for good with a match-sealing point from junior Cheyenne Coolidge. The Trojans took the final set 25-17.
The connection between the Trojans and Purple Tigers goes beyond a cross-town rivalry. Homer head coach Jeremy Cook had a gameplan ready specifically for this team.
“We coach and play with a lot of these Cortland girls in club and travel ball, so we know them a little bit, which makes it interesting,” Cook said. “We knew that we needed to control the ball on our end and not do as much when the ball was on the other side of the net.”
Cortland head coach Cheri Olson had some positive feedback for her squad despite the sweep.
“We started great,” Olson said. “We didn’t return a lot of starters from last year, so every year we basically start fresh, so it’s very early in the season for us. But in the first half (of the first set) they were doing great. They were battling and letting the other team make mistakes, that’s what we need to do. We don’t don’t have a ton of power hitters on our team yet, so we need to keep our side of the net clean and for the rest of the match we just didn’t do that.”
The Trojans will look to defend their perfect record when they travel to Mexico next week. The Tigers will host the Trojans at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Purple Tigers will look to rebound against Hamilton at home at 6 p.m. today.
