Tully girls volleyball continues dominating run with perfect season
TULLY, N.Y. (BVM) 鈥� The Tully girls鈥� volleyball team achieved one of the hardest things in sports with its completion of a perfect season. The Black Knights ended their season with a record of 21-0. In their final game they won the Section III C Sectional Championships on Feb. 12 with a 3-1 win against Mount Markham.听
The victory in the championship game extended a 32-game winning streak that dates back to last March when Tully beat Onondaga High School 3-0 in last year’s season opener. The section title was the culmination of this two-year journey. One that was left incomplete when last year鈥檚 section tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 辫补苍诲别尘颈肠.听
鈥淚鈥檝e been thinking about us riding that undefeated streak for two years now,鈥� Tully coach Jeremy Cook said in an interview with after the game.
That undefeated streak was the product of two years of hard work and team building from Tully鈥檚 entire program. The team鈥檚 overall statistical rankings might not seem impressive at first glance, ranking third in kills with 575, third in assists with 513, ninth in digs with 907, and fourteenth in blocks with 56 in . But there鈥檚 a good reason for that. They鈥檙e so dominant they play less total volleyball than other teams in the section.听听
The Black Knights have won an impressive 14 games without losing a set and have never lost more than a single set in a game this season. So, it鈥檚 only natural that their raw numbers wouldn鈥檛 seem notable on their own. However, those statistics belie the team鈥檚 consistent on court superiority against their opponents. The Black Knights may not be league leaders in, say, kills or aces but they do lead the section in the most important statistic of all鈥攚ins.听
Tully鈥檚 head coach Jeremy Cook knows he can rely on the collective brilliance of his roster to throw his opponents off kilter and then exploit their dearth of talent compared to the Black Knights. A strategy that鈥檚 best exemplified when talking about senior Alexa Shay鈥檚 service strategy. He says that the goal isn鈥檛 necessarily to land aces but to disrupt the other team by focusing on Shay鈥檚 accuracy rather than power.听
鈥淪he also is a major threat from the service line,鈥� Cook told in an interview last week. 鈥�She doesn鈥檛 create a lot of aces but serves tough and puts our opponents out of system frequently.鈥�听
Once their opponents are out of system the Black Knights rely on their team chemistry so that each player can fully express her best individual talent to help the team win. Shay sets up her teammates鈥攕he鈥檚 second in Section III in assists. Senior Emma Byrne uses her athleticism and coordination to deliver crushing hits that can鈥檛 be returned, leading Section III in kills with 278 this season. While junior Veronica Kowaleski, who leads the team in digs, uses her superb defensive instincts to keep the ball alive so the Black Knights can rally effectively.听
All of which allows the team to play with the confidence that it can ride out any tough moments that might come its way during a game. Just as it did in the first set of Saturday鈥檚 championship game when the Black Knights came back from a five-point deficit twice to win the set 25-23.听
Whenever a team can combine mental toughness with an abundance of talent, they鈥檙e inevitably going to put themselves in a position to be able to have a rewarding season. Which the Black Knights were finally able to do this season; even if they had to wait a little longer than expected to get their hands on the title.听
鈥淪ince we didn鈥檛 get a chance at sectionals last year, this could not have ended more perfectly than winning the title,鈥� Byrne said.听
It was the perfect ending to a perfect season. Well, actually, two perfect seasons.
