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Canton was staring down the barrel of coming up just short of the District 4 Class A volleyball championship. The Warriors trailed the decisive fifth set, 9-5, in a race to 15, and longtime coach Shelia Wesneski knew her Warriors needed a timeout.
The Warriors responded with the heart of a champion as they stormed back, winning ten of the final 14 points to win their fifth consecutive district championship, 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13) over Galeton in an absolute classic at Williamson High School on Thursday evening.
The first set started out nip-and-tuck as both teams won 13 of the first 26 points. But errors started to pop up for Canton and after a Canton overpass, Galeton's Olivia Rohrbaugh made Canton suffer for the poor pass as she found the middle of the floor and Galeton led 19-15, forcing a Warrior timeout.
Canton was unable to recapture momentum, though, and after Galeton star middle hitter Ali Macensky stuffed a Warrior attack, Galeton took a commanding 22-16 lead. Macensky would finish it off a few points later with perfectly placed swing to the back right corner and Galeton took the first set, 25-20.
With the pressure on, Jillaney Hartford (10 kills, 1 assist, 2 blocks) carried the Warrior offense early in the second set and the middle hitter's three kills in the first seven points kept Canton in contact with Galeton as they struggled to get in rhythm.
"I definitely felt pressure controlling (Galeton's good middle hitters) and providing my team energy," Hartford said. "As soon as (her teammates) got energy there was a whole team. It wasn't individuals."
A Canton attack missing senior outside hitter Trisha Gilbert, out due to COVID protocols, started to get going. At the center of that was Aislyn Williams (16 points, 8 aces, 14 kills, 3 assists, 18 digs, 3 blocks). The reigning Sun-Gazette Breakthrough Underclassman of the Year started to heat up and find her range in that second set.
Back-to-back aces by Williams gave Canton a 14-9 lead. Galeton rallied, though, and after Macensky sent yet another Warrior overpass to the floor, Canton tied the set at 21 and took the lead on a Canton error one point later. Canton's experience and winning-know-how showed itself for the first of multiple times in the match and they finished the set strong.
Senior Rachel Martin (15 points, 8 aces, 9 kills, 1 assist, 8 digs) had a beautiful cross-court swing to tie the set at 22. Then, a Williams ace and Hartford kill gave Canton a set point, which they won two points later when a Galeton attack went wide as the Warriors won the second set, 25-23.
Canton picked up right where they left off in the third set as they used a 7-1 run capped by a Keri Wesneski (12 points, 3 aces, 7 kills, 10 digs) kill to lead, 12-5, Galeton got it back to as close as 15-12 on a Macensky kill, but Williams had two kills sandwiched around one of Wesneski's, and they led 20-13. They closed out the set on a Wesneski tip, and they were just one set away from a fifth consecutive district title.
Galeton was not done.
After falling behind 6-4 early after three straight Martin aces to the middle area of the floor, it looked like Galeton was out of gas and coach Jessica Green called a timeout. A match that looked to be over was all of a sudden competitive again as Galeton won eight straight points to lead, 12-6. Hartford went on a run of her own, and three swings from the junior found the floor to make it, 13-9.
Galeton snatched the momentum right back, though, and stretched the lead all the way to 24-16 after a Warrior serving error. Canton made a run, and won five points in a row to bring it to 24-21, increasing the tension in the building significantly. A service error, however, gave Galeton the fourth set, 25-21, setting up a winner-take-all, season on the line, fifth set.
Canton won the first two points of the race to 15 on a Williams kill down the line and a subsequent ace by the star Warrior that hit the top of the tape. Galeton responded, though, winning nine of the next 12 points to take a 9-5 lead and force Canton in a timeout, just six points away from defeat.
Martin, the only senior active for Canton in Thursday's match, didn't give up hope.
"It was more like I knew that we could do it and it was just a matter of composing our play and coming together," Martin said.
The rally didn't happen right away, though. Olivia Rohrbaugh, who was phenomenal down the stretch for Galeton, had back-to-back kills to put Galeton up 11-6, just four points away from a title. Canton had one final run left in them, and took advantage of a Galeton team fighting nerves as a Rachel Martin kill made it 12-10, sending first-year starter Keri Wesneski back to the service line in the biggest spot of her sports life.
"I just (had) to get in over and in and make it playable," she said.
She did a lot more than just get it over. An ace made it 11-12, and Mae Kinner, who was filling in for Gilbert, had a kill off the Galeton block to tie the game. After a Williams kill, Canton was two points away at 13-12, before Wesneski produces the serve of her life, hitting a serve from the far left side of the service line crosscourt off both lines to give Canton two match points.
Rohrbaugh found the floor again for Galeton, to bring it to 14-13, setting up as big of a point as you can have in the sport. After a Canton timeout, they played maybe their best point of the season.
Libero Marissa Ostrander (9 points, 3 aces, 2 kills, 17 digs) received the serve and played a terrific pass to setter Allyson Butcher (12 points, 2 aces, 39 assists, 11 digs) who produced a perfect back-set to Williams on the opposite pin.
Williams took her best swing in the match and hit it down line off a helpless Tiger's hands, sending the Canton crowd into a frenzy.
"I wanted to terminate the ball and I knew I was (going to get the kill) so I was just like, 'get me the ball,'” Williams said.
Canton advances to play Blue Ridge next Tuesday at a site to be determined.