The Homer girls volleyball team swept Mexico Tuesday night for its third win in a row and 12th of the season to set the Trojans up for a big push before sectionals. Homer won 25-14, 25-15, 25-12 at Homer High School.
Samantha Sovocool led the way with a big service run in the first set, finishing with two kills, five aces and two digs. Dannica Smith added 14 assists, a kill, an ace and two digs, Izzi Tutino notched five kills, three aces and eight digs and Maria Partis contributed 11 digs. Eila Spanbauer (10 digs, three kills, one ace), Viviana Fox (six digs, two aces), Lauren Oustad (four assists, one dig), Cheyenne Coolidge (three digs, one kill, one ace), Mickenlee Harris (two kills, one ace, two digs), Madison Singleton (two aces, one dig), Camryn Wethje (two digs), Bailey Dady (one kill, one dig) and Anya Gofkowski (one kill) also aided the Trojans’ win.
Despite the commanding victory, the Trojans started slow in each of the first two sets. Homer led 11-6 in the first before Sovocool’s roll, then Mexico led 7-5 to start the second set before Homer won four straight points to take control.
Homer head coach Jeremy Cook felt his girls were lacking some energy and focus early on and wanted to make sure they stayed up all match.
“I can see what we have coming and what we’re going to have when we get to sectional play,” Cook said. “We’re trying to push them in practice and every game to get closer to that more frequently.”
The Trojans are now 12-3 after beating a 2-13 Mexico side. Homer started 8-0, lost three of four and is back on a three-match winning streak. Cook knew keeping the good times rolling was huge as the season comes to an end.
“It was important,” Cook said. “When we went to Mexico, we won in four. I was happy that we could win in three, but I wish it was a little more dominant. That’s the way it goes.”
“We’re the No. 1 seed for the OHSL tournament coming up on Saturday,” Cook added. “We want to play to win that tournament. Then we’re still fighting to try and be that second or third seed in sectionals to get away from Westhill and give ourselves a chance to win as many games as we can there. We still have a lot to work on, but we’re getting better and have to keep getting better for November.”
Homer has two matches left –– a home game against Phoenix Monday and a trip to LaFayette on Oct. 23. Cook wants to see his girls play consistently from the first service to the final point.
“We’re trying to work on closing it out and focusing the whole time,” Cook said. “We’re trying to play a complete match. I think we did it against Cazenovia. We had to win it in five. It’s definitely in there, but we’ll see. We have a tough one Monday for senior night against Phoenix.”
The OHSL tournament starts at 8 a.m. Saturday at Phoenix’s Emerson J. Dillon Middle School.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
PHOENIX 3, CORTLAND 0
Katie Harris went for six assists, six digs and two aces as Cortland lost 5-25, 22-25, 14-25.
Sophia Mayer added seven digs and a kill, Nellie Lucas contributed four goals, a block and two digs and Zoey DeVito had two digs, an assist and an ace. Sophia Testa (three digs, one ace), Morgan Howard (two digs, one kill), Annie Jackson (two digs), Reagan Whitney (one kill, one dig) and Gia Perfetti (one dig) also aided the Purple Tigers’ effort.
INDIAN RIVER 3, GROTON 0
Groton lost 19-25, 14-25, 13-25.
BOYS SOCCER
MCGRAW 2, MADISON 0
Logan Moffitt recorded a goal and an assist as McGraw won its third game in a row. Calob Sutton also scored a goal Zach Kahle made four saves for the Eagles.
WAVERLY 2, GROTON 0
Ethan Besler made 16 saves for Groton in a losing effort. The Red Hawks gave up both goals in the first half.
CINCINNATUS 5, DERUYTER 1
Cincinnatus had five different players score as the Lions scored three times in the second half and won their seventh game in a row.
Jack Stafford, Hunter Downes, John Schuyler, Caleb Souva and Koda Temple scored once apiece for Cincinnatus. Schuyler notched two assists and Temple and Garrett Lieb each had an assist. Collin Holtmart made eight saves for Cincinnatus.
Justin Booth scored DeRuyter’s goal in the first half. Dylan Foster stopped three shots for the Rockets.
FABIUS-POMPEY 1, TULLY 0
Oscar Breitzka made five saves for Tully, but the Black Knights fell for the third time in their last four games.
GIRLS SOCCER
CHITTENANGO 10, CORTLAND 0
No additional details were reported.
HOMER 1, CAZENOVIA 0
Emily Petrella played hero for Homer yet again, scoring the game-winning goal with 14 seconds left in the first overtime period for the Trojans’ fourth win in a row.
Mia Knight picked up the assist on Petrella’s tally. Kennadie Taylor made 14 saves for the clean-sheet win.
TULLY 4, A-P-W 0
Wren Lawton and Desiray Gables each scored twice to lift Tully to a third straight win. The Black Knights scored three times after halftime to secure the win.
Gabby Flatt, Gloria Flatt and Maddy Lund notched an assist each for Tully. Emily Hall saved four shots in the win.
DERUYTER 3, STOCKBRIDGE VALLEY 0
Molly Amidon and Chelsey Prince each recorded a goal and an assist as DeRuyter won its 11th game of the season. The Rockets took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Abbigail Whalen scored DeRuyter’s third goal and Rhya Richardson notched an assist. Abby Stanton stopped six shots in DeRuyter’s win.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS SOCCER
Waverly at Groton, 7 p.m. today
Homer at Jordan-Elbridge/Cato-Meridian, 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Stockbridge Valley/Morrisville-Eaton at McGraw, 4:30 p.m. Thursday
Cincinnatus at Brookfield, 4:30 p.m. Thursday
Southern Cayuga at Dryden, 7 p.m. Thursday
Tully at Bishop Ludden, 7 p.m. Thursday
GIRLS SOCCER
DeRuyter at McGraw, 4:30 p.m. today
Stockbridge Valley at Cincinnatus, 4:30 p.m. today
Cortland at Cazenovia, 4 p.m. Thursday
Oswego at Homer, 6 p.m. Thursday
McGraw at Onondaga/LaFayette, 4:30 p.m. Thursday
Bishop Ludden at Tully, 4:30 p.m. Thursday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Fowler at Cortland, 6:30 p.m. today
Union Springs at Groton, 6:30 p.m. today
Tioga at Dryden, 6:30 p.m. today
Newfield at Moravia, 6:30 p.m. today
Cortland at Solvay, 6 p.m. Thursday
FIELD HOCKEY
Auburn at Homer, 7:15 p.m. today
Owego Apalachin at Moravia, 4:30 p.m. today
Sidney at Marathon, 4:30 p.m. Thursday
Whitney Point at Moravia, 7 p.m. Thursday
CROSS COUNTRY
Fabius-Pompey, Manlius Pebble Hill at Cincinnatus, 4:30 p.m. today
Tully at LaFayette, 4:30 p.m. today
DeRuyter at Faith Heritage, 4:30 p.m. today
BOYS GOLF
Cortland, Homer, McGraw, Tully at Beaver Meadows Golf Club, 9 a.m. Thursday
GIRLS TENNIS
Homer at Utica Parkway Tennis Courts, 8:30 a.m. Thursday
GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING
Elmira Notre Dame, Whitney Point at Dryden, 4:30 p.m. Thursday
