Tioga girls hope to gain respect at states

TIOGA, N.Y. - The Tioga girls' volleyball team sees the kind of respect and recognition the football and wrestling teams get at school.

They hear students and teachers talking about going to watch the game that week, and they wonder.

They wonder if someday everyone will be talking about the volleyball matches. They wonder if the game everyone will be going to will be theirs. They wonder if one day they will draw the crowds and earn the attention that some of those other teams earn.

"Girls' teams don't normally make it this far. A lot of people didn't think we would get this far," Jess Ramsey said of the Tigers reaching this weekend's state final four.

"I don't think any team gets picked on more at this school," Jess Legursky said. "People don't really talk about volleyball like they do some of the other teams."

Slowly, but surely, the girls are starting to see that change, and their hope is that after this weekend, everyone will look at them the same way they look at themselves.

"It would feel great if we could win a state title. We want to prove to everyone that we can do it," Legursky said.

"Our parents and friends have always been really supportive," Ramsey said. "We just want to prove to everyone else that we can do it."

Over the past three years, the Tigers have emerged as one of the most dominant volleyball powers in New York, twice reaching the state playoffs, and all three years making it at least to the sectional final.

While Tioga has emerged as a force in the sport, the players have taken on that desire for more respect. Perhaps because the support is lacking. But, perhaps it's not about actually lacking support, but about bringing the team together.

"It brings us together; it makes us try even harder and support each other even more," Sierra House said.

"A lot of people said that we couldn't make it to states," Kimberly Duffy said. "A lot of former players, and even people on other teams in the league, they didn't think we were good enough this year. They thought we had lost too many players. Now, we have proved them wrong."

That common bond, that drive to prove something to everyone, it may come from the fact that this team needs an edge. They need to have a driving force to offset the fact that this isn't a roster loaded with 6-foot, 2-inch power players at the net.

"The difference is we are built full of a team of good players instead of one or two great players," Kay Pheghardt said. "It makes us more of a team."

"Since the beginning of the year, this has been our goal - this is what we have worked toward," Chelsea Graham said.

The Tigers know they don't have the size some teams have, but they know that doesn't really matter.

"When we played Rhinebeck they had two 6-foot, 1-inch girls, and we were a little frightened at the start, but we beat them and now we are headed to states," Legursky said. "We have a good chemistry; we believe we can beat these teams."

"If you don't have confidence, you don't have anything at all," Ramsey said.

This team doesn't rely on one person, making it hard for other teams to adjust, and giving the team options if one person struggles.

"We like to mix things up," Audrey Talcott said.

"Someone always helps you out if struggle," Chelsea Robertson said.

For the Tigers, being able to come together as a team and shut down an opponent led by a great player makes things even more fun.

"It's really satisfying as a team when you can shut down one big player on the other team," Tanisha Baldwin said.

For girls' sports at Tioga, this success is nothing new. The softball team made the state finals last year and the basketball team and field hockey teams have also been to states in recent years.

However, one thing that none of those teams have done is bring home a state title.

"We would be the first girls' teams ever to win a state title," Talcott said. "We don't want to be that team that comes home just short."

"It would be amazing if we could win," Kylie Murphy said.

"We are really excited; we really don't know what to expect," Erica Baily added.

For Tioga, all throughout the past three years they have been in big matches and big moments.

"We have been in a lot of tough, tight, big matches," Pheghardt said. "We played a lot of really good teams this year," Graham said.

Still, none of those matches have been in the state final four at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

"It's going to be great, just being in an arena like that, playing against teams we haven't played before and in front of so many people," Duffy said.

For as big as the moment will be and as new of an experience as it is, the players aren't nervous heading into this weekend.

"We are less nervous, more excited," Talcott said. "We don't know what to expect when we get there, but we are excited."

And when the Tigers leave Glens Falls, they are hoping to be coming home with a state title. They are hoping people will begin talking about going to the volleyball games and they will have that respect they seek.

They hope that in the future they will need a new motivation to bring the team together.

"We wanted to go as far this year as we did two years ago, and now we have gone further," Legursky said.

"I think we would get a lot of respect at the school if we can bring home a state title," Graham said.

And for all the success the past three years, Tioga's players don't intend to stop here.

"I think we have a good chance at going to states the next few years. We have a lot of good players," Raven Worthing said.

"We said that we wanted to go to states every year until we graduate. That's the goal," House added.