HS Volleyball: Elmira adds to big week with sweep of Horseheads as first-year coaches meet
Elmira secured one of the biggest weeks in the program's 13-season volleyball history Thursday night with a 3-0 victory over traditional Section 4 power Horseheads at Horseheads Middle School.
It was a match that represented the changing nature of Southern Tier Athletic Conference West Division volleyball, particularly given the competing head coaches are both in their first season leading varsity programs at their alma maters.
Express head coach Danielle Dille, 24, is a 2017 Elmira High graduate. Following her high school days, she continued her volleyball career at Corning Community College for two years before attending SUNY Cortland. Her dad, Gregg Dille, is a longtime high school and youth wrestling coach in the Elmira area.
Horseheads' coach is Megyan Merrill, 25, who played for legendary Blue Raiders coach Patti Perone before graduating in 2016.
Merrill played collegiately at Morrisville State and was Horseheads' JV coach last year. She took over the varsity from Tim Crout, who led Horseheads to two Section 4 championships from 2019 to 2022 and coached Elmira's boys bowling team to a state title earlier this year. Crout is the father of Elmira assistant coach Jen Leonberger.
What It Means
Elmira (4-2) has won four dual matches in a row since dropping its first two. On Tuesday, the Express downed defending STAC West champion Ithaca in five sets. Elmira confidence received an additional boost with Thursday's 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 triumph.
"At the beginning of the season we weren’t really too sure of ourselves," Dille said. "Even our first couple of games we lost, weren’t very confident, and now I feel like we can believe we’re just as good as any other team out there this year."
Most Horseheads vs. Elmira matches since the Express began its program in 2011 after the sports mergers of Elmira Free Academy and Southside have gone the Blue Raiders' way in decisive fashion. Dille said to sweep Horseheads was a great feeling for the team.
More: Section 4 scoreboards for fall 2023 season
Stars of the Match
Madi Jones was a significant presence at middle hitter and finished with 10 kills to pace Elmira in addition to converting 11 of 15 serves while producing three aces. Elmira's Piper Hooey was 16-for-19 serving with three aces and Lily Cornacchio distributed 16 setter assists.
Adrianna Calbi led Horseheads with nine kills to go with five digs. Abby Johns also had five kills, Kiersten McCarthy had six digs and 16 assists, and Lexi Malay contributed five digs.
Quotable
Said Leonberger of beating Horseheads: "It’s a big deal. The girls are really excited. I think it will give them a lot of confidence moving forward. We just won against Ithaca on Tuesday and then they came here tonight and won, so they’re feeling really good.
"I thought they played absolutely phenomenal. They executed plays all night. When we were making mistakes we would get back together and we would fix the parts we needed to work on. We played together as a team and really executed the way we wanted to."
Coaching role 'a whirlwind' for Dille
This is the first coaching job of any kind for Dille.
"It’s been a whirlwind," she said. "Exciting to say the least. I wasn’t really expecting it, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to be involved."
The presence of Leonberger has eased the transition. She was an assistant last year for Elmira with head coach Ryan Johnson and brings an extensive volleyball background to the assistant position.
"Jen’s great," Dille said. "She’s handled everything over the summer as far as offseason work and everything like that and just meeting her, it has been a good connection with us. We work really well together."
Merrill thankful for opportunity
Merrill was one of Horseheads' top hitters during the Raiders' 2014 and 2015 sectional championship seasons while playing for Perone and earned third-team all-state honors as a senior. She has a great understanding of the tradition of Horseheads volleyball, which ranks among the winningest programs in New York history.
Horseheads (1-4) has a lot of new faces in the lineup and Merrill said the effort has been there every play as players take on new roles.
"It’s definitely a hard thing to live up to, but even being given the chance to work with this great program and work with these girls is amazing," she said of coaching at Horseheads.
"It's been good to make a bond with the girls. The varsity level is much different from the JV level. Just getting this experience overall and getting a chance to coach here is a great thing."
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira sweeps Horseheads in STAC West volleyball
