By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ATHENS — Sayre topped Canton in four sets to complete an amazing turnaround — from snapping a 68-match losing streak on Sept. 4 to winning the program's first-ever District 4 championship here Thursday night.
The Redskins won the first two sets of the Class A title match by identical scores of 25-19. The Warriors stayed alive with a 25-18 win in the third set, but Sayre rallied in the fourth set to win a 25-18 decision.
First-year coach Colby Sangrey gave all the credit for the historic win to his team.
"To me, it's all on the girls.
"I think it says a lot about their mentality, to go through the last couple years and then to come into this year and just mentally reset," said Sangrey. "To come in and work every practice and every match and to put in all the effort and hard work to do this says a lot about them."
The Redskins and Warriors split a pair of five-set decisions during the regular season, but Sayre controlled the majority of the action Thursday night.
Sangrey said the keys to the win were "energy, defense, and being smart with the ball.
"Those first two sets, the energy was through the roof, and the crowd was feeding off it — I think that helped," he noted.
"It seemed like we didn't let a whole lot hit the ground," added Sangrey. "We were giving ourselves chances to run some offense, keeping the ball in the court, and not making mistakes and giving away points."
The Redskins got off to a quick start in the first set, with sophomore Reghan McGaughey's three service points, including an ace, giving them a 5-1 lead.
Sayre stretched the lead to 8-2 on a pair of service points by sophomore Yhale Doon, but the Warriors closed the gap to 11-7.
Sayre maintained a five- to seven-point advantage until Canton closed the gap to 20-17 on a pair of service points, but a side-out and three straight points by junior Alex Schack gave the Redskins a 24-17 advantage on its way to the 25-19 win.
Sophomore Grace Russo and McGaughey each had two service points, and Doon had a three-point run early in the second set to help the Redskins to an early 9-2 lead.
Senior Rylee Lantz had three kills and one block to power the early lead.
The teams traded points and side-outs with Sayre taking its biggest lead at 20-11. Canton closed the gap to 23-19, but a Warrior side-out, and a service winner by Russo gave the Redskins another 25-19 win.
Canton had an early three-point run to take a 10-5 lead in the third set. Sayre chipped away and eventually tied the set at 14-14, and again at 18-18, but a side-out put the Warriors ahead 19-18, and six straight service points by Tara Gilbert closed out the 25-18 win.
Canton took an early lead in the fourth set, taking its biggest lead at 9-5, but a side-out and a pair of service points by Alex Schack closed the gap to 9-8.
After the teams traded side-outs, Russo served up five straight points, punctuated by kills by Lantz and McGaughey, to put the Redskins up 14-10.
Canton closed the gap to 15-13, but McGaughey started a five-point service run with a pair of aces, and Lantz added back-to-back kills to increase the Redskin advantage to 20-13.
Lantz added three more kills, two of them for side-outs, to help Sayre to a 23-16 lead.
After a Sayre side-out, freshman Lilliana Schack registered a kill for a Canton side-out to give the Redskins a 24-17 lead.
Lilliana Schack then served up an ace to finish off the historic win.
Sangrey said Canton's defense caused Sayre problems in the final two sets.
"I think the big key in the third set and a big part of the fourth was Canton didn't allow us to get any service runs.
"We only gave them a couple runs of four or five points in that third set, and that's what ended up being the difference," said Sangrey.
"It was the same in the fourth set until midway through it. We were only getting a point or two until Grace (Russo) and Reghan (McGaughey) both served up five in a row, and that really got us some separation," added Sangrey. "We were able to maintain that and take it away in the end."
Lantz powered the Redskins at the net with 17 kills and two blocks, to go along with four service points and six digs.
"We pride ourselves in having multiple options to run offense, but when we have one that's working over and over again, we're just going to keep going back to that," said Sangrey.
"Rylee had a huge night finding spots on the court, and ways to get us points and side-outs.
"I'm really proud of the way she played tonight," he added.
Russo led Sayre with 15 service points and 20 digs, while McGaughey had 10 points (three aces), 17 digs and six kills, Alex Schack had eight points (three aces), 13 digs and three kills, Doon added seven points (two aces), 12 digs and 33 setter assists, Lilliana Schack added five points (two aces), 16 digs and four kills, and sophomore Azalea McClenny registered seven kills.
Sangrey believes the district title will be a big benefit for the program.
"It's huge, not only for the girls here now, but the younger ones who see what we can do, and how quick of a turnaround this program had.
I think it's going to build a lot of momentum to help us continue building it," said Sangrey.
Sayre, now 11-9, will host District 2 champ Mountain View Tuesday in the opening round of the PIAA, Class A Championships.
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IN PHOTO 1: Sayre's Rylee Lantz. IN TOP PHOTO: Sayre's Azalea McClenny. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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