They’ll be back! 

The Owego Free Academy volleyball team won its tenth Section IV championship on Nov. 6. The Indians claimed the Class B title over Norwich at Corning-Painted Post High School with scores of 25-15, 25-18, and 26-24. The team experienced a challenging final set.

Coach Race remarked, “We did get ourselves into a little bit of a hole in Game 3, but I wasn’t ever worried that we weren’t going to pull it out.”

She continued, “The key is that one struggling player didn’t turn into six struggling players. If one was struggling, the other five really picked up the slack,” adding, “That was huge for us in that match.”

Many discussions throughout the season, Coach Race said, evolved around how to battle back when the team was faced with opponents who scored points on big runs. 

Owego went on to play at the NYSPHSAA Class B sub-regionals. Their season concluded with a 3-0 loss to Hendrick Hudson, a team ranked third in the state.

Coach Race shared, “I knew going into that match that we were going to have to play a near perfect match. Hendrick Hudson is good and has a lot of offensive power.”

She added, “We also had to deal with a three hour bus ride prior to playing, which is a difficult thing to overcome.” (Hendrick Hudson High School is located south of Peekskill, N.Y. along the Hudson River.)

The first two sets were pretty flat, Coach Race said, but the team came out strong in Game 3 and battled hard.

She commented, “We served tougher and got more offense going. I just wanted them to give themselves a chance to compete and I think in that third set they did that. They never gave up and they worked and battled as hard as they could until the end.” 

“They did a great job; we are a young group, and these girls will be back,” the coach exclaimed.

Following an 11-4 season this year, Coach Race said about next season, “This team will continue to succeed. They grew so much this season, and I think they will absolutely be in the Section 4 finals and give a big push into that state tournament. They will come in next season much more composed and ready to take on some bigger pieces of the game.”

Coach Race credits the school community, too, for the team’s success.

She shared, “One of the best parts about playing and coaching in Owego is the small-town atmosphere. The community is always supportive and cheers us on and the school does a great job supporting their athletic programs.”