A valuable lesson that the Cazenovia girls volleyball team learned, through last week’s action, was that it helped to get off to a good start, but that finishing things off is a lot sweeter.
Burned by a four-set defeat to Westhill two nights earlier, the Lakers looked to be in trouble again when it fell behind unbeaten, OHSL Liberty division-leading Homer Thursday at Buckley Gym, but turned things around in a big way to stun the Trojans in four sets.
Homer looked to be in control when it claimed the first set 25-17. But unlike the Westhill match, Cazenovia found its form in the second set and, by that same 25-17 margin, evened things up.
More importantly, the Lakers’ good form stayed intact during a 25-19 third-set victory. Now Homer tried to stage its own rally, but a close fourth set saw Cazenovia pull it out, 25-22, and clinch its biggest win of the young season.
Jenna Britton finished with 32 assists, adding five digs, three aces and two kills. Willa Mihayli-Koch continued to improve, getting 11 kills, nine digs, three aces and three blocks, while Danielle Tedesco had nine kills and four blocks.
Molly Carges managed seven kills as Taylor Eldred had a team-best 13 digs to go with her five kills, and Katie Davis contributed 11 digs. Homer saw Emily Cottrell, with 13 kills and 15 digs, and Julia Brazo, with 17 assists and 12 digs, lead its efforts.
What made that win sweeter was the way things started at Westhill, where the defending Section III Class B champion Warriors nearly earned a sweep, only to have the Lakers fight back and nearly go to the wire before taking a four-set loss.
Poor serves and a lack of communication cost Cazenovia in a lopsided 25-10 first set, and it never really got going until the end of a second set that Westhill won 25-20 to go up by a 2-0 margin.
Then, trailing 16-13 in the third set, the Lakers improved its defense and, with a series of strong plays, went on a 10-2 run, leading to a 25-20 win in that set, and that momentum carried over into the fourth set, which Cazenovia started with another 10-2 push.
That woke up the Warriors, though, and it fought back until it tied that set, 15-15. After an exchange of points, Westhill went ahead for good at 18-17, and despite the Lakers turning back one match point, the Warriors closed it out, 25-21.
Tedesco and Carges provided some front-line balance, as Tedesco got 10 kills and Carges nine kills. Jenna Britton fed both of them with her 23 assists.
Mihayli-Koch had eight digs, Eldred seven digs and Davis and Rebeckah Swart five digs apiece. Delaney Martin (19 kills, 10 digs) and Mackenzie Martin (30 assists, 14 digs) led Westhill’s efforts.
What Cazenovia could not have realized was that the fight it showed against Westhill would carry over into the Homer match, with much more satisfying results. Now the Lakers (5-2) would try to follow that up in back-to-back contests against LaFayette and Marcellus early this week.
