CAZENOVIA – September arrived, and so did another season for the Cazenovia girls volleyball team as its path to glory got a whole lot more difficult.
Along with reigning champion Skaneateles, Cazenovia was moved up from Class C to B for both Section III and state championship tournaments as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association moved to six classes overall.
Right away, the Lakers found itself in a battle during its Sept. 1 season opener against Hamilton, needing five sets to outlast the Emerald Knights.
Losing the first set 25-17, Cazenovia turned it around 25-21 in the second and then controlled the third set 25-14. Hamilton hung in there, though, and pulled out a tense fourth set 25-23.
In a race to 15 points in the final set, the Lakers won it 15-10 to take the match, having seen junior Lucy Bliss lead the way with her 24 assists, nine digs and three kills.
On a deep Lakers front line, sophomore Alyssa Wardell managed 11 kills and fellow 10th-graderOlivia Pirkl added nine kills to go with 15 digs and three aces.
Another sophomore, Anna Bjork, and Mya Skeele each had six kills, Bjork tacking on four aces and five digs as Becca Ziemba equaled Skeele’s total of eight digs.
And the Lakers did all this overcoming 15 assists and 14 digs from Hamilton’s Megan Crowell and 23 digs from Hailee Howe as Annabelle Merkt had 11 kills and 14 digs for the Emerald Knights.
Cazenovia had just one match in the week that follwoed, facing Mexico Thursday night at Buckley Gym, and had a far easier time of it here, with only the third set close as it swept the Tigers 25-17, 25-10, 25-23.
Pirkl, with her six aces, set the night’s tone, adding six digs and three kills as Bliss augmented her 13 assists with five aces and seven digs.
Wardell earned a team-best six kills, while Bjork and junior Jocelyn Szalach continued the strong serving theme with four aces apiece, the Lakers getting 20 aces in all, nearly a full set’s worth.
Next Monday’s showdown with 3-0 Skaneateles starts a tough week where Cazenovia later takes on Westhill, a state Class B final four participant a season ago who also entered the week undefeated at 4-0.
