The 2024 volleyball season has been the most outstanding that the program has had since 2016. With an overall season record of 29-6-2 and a conference record of 9-0. The team ended the season ranked as #9 in the state and #1 in Pennsylvania Division AA, as well as #1 in Erie County. The girls battled hard this season, making it all the way to the State Finals. The team paraded through downtown Corry on Friday morning as they made their way to an overnight stay where they made a pit stop to practice in preparation for their final game of the season where they faced Trinity, a Catholic private school at Mechanicsburg the following day at 1 pm.
The Lady Beavers were ranked #2 and the Trinity Shamrocks were ranked #1 as they began the State Final match-up. The first set started with Corry in the lead, the Beavers got a three point lead on the Shamrocks from three kills by Sophomore Grace Allen, Senior Aubrey Chase and Senior Allison Sawyer. Trinity soon made a comeback and the first set was tied at 6-6. The Shamrocks continued to climb the ladder with the Beavers trailing behind by six (10-16) when Corry called their first time out. Once the set resumed the Beavers began to make a comeback, with a helpful ace by Senior Libero Makenna Moore. The first set came to an end when Trinity took a five point lead, the final score being 25-20.
The second set was also very close throughout, Trinity was leading by one or two points all the way up until the score was 16-15. Trinity then went on a run gaining a five point lead on the Beavers (22-17). Corry took their first time out of the second set, as the game resumed and the cheers from the Corry fans filled the room, the Beavers started to pick up their game with a kill by Grace Allen, two kills by Senior Halle Albers and an error from Trinity. The Beavers close the score to 22-21 when the Shamrocks called their first timeout. A kill by Halle Albers tied the set at 22-22, an error by Corry and a Trinity ace brought the Shamrocks up to set point. A point from Corry brought the score to 24-23, but with a long serve by the Beavers, Trinity was able to close out the second set with Corry trailing by two. The final score of 25-23, Trinity was up 2-0.
Corry started off very aggressively in the third set, two kills by Grace Allen allowed Corry to gain a quick lead. Which also caused a time out by Shamrocks. Corry held the lead, being up by four points (13-9). Yet, a few hitting errors from the Beavers allowed Trinity to tie the score at 14-14. The set stayed very close from 18-18 all the way until 22-22. The Beavers took a time out when the score was 23-22, Trinity in the lead by one point. The Shamrocks continued to gain points and the Beavers were unable to make a comeback. The third and final set ended with a score of 25-22.
Although the Beavers fell short of the state title, they still ended their season as #2 in the state and the #1 public school in Pennsylvania. The girls had an extremely impressive season, winning both Regions and Districts, having an impressive reverse-sweep against Richland in the State Quater Finals, and a five set win against Cathederal Prep in the State Semi-Finals. The Corry Beavers volleyball program has always been very impressive, but this year it was taken to a whole new level. Congratulations to the entire team, but especially to the nine seniors who played an amazing last season, and to Head Coach Kelly Goodsel.
