COUDERSPORT — What a difference a month makes.

Almost four weeks to the day after suffering a heartbreaking, five-set loss to their archrivals from Otto-Eldred, the Coudersport volleyball team got some payback on Wednesday night with a straight sets victory, defeating the Lady Terrors 25-11, 25-16, 25-20.

The early-season loss was even more demoralizing considering that Coudersport had led two games to none at one point, only to see the match slip away.

Coach Brian Green’s squad made sure that didn’t happen again last night.

“The kids obviously wanted to enact revenge from the tough loss we endured over there,” Green said. “Unfortunately they’re missing some key players but it was still a good win for us. They made us work for it.”

From the start of the match, the Lady Falcons looked the more confident and aggressive team, keeping Otto on its heels for a good portion of the match.

“We played with a little more energy than we have lately, a little more enthusiasm, and we’ve worked on communication in practice,” Green said. “It’s good to see these kids take these things out onto the court from practice.”

That energy was on full display in the first set as Coudy raced out to a 7-4 start that eventually became 16-8. The Falcons were playing a little cleaner on their end, not making many mistakes and controlling the pace of play.

The Terrors would regroup in the second set, though, and won four of the first five points. Neither team seemed to be playing their best, but with some renewed energy Otto was able to stay ahead, taking a 10-7 lead at one point.

However, Coudersport would respond with some great defensive plays and would win nine of the next 12 points to take a 16-13 lead. The Falcons starting showing off their power game towards the end of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set saw some of the best points in the match, with both teams coming up with some great saves and some impressive kills. The Terrors once again were the stronger side at the start of the set, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. It looked like O-E would be able to extend the match and make things interesting.

But as it did earlier, Coudersport fought back from a deficit and took control of the match. The Falcons strung together several aces to eventually tie the game at 11-11.

The ability to overcome those types of deficits is something that Green has been impressed with from his young team.

“It was very pleasant (to see) because we’ve struggled in that area all year, especially late in games,” he said. “We seem to tense up and start making a lot of errors in serve and receive. That didn’t happen as much tonight as it has in the past.”

As the set wore on, neither side was able to take control. The score went from 17-17 to 20-20, and so on, until Coudy was finally able to seize the momentum and win the final five points of the match.

Throughout the match Coudersport relied on the leadership of its seniors.

“We had good games from Shae Black, Erica Williams, and Dana Dubots,” Green said. “Our three seniors carried us this evening. Addie Myers also did a nice job.”

For the match, Black finished with eight kills, Williams had six aces, Dubots registered 20 digs and five kills, and Myers finished with four aces, three blocks, and four kills.

“We did a lot better passing the ball, which we’ve struggled with all year,” Green said. “We hit the ball better. Sets at times were okay, but defensively we’ve gotten better. We’re not letting as many balls hit the floor as we had earlier in the year.

“The first half of the season we made a lot of mistakes,” he added. “We beat ourselves. We’re finally starting to eliminate those and forcing other teams to make plays.”

For Otto-Eldred, Jade Spinney finished with seven kills, two blocks, and seven digs, while Haley Cousins notched five kills and six digs.

Otto-Eldred coach Jame Thomas was back on the bench for the Terrors after taking a brief leave of absence following the passing of his wife Inge last week.

“It was nice to see coach Thomas back,” Green said. “Obviously our condolences go out to him and his family.”

Coudersport, which improves to 10-4 overall and 10-3 in North Tier League play, will be back at it again today when the Falcons visit Smethport.
Otto-Eldred (11-5 overall, 9-3 NTL), meanwhile, hosts Cameron County today.