The Canton Central School girl’s modified volleyball team battled hard Tuesday night but fell to Salmon River 2-1 in Canton.
The Bears and Shamrocks were tied 7-7 in the opening set, before Emma Logan served five straight times staking Canton to a 12-7 lead. The Bears, coming off a 3-0 win over Massena on Monday, opened a 17-13 lead following a kill from Jose Gabriel. Autumn Bronson maintained the four-point lead serving for an 18-14 Canton lead. Salmon River countered, reeling off five straight points to take their first lead of the match, 19-18. Logan made a terrific play from the back row to earn a point for the Bears and stop the Shamrocks’ run to tie the game at 19. A service ace from Gabriel gave the Bears the lead once again, 20-19, and the score went back and forth the rest of the set. Laurel Whittier had a tremendous dig that led to a point from Katie Metcalf, making it 23-22 Canton. Salmon River rallied to tie the score 25-25, and then closed the set with a kill and an ace to take the first set 27-25.
The Bears dominated the second set to even the match. Metcalf stretched a 1-0 Canton lead to 4-0 with three straight serves. Whittier then made it 8-1 Bears with three straight serves of her own. The Shamrocks tallied three straight points to trim the lead to 9-4. Kyleigh Gollinger then served the Bears to five unanswered points to open a 14-4 lead. Gollinger also had a fantastic dig to keep that stretch going. The Bears then opened a 16-6 lead following terrific play from Zoey Mattice and Vanessa Mousaw. A pair of aces from Logan made it 18-6, and the Bears then outscored the Shamrocks 7-2 to win 25-8. Mattice had three straight aces to close the second set.
In the third set, Cecily Shipman scored a point for Canton and then served twice for points as the Bears opened with a 4-3 lead. After Salmon River tied the set at 5-5, the Shamrocks reeled off five straight points to take a 10-5 lead. Paige Blackmer had a good pass over the net to earn Canton a point and stop the run. But Salmon River came back once again, and scored seven straight points to lead 20-13. The Bears didn’t fold, and Shipman served five straight times to pull Canton to within 20-18. The Shamrocks finished the set on a 5-1 run to take the set 25-19.
The modified volleyball team returns to their home court on Thursday, Sept. 12 for a match against Malone at 5 p.m.
Editor’s Note: This post comes courtesy of Matt Metcalf. Photos come courtesy of Kristen Whittier.
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