MARCELLUS –– The No. 3 Homer girls volleyball team appeared to be down and out numerous times, but the Trojans battled to the bitter end in a 3-1 loss to No. 2 Marcellus Wednesday night at Marcellus High School in the Section III Class B semifinals.
The Trojans lost the first two sets 22-25 and 19-25, but had their moments in both. Homer led 15-12 in the first set before Marcellus ripped off seven straight points. Homer answered with three straight points, but the Mustangs went for five more in a row to put things out of reach.
Homer held a 5-1 lead early in the second before Marcellus’ Maddy Foy and Harper Camp got rolling. Foy and Camp combined for 29 kills in the game and Foy added two blocks to help the Mustangs win the battle at the net.
“Especially the first two sets, we didn’t attack the ball enough,” Homer head coach Jeremy Cook said. “We needed to put a little more pressure on, and we didn’t. They got in system a lot more. When they get the ball to their hitters, they’re incredible.”
“We struggled this season at times with some block timing, and when you’re playing a team that swings that often and hard and you’re not blocking great, it tends to be a struggle,” Cook added.
Homer’s first big comeback of the night came in the third. With the Trojans trailing 17-9, they scored seven straight points to make it 17-16. Homer had to fend off Marcellus’ attempt at a sweep, but eventually won 10 of the last 17 points in the set to send it to the fourth.
The Trojans didn’t quit in the fourth, either, after getting down 16-8. Homer kept making two- and three-point runs, but couldn’t sustain the success long enough to extend it to a fifth set.
Cook was proud of the girls’ willingness to battle through adversity and make it a competitive semifinal.
“Our whole thing was trying to take care of the ball on our side of the net and not quitting, just playing with heart and playing hard,” Cook said. “We did that (Wednesday night). It stings to lose, but we met that goal of playing tough the whole time.”
Eila Spanbauer went for 14 kills, two aces and 18 digs to pace Homer, while Izzi Tutino added 12 kills, two aces and 13 digs. Viviana Fox added 14 digs and an ace, Maria Partis notched 13 digs and Dannico Smith contributed 31 assists, five digs, two aces and a block. Samantha Sovocool’s nine digs and one kill, Mickenlee Harris’ two kills, one block and two digs and Bailey Dady’s block also aided the Trojans’ effort.
Homer’s season ends with a 15-4 record, the best record for the program since 2015.
“The girls have been tremendous,” Cook said. “It’s a really long season and it’s really hard to keep it together. They always found a way to win a close game or be in a tough match. We lost to Indian River in five and we lost to Marcellus in five, so we could’ve been better off than we were. It says a lot about the years they’ve put in and how much work they’ve spent to get to this point.”
