SECTION IV VOLLEYBALL: WAVERLY OUTLASTS IN FIVE-SET THRILLER; ADVANCES TO CLASS B SEMI-FINAL POOL PLAY (24 PHOTOS) (November 3, 2026)
Valley Sports ReportWAVERLY — Waverly bounced back twice from hard-fought losses to pull out a five-set marathon win over Whitney Point here Tuesday night to advance to Thursday's Section IV, Class B pool play semifinals.
The Wolverines dropped a 26-24 decision in the first set, but answered with convincing wins of 25-16 and 25-18 in the next two sets.
Whitney Point evened the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set, but Waverly battled back to win a 15-11 decision in the decisive fifth set.
The win is the first in the postseason for Waverly coach Hailee Rote.
"It's a really exciting win," she said. "We have a really young team, and we're learning how to battle in these types of situations.
I think you could see that tonight, we had some ups and downs, but the girls showed a lot of grit and resiliency to pull out the win," Rote added.
Rote was pleased to see her play as well as it did in the second and third sets.
"We played consistently in those sets, which is something we've been working on," she said.
"We played smart defense and we were making really good choice when we were swinging, which is something we've struggled with in year's past.
"Our offense has been doing really well," added Rote. "Meeya Wheeler, who is a freshman setter, has been running a great offense."
The Wolverines fell behind 3-0 in the fifth set, but rallied to take a 5-4 lead, then led 10-7 before finishing off the 15-11 win.
"I think we gained some confidence throughout the match, so I was still confident when we fell behind early," said Rote. "We want to be the first to five and we were, then we were the first to 10 and the first to 15."
Freshman Meeya Wheeler led Waverly 37 setter assists and two digs, while senior Emma Richards-Randall recorded 14 kills, freshman Addison Foster registered 12 kills, and senior Ava Heath had 12 digs, three aces, and eight kills
Junior Leraya Teeter had 13 digs and three aces in the win, while junior Elli Cole had nine digs and three kills, and freshman Layla Oeschlin had two kills, four aces, and seven digs.
Junior Kendall Rockwell had five kills for the Wolverines, while junior Emma Williams added two kills and two digs, junior Lauryn Welles added three blocks, and Natasha Lane chipped in with two aces.
Top-seeded Oneonta hosts second-seeded Windsor, third-seeded Waverly, and fifth-seeded Chenango Valley Thursday in Class B semi-final pool play.
Oneonta and Windsor are really strong, so we're going to have to play our best, but in that type of environment anything can happen."
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PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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