Honkers take bird battle with Cardinals

The Willows High volleyball team swooped into Corning Thursday, and honked all the way home after handing the host Cardinals a 25-12, 26-24, 25-20 loss on the eve of Homecoming festivities for both schools.

"The whole week is very draining, the girls are obsessed with Homecoming and it takes a toll," explained Willows coach Carol Martin.

What actually took a toll on the Cardinals was the powerful hitters on the Willows floor, as Megan Hughes (8), Colleen Tade (8), Sam Brott (6), Mary Feeney (4) and Erika Click (4) combined to deliver 26 smackdowns on the attack.

Corning did itself few favors with its passing game out of the gate. "Our passing was in the tank in the first game," said Corning coach Mike Albee.

Willows stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the opener with a Tade ace, Feeney's first kill and a stuff by Hughes of a Corning pass that came within her arm's length.

The Willows lead ballooned to as much as 21-7, before a pair of Mariam Miranda aces and a Ceci Espinoza block pushed Corning into double digits in points.

The second game saw Corning make some necessary adjustments and play neck-and-neck with the Honkers, with Marissa Donnelly supplying the kill that knotted the count at 24-24.

Willows earned side out on a Corning double hit, and notched the game winner off serve.

"In the second game we passed better and battled," remarked Albee, explaining, "I made an opposite and middle switch, moving (Donnelly) to the middle and Rachel Bentz) to the outside."

Donnelly delivered some aggressive swings from her new spot, and coach Albee used his time-outs strategically to give his squad the chance to regroup during crucial moments.

Coach Martin was also moving her girls around.

"We played a lot of different positions, and we made a lot of passing errors with different rotations," she said of the two-point difference in the second game.

Game 3 was also closely contested, with the Honkers erasing a 10-8 deficit behind a five-point run with Natalie Massa holding serve.

The game was tied up until 20-20, but Tade aced serves for the final two points and the Willows win.

Tade spread the wealth among her Willows teammates with 23 assists.

The Honkers (21-6) tip off the SVL season playing at Live Oak on Tuesday.

Corning (4-16) hosts West Valley on Tuesday for the start of NAL play.

CONTACT Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.