In the end, it didn’t happen.

No. 1 Portville rallied from a five-point deficit late in the first set en route to a 27-25, 25-10, 25-20 sweep of the sixth-seeded Golden Falcons in the Section VI Class C girls volleyball championship match at Southwestern Central School.

“We knew they would be coming to fight. We’ve battled with them already this season,” Portville head coach Kelly Unverdorben said. “We studied them and they obviously did the same with us.”

The Panthers, winners of 11 straight sectional titles and 13 overall, will now head to Lake Shore High School next Friday night for a Far West Regional looking for their fourth straight trip to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four.

Falconer’s Emily Zaranek (9) attempts to block a spike by Portville’s Ali Haynes (22) during Thursday’s Section VI Class C final at Southwestern. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“How much better are you going to get now?” Unverdorben asked. “You better have gotten that done in the offseason or the preseason. Now, it’s just about enjoying it.”

Falconer looked like a worthy opponent for Portville early as the Golden Falcons’ lead grew to 22-17 on a Mylie Zaranek kill late in the first set. A bad serve gave possession back to the Panthers, but Falconer was still able to get the score to 23-19 on an Augustine Krenzer kill after her team had dug out three Portville scoring opportunities. But another bad serve made it 23-20 and the Panthers eventually tied the set 23-all on back-to-back kills from Ali Haynes and Adriana Ensell.

“A couple missed serves in a crucial time,” Falconer head coach Marah Micek said, “and they came back and got us.”

Kills from Krenzer and Emily Zaranek gave the Golden Falcons leads at 24-23 and 25-24, respectively, but kills from Haynes and Laney Vincent, followed by a deep ace from Mia Rhinehart closed out the set in favor of Portville.

“We had the upper hand a little bit with that set under our belt,” Unverdorben said. “Whoever takes that first set can make or break the night.”

The Panthers carried that success over into the second set, jumping out to an 8-3 lead that prompted a timeout from Micek. That did little to slow Portville as Vincent and Haynes followed with kills to make it 10-3.

“We were on a high of emotions, everything felt so good,” Micek said, “but to drop that set impacted the way we came out in the second set for sure.”

Vincent, Haynes and the rest of the Panthers continued to attack throughout the set, eventually winning easily 25-10 on another Vincent spike.

“Portville has multiple girls who can put the ball away,” Micek said. “It is tough when you know that you made a great play and a hard hit is coming right back at you.”

Falconer showed up for a more competitive third set and was tied as late as 11-11. Portville pushed its least to as much as five at 18-13, but again the Golden Falcons closed the gap to as little as 20-19 late.

“I’m honestly really proud of them,” Micek said. “I said I wanted them to play as hard as they can, and I thought they did that.”

Leading 22-20, Haynes put down a kill and Ensell came through with an ace to set up match point before Haynes finished it with her 22nd kill of the night.

“We remind ourselves all the time that we have Ali on our side of the net. If we pass well, we should be OK,” Unverdorben said. “She’s awesome, she’s been great for us this year.”

Falconer will return everybody but Krenzer and Nazariah Neal next year, but knows it will have to compete with Portville for a sectional title again in the same classification.

“It is a good feeling knowing we have a lot coming back. We’ll have a lot of seniors and a lot of varsity experience,” Micek said. “These girls have had back to back 18-win seasons. They are going to put in the work in the offseason and hopefully we can give them a run next year.”

The Panthers, on the other hand, will have a week to prepare for Section V’s representative in the Far West Regional. The Rochester area still has some work to do to crown its champion. LeRoy and Avon will play for the Class C1 title, while Bloomfield and Byron-Bergen will play for the Class C2 title tonight at Caledonia-Mumford High School. Those winners will play in the Class C crossover Tuesday for the right to take on Portville.

“Every champion along the way has left the program a little bit better than when they found it,” Unverdorben said of her eight-time state champions. “They are great role models. We have two freshmen and a sophomore, but I don’t think you would know it because they do a good job staying focused and composed.”

NOTES: Hannah Melquist had 24 assists, 12 digs and two blocks; Mylie Zaranek had 15 kills and 10 digs; Augustine Krenzer had nine digs and three kills; Emily Zaranek had five kills and seven digs; and Nylah Sharpe had seven digs for Falconer. … Haynes had 17 digs; Vincent had 13 kills and 10 digs; Gaitley Maiolo had six kills; Ensell had four kills, 23 digs and three aces; Rhinehart had 19 digs; and Adelyn Walker had 44 assists for Portville.