Gowanda Small Town Times

The first Varsity sports action in October came on Tuesday the 3rd. Two games were on the schedule, both taking place at Pine Valley. In both cases, Gowanda-connected teams came out on top.

The Pine Valley Varsity girls volleyball team hosted Gowanda. Gowanda got off to a slow start in Game 1. Frequently tied, the game was very close in the early going with neither team holding an advantage of more than two points. From a 9-all tie, Gowanda went on a 4-point spurt that put them ahead 13-9. Eventually, Pine Valley worked their way back into a tie at 18. That prompted a pivotal timeout. Gowanda took the next point bringing Ella Luther up to serve. Starting with an ace, Gowanda ran up six straight points to win the game 25-18.

In Game 2, the teams split the first four points evenly. Then, Addison Kota had her own run of six service points and Gowanda was up 8-2. With the score at 9-3 it was Aubrie Heron up to serve. With Heron serving, Gowanda went on an 11-point streak that included 3 aces. The score was 20-4 and Gowanda coasted to a Game 2 win. The final two points came with Jillian Gernatt serving with that last point being an ace that hit the top of the net before dropping down on the Pine Valley side. That 25-6 win put Gowanda up in the match 2-0.

Game 3 was hard fought with Pine Valley battling their way into an early 9-3 lead. Gowanda clawed their way back. Down 11-7, Holland Browning racked up nine straight service points beginning and ending with an ace giving Gowanda a 16-11 lead. Pine Valley was unable to close that gap as the game progressed to an eventual 25-19 Gowanda win to take the match 3-0.

Once again, numerous Gowanda players figured into the game statistic. They are listed below:
Aubrie Heron 7 kills, 6 aces, 4 digs
Elizabeth Green 6 kills, 3 aces
Corrina John 4 kills
Addison Kota 4 kills, 3 aces, 13 digs
Holland Browning 3 kills, 5 aces, 6 digs
Lauren Kelly 2 kills
Jillian Gernatt 21 assists, 2 aces, 5 digs
Ella Luther 3 aces, 9 digs
Sydney Smith 2 digs
Tessa Kohn 2 digs
Madilyn Pawlak 1 dig

Shortly before the girls were busy playing volleyball, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team was hosting Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley for what would be a highlight game for the team. After a scoreless 1st Quarter, Salamanca got the first point in the game mid-way through the 2nd Quarter. Pine Valley reached halftime down 1-0. A huge 3rd Quarter followed for Pine Valley/Gowanda. Nine minutes into the period, Rafael Meurant scored tying the game at 1-1. Sawyer Bradigan was credited with an assist on the goal. Three minutes later, Pine Valley had the lead as Bradigan scored at 52:00 with assist by Jack Sheldon. Sheldon followed with a pair of goals at 54:00 and 57:00 with assists from Bradigan and Warren Butcher. The remaining 3 minutes of that quarter and the whole 4th Quarter passed without any further scoring. With only a few games left in the regular season, the Pine Valley/Gowanda boys got their first win by a 4-1 score.