Valley Sports ReportTIOGA CENTER — Tioga reached the semifinals of the Tioga Varsity Volleyball Tournament here Saturday.
The Tigers finished second in Court 1 (high school gym) pool play, falling to eventual champion Lansing in three sets in the first round, then sweeping both rival Candor and South Seneca from Section V.
"I thought overall it was a good day for a tournament," Tioga coach Des Ford said. "We ended down, but overall I thought it was a good day. Trumansburg was good. Lansing was good. I'm pleased because I saw a lot of potential; maybe not the last set, but overall."
Union Springs dropped out of the tournament, leaving Tioga’s pool with four teams, so each round was three sets with the third set going to 15.
That did create a lengthy delay for Tioga and Lansing as they waited for the other pool to finish, and that may have had a negative effect on the Tigers when they competed in the semifinals.
"I think it affects all teams when you have to sit that long," Ford said. "Unfortunately, we had a team drop and so you try to make it work. Some of the sets against Lansing went kind of quick. I figured, the most we'd be like one round ahead."
The Court 2 pool also went down to the wire with the semifinalists not being decided until the final round. Waverly, fourth in that pool, was eliminated in its final match.
Ford was not disappointed in her team’s effort.
"I was pleased," she said. "I was pleased. It gives us stuff to work on."
The champion Bobcats were 9-0 in pool play, the Tigers were 6-3, Candor finished 3-6 and South Seneca was 0-8.
Tioga would advance to the semifinals to face Trumansburg which won Court 2 (middle school gym) pool play, winning seven of its eight sets.
The Blue Raiders dominated the one-set match, defeating Tioga by a 25-11 score. T-burg went on to face Lansing for the championship with the Bobcats prevailing, 30-17. Lansing won its semi over Oneonta, 25-22.
T-burg went 7-1 in pool play, followed by Oneonta at 6-2, Chenango Valley with a 4-4 mark, Waverly at 2-6 and Dryden at 1-7.
Tioga returns to IAC action Monday, hosting Waverly.
——————
PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
