GLENS FALLS -- Alanna Shelley, one of the eight seniors on Victor's girls volleyball team, said it will probably hit her Monday. Her coach, Shelly Collins, got it over with early.
Tearing up on the Civic Center floor moments after the awards ceremony, Collins said winning two consecutive state titles is just the way she would have the octet go out. Victor swept Cornwall, 25-12, 25-20, 25-17, Sunday to win its second straight Class A title in the State Girls Volleyball Tournament.
"It's a great way to finish," Collins said. "All good things come to an end. Not many teams end with a win."
Even though Shelley, a member of the Class A All-Tournament Team, figured the enormity of repeating will hit her later, she confessed to feeling some goose bumps as it was about to happen.
"During the game, it goes so fast, but between points, you kind of reflect and get chills thinking about it," Shelley said.
While Victor (17-4) looked good in winning the first game, the second game was where they separated themselves from the Green Dragons. Cornwall (17-3) took leads of 7-1 and 11-5.
"Number 14 (Alexandra Gagliano) was hurting us," Collins said. "I told the girls, ‘Let's just get a side out and get her to the back row, and we made a few points."
Behind Taylor Ryan's serving and many Cornwall errors, Victor closed to within 13-11. The Blue Devils took their first lead of the game at 20-19 on a Ryan ace. Shelley added two more kills that game on beautiful assists from setter and Class A Most Valuable Player Brigid Moore.
Cornwall's Gagliano, a middle blocker, was dominant that game when she got the ball. Therein lied the trouble.
"Her hitting percentage was way up these two days. We just couldn't get the ball to her enough," Cornwall coach Jeff Moulton said.
Victor rode the momentum into game 3, leading 6-2 and then going on a 9-0 run to take a 15-3 lead.
"Game 2 was important mentally; just to come back and continue our momentum into game 3," Shelley said. "It was really more important than the big win in game 1."
Mandi Mereness and Moore had the bulk of the assists in the final game, while Annie Portland, Shelley and Ryan added some important kills in closing out the match.
Moulton was proud of his squad's effort.
"When you're down that big, to get back to 17 points in the final game says a lot about our team," Moulton said.
Victor continued the Class A trend of repeating as state champions. The Blue Devils joined Hendrick Hudson and Burnt Hills as consecutive two-time winners dating back to 2004.
"I really don't think there are words out there to describe this," Shelley said. "It's no secret we wanted to come back, but we also knew we had to take it one game at a time."
Cornwall's Gina Greco and Rachel Zsido made the all-tournament team, along with East Hampton's Calli Stavola and Burnt Hills' Natalie Ziskin.
Posted in Sports, High-school-and-prep on Sunday, November 22, 2009 10:05 pm
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