It’s been a long and difficult season for the Newburgh Free Academy volleyball team.
Things didn’t get any easier last Wednesday when the Goldbacks welcomed the Pine Bush Bushmen, as they suffered a 3-0 defeat in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association match.

The Goldbacks lost the match, 25-10-25-19, 25-15, dropping their season record to 0-18.
Dayna Ahearn led Newburgh with 10 digs, one kill and 2 aces. Ameesah Cotton had two kills and two blocks, while Megan Sweeney added two kills and three digs.

The closest set of the match was the second, where despite falling behind 4-0 to start, the Goldbacks rallied back and eventually took an 18-1 lead after Ahearn’s four-point service run.

However, a kill by Pine Bush’s Taylor Pannell tied the set at 18 and an ace by Taylor Jones gave Pine Bush the lead for good. The Goldbacks got only one more point in the match, a service error by Jones as Pine Bush took a commanding 2-0 lead.

The Goldbacks also kept up at Pine Bush’s heels in the third game and tied things up with Emily Ernenwein at the service line. She had an ace to pull the Goldbacks to within a point, and then tied the set on a hitting error by Pine Bush’s Liz Deckaj.

However, Ernenwein’s short serve put Pine Bush ahead to stay and the Bushmen ran off to a 25-15 win to seal the victory.