Gowanda Small Town Times

With the big showdown with Randolph just around the corner, the Gowanda Varsity girls volleyball team was at Eden on October 11 for a non-league game. Coming off an easy win over Silver Creek it was a valuable tune-up for the team. The game promised to be challenging as Eden had previously rolled over Randolph 3-0 [25-15/25-22/25-17].

In Game 1 at Eden, Gowanda started out with quick a 3-1 lead before slipping back into a 3-3 tie. Eden gradually pulled away from there. The gap maxed out at ten points at 23-13. The teams traded points to the eventual Eden 25-15 win. Game 2 was close to start with the scored tied at each point from 1 through 5 before Gowanda started to get some separation. The Gowanda advantage reached 4 points at 12-8 and wavered between 4 points and 3 points before a one-time 5-point Gowanda lead at 21-16 prompted an Eden timeout. Eden came back with a spurt that brought them into a tie at 22-22. Gowanda grabbed the next point bringing their most powerful server, Holland Browning, up. Gowanda secured the next two points for the 25-22 win to tie the match at 1 game each.

Game 3 also started out tight with ties at 1 through 3. Eden ramped things up blitzing into an 8-4 early advantage that grew to 18-8. From that point, Eden rolled on to win the game 24-13. Game 4 was an all-out battle. Gowanda clawed back from an early 8-3 deficit to pull into a tie at 10. The game was also tied at 12 and 13 before Gowanda moved into a 21-15 lead. Eden worked their way back into a tie at 22. The lead was tossed back and forth from there. A 24-22 Eden lead slid into a 25-24 Gowanda lead. The teams traded 1-point leads until Eden pulled away for a 29-27 win to take the match 3-1.

The power of the Gowanda defense to the Eden attack is evidenced by the total of 100 Gowanda digs registered as a team. Nine Gowanda players had one or more digs in the game and two players had more than 25. Full stats are below.

Aubrie Heron 7 kills, 1 ace, 3digs, 1 block
Corrina John 6 kills, 4 digs, 9 blocks
Holland Browning 4 kills, 1 ace, 29 digs
Addison Kota 4 kills, 3 assists, 18 digs, 2 blocks
Elizabeth Green 3 kills, 1 ace, 1 dig
Lauren Kelly 3 kills, 1 dig
Jillian Gernatt 2 kills, 21 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs
Ella Luther 1 assist, 26 digs
Tessa Kohn 11 digs

Meanwhile at Portville, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity girls soccer team had a challenge of their own. Portville went up 4-0 at halftime heading to a 9-0 final score. In this game Pine Valley did not manage a single shot on goal and did not release their own goaltender stats.