GLENS FALLS — After coming within a set of the state girls volleyball championship, Ellicottville’s dreams will have to wait.
The Eagles’ season ended just a set — a few points — short of the ultimate goal after a magical run all the way to Saturday night at Cool Insuring Arena in the NYSPHSAA Class D championship.
Ellicottville won the first and third sets and took a fourth-set lead over Candor, but could not close out the Section 4 champions, who claimed the title on scores of 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-14, 15-11.
“We fought for every point,” a proud Katie Auge said of her ECS team. “The highs, the lows, we just … we worked. We worked hard.
“I thought we were a pretty evenly matched team, so it was just whoever made the most mistakes was going to be the one that didn’t come out on top. I think my girls really left everything out on the court.”
An ultra-tight first set went to the Eagles. The two sides traded ties until at 17-17, Ellicottville marked eight of the last 12 points. The second set looked close early on as well, but Candor closed strong from a 20-19 lead to win 25-20.
The third set marked another big Eagles finish, from a 16-16 tie to a 25-17 win, taking nine of the last 10 points. Ellicottville rode that momentum into the fourth set to take a 9-7 lead, but Candor swung the set to avoid elimination, with a crucial 11-2 run for an 18-11 lead en route to a 25-14 Coyotes win.
The Section 4 champs led most of the decisive fifth set. Ellicottville’s 4-3 lead on a Natalee Leiper kill would be its last of the match. Candor held a 13-9 lead before the Eagles’ last timeout, when Ellicottville marked back-to-back points from Izzy Coburn and Riley Whitmer kills. But Candor clinched the title with the last two points, the first on a ball hit by three different Eagles but not clearing the net after some miscommunication, then on a tough kill by Kate Stouffer through two Ellicottville blockers.
“I think some of it was just a drop in confidence,” Auge said of where the match turned. “Trying to think too big, thinking about the outcome of the match instead of one point at a time. A couple different things, some of my hitters were having a tough time trying to find their footing on that floor because the pieces kept moving … in the middle there the pieces were moving when we were trying to jump and that was kind of throwing us off a little bit.
“But I think most of all it was kind of just that little dip in confidence. So we had to keep reminding each other, take that emotion out and play the game. Play the game for each other, trust your training and we were able to kind of try to get back in that headspace a few different times but (we) just ran out of time.”
Junior Ande Northrup had 17 assists with four kills and seven digs for Ellicottville while Leiper had 13 kills and seven digs. The sophomore Whitmer had seven kills with five digs and five blocks, Coburn (a junior) had five kills with eight digs and junior Faith Burlingame added 10 digs.
“Natalee did a great job leading that team just like she’s done all season,” Auge said. “Her leadership out there as a senior was impeccable. Ande Northrup, really she’s the glue that holds us together diving for balls to keep plays going and she’s just everywhere. Riley Whitmer had five blocks … she was working hard to hone that net and keep it tricky for the other team to get those points. And Faith Burlingame, my libero, she really leveled up today and she was zooming all over the place making digs. I thought that really was some great performances.”
The night before, Ellicottville and Candor played in the final best-of-three pool play match for both teams, with both already locking up a championship appearance. Candor won that first meeting in three sets, 19-25, 25-20, 15-12, disrupting a 5-0 start for the Eagles in state championship sets.
“We knew they had two great middle hitters and their one outside hitter was standout, she could hit the ball pretty hard,” Auge said. “So we knew kind of where the ball was most likely going to go, and we talked about trying to make sure that block was up and it’s big and our defense just moving around, I kept telling the girls, ‘stay low and go.’ Stay low to start and go after that ball.”
Leiper and Northrup both made the all-tournament team. Ellicottville was also presented the Class D New York State Certified Volleyball Officials’ Organization Women’s Tam Sportsmanship Award.
Candor’s win marks its fourth state title and its first since 2019. Ellicottville has won it once, in 2012.
ECS will graduate three seniors from the state finalists. Leiper, in particular, set a fine example for the program in a four-year career, going from a setter to a middle hitter to an outside hitter.
“Collectively, it was eight years of experience to they (Leiper and Hayden Andera, Cheyenne Rust) have brought to this team and I think that was huge to help us be able to come this far,” Auge said.
For the team’s eight other players, including six juniors, the goal will be to get back to Glens Falls.
“I want them to see that it’s possible. It’s attainable,” Auge said. “And if you work hard, great things can come from it.”
The Eagles close the season at 16-10. They defied the odds all postseason, from a No. 6 seed in the Section 6 playoffs to a sectional title, regional victory and advancing through pool play on Saturday.
“They were just resilient,” Auge said. “They believed in each other. They were doing it for each other.”
