Albion spikers outlast Olean to win Class B1 sectional opener in five set thriller

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Albion’s Chanyce Powell registers one of her 30 spiking kills over Olean’s Victoria Certo during the host Purple Eagles marathon sectional win over the Lady Huskies this evening.

In a marathon five set thriller, No. 3 seed Albion came from behind twice to outlast visiting No. 6 Olean 22-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23 this evening in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI Class B1 volleyball playoffs.

Chanyce Powell had a huge night at the net pounding out a total of 30 spiking kills to spark the Albion attack.

Trailing two sets to one, Albion pulled even by rallying to take 5 of the final 6 points to claim the 25-22 win in the fourth set.

Powell had a kill to pull the Purple Eagles even at 21-21. Emilie Barleben then served up points 22 and 23 and Isabella Gibbs point 25. Powell had a total of 6 kills in the set and Kaitlyn Van Skiver 2.

Keeping the momentum, Albion grabbed an early 5-2 lead in the decisive fifth set on a pair of kills by Powell sandwiched around a service ace by Gibbs.

However, Olean battled back to take a 10-7 lead as Julie Ash served up points 6-10, including 2 aces.

Albion though answered the challenge first tying the set at 12-12 after an ace by Van Skiver and a kill by Powell. The Purple Eagles then regained an 18-13 lead after a big run of five straight service points by Barleben, a run highlighted by 3 kills by Powell.

Albion’s Haley Smith spikes over Olean’s Victoria Certo.

A kill and a block by Powell followed by kills by Caitlynn Snook and Van Skiver kept the Purple Eagles up 22-19.

Another kill by Powell, her 9th of the set, upped the Albion lead to 24-20.

Olean though battled back to within one at 24-23 on a pair of service points by Mariah Moses.

However, the next point, the set and the match belonged to Albion as Haley Smith registered a kill for the clinching point advancing the Purple Eagles to the semifinals.

“I’m just so proud of our kids the way they battled back,” said Albion Coach ann Capacci. “Olean is a very scrappy, very good team. Our kids played great defense though. It took us a little while to get going but once we did we did all right.”

Olean jumped out to the early lead taking the opening set 25-22 as the Lady Huskies 7 of the last 8 points to erase a 21-18 deficit. Makenna Anastasia served up points 20-23 to key that comeback.

The Lady Huskies kept rolling early in the second set grabbing an 11-6 lead a Anastasia served up points 8-11.

Allbion though battled back to take a 14-12 lead as Powell had 4 kills and a block for points to highlight the rally which saw Barleben serve up points 10-14.

Three service points by Sierra Newton kept Albion up 19-16 but again Olean came rallying back.

The Lady Huskies took 7 of the next 10 points to regain a slender 23-22 lead.

The Purple Eagles though again answered the challenge by winning 4 of the final 5 points to claim the 26-24 overtime win as Powell capped off the rally by registering kills for points 25 and 26.

The sea-saw third set saw Albion pull even for the last time at 16-16 after a four point run on 2 kills and a block by Powell followed by an ace by Barleben.

The Purple Eagles though managed only 3 more scattered points as the Lady Huskies claimed a 25-19 win and a 2-1 lead in the match as Anastasia seres up aces for points 24 and 25.

However, Albion put together a big comeback by taking the next two sets as Powell led the way with 15 kills during that stretch.

Albion will next visit No. 2 East Aurora in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday. East Aurora defeated No. 7 Depew 3 sets to 1.

Albion’s Caitlynn Snook taps the ball over Olean’s Mariah Moses as Kaitlyn Van Skiver and Emilie Barleben support.