Victor’s Lindsey Hannel, left, and Hanna Stewart set a block against Webster Thomas’ Gabrielle Scott during the Section V Class A1 Volleyball Championship played at Canandaigua Academy on Friday, November 6, 2015. No. 1 seed Victor won the A1 title in straight sets over No. 6 seed Webster Thomas (25-20, 25-21, 25-20).
Victor’s Hannah Stewart, left, and Melissa Page celebrate championship point during the Section V Class A1 Volleyball final at Canandaigua Academy on Nov. 6, 2015. No. 1 seed Victor won the A1 title in straight sets over No. 6 seed Webster Thomas (25-20, 25-21, 25-20).
CANANDAIGUA — The Victor girls volleyball team had a 7-11 record last fall. What a difference a year — and new coach with a championship-filled resume — makes.
The top-seeded Blue Devils, under first-year-but-veteran coach Matt Glover, swept No. 6 Webster Thomas 25-20, 25-21 and 25-20 to capture the Section V Class A1 title on Friday night at Canandaigua, the school’s first since 2009. Glover guided Pittsford Sutherland to the past two Class A state crowns before shifting to Victor this season.
The Blue Devils (17-3) play Pittsford Sutherland (18-1), which beat Brighton for the A2 title, in Tuesday’s state tournament qualifier at Webster Thomas. That should have plenty of intrique with Glover’s job change. The 35-year-old has coached teams at Penfield, Sutherland and now Victor to sectional wins in 10 of the past 13 seasons.
“We needed more confidence. We needed more drive and everything changed from Day 1,” said 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter Hannah Stewart, who pounded a perfect set by sophomore Emily Weed off a block and out of bounds on championship point.
Stewart, who had 13 kills and 10 digs, was named tournament MVP and Weed (31 assists) and sophomore outside hitter Amanda Dake (11 kills, 7 digs) were all-tournament team. Abigail Clark and Morgan Kulikowski (11 kills) were all-tournament for Thomas (14-8). Emily Howe had 25 assists for the Titans.
“Starting off (the season) with a win against (defending Section V Class AA champion) Penfield was a great step for these guys and they just never stopped,” said Glover. “They’re hungry. From Day 1 to yesterday’s practice, they just got better and better and better.”
Victor starts four sophomores.
“All year long we talked about being better at what we’re doing, building a culture and just competing with the better teams in the area,” Glover said.
The first set was close until the end and Thomas led 8-4 in the second until Dake’s jump serve triggered a surge that helped Victor build a 16-9 cushion. The Titans rallied, though, and a solo block by junior Kelly Weeks on Stewart made it 16-13. Victor went up 22-14 but Thomas came back again. It trailed just 24-21 after a tip kill by senior Gabrielle Scott, but Dake ended the set with a strong spike.
Webster Thomas’ Morgan Kulikowski, center, hits between the block attempt of Victor’s Carrie Stewart, left, and Emily Weed on Nov. 6, 2015.
Victor jumped to leads of 6-1 and 11-4 in third set. Stewart served four straight points and Jessica Kovaleski’s kill helped make it 17-9. But Thomas, which had lost twice in the regular season to Victor, never quit. It pulled within two points three times late (18-16, 19-17 and 20-18), but Stewart’s smash ended it.
“These girls have come back in every game that we’ve played, so I’m not surprised we came back,” Thomas coach Meredith Ernstrom said.
Dake said the message in Victor timeouts was the same as it was all season: “Just work really, really hard.”
It paid off.
“The growth we’ve seen from the whole team was just incredible,” said senior libero Melissa Page, the sister of former Victor volleyball standout Rob Page.
Added Stewart: “We just poured our heart and soul into it because we knew for a lot of us it might be the last time we played.”
Victor players surround the championship trophy on Nov. 6, 2015.