Even though it had risen up and handed first-place Homer its first defeat of the season on September 18, the Cazenovia girls volleyball team still was searching for consistency, and a 24-hour stretch demonstrated that problem, in both bad and good ways.
In the first match since conquering the Trojans, the Lakers hosted LaFayette last Monday night and again fell behind, the Lancers taking a close first set 25-23 and the second set 25-20.
Though Cazenovia rose up and won the third set 25-16 and then led for most of the fourth set, it could not stretch the match to the wire, LaFayette rallying to win that set 26-24 and take the match.
Jenna Britton put together 33 assists, adding 13 digs. Most of Britton’s passes went to Molly Carges, who had a team-best 16 kills, with Willa Mihayli-Koch adding eight kills and 11 digs and Taylor Eldred putting together six kills, 10 digs and three aces. Danielle Tedesco added three kills, five blocks and three aces.
LaFayette, continuing to establish itself as a league force, saw Logan Booth (11 kills), Sophia Powless (nine kills) and Morgan Palmer (six kills) work in front of Rhiannon Abrams, who had 24 assists and 10 digs to go with five kills. Maggie Coulter contributed 37 digs.
Just 24 hours later, the Lakers had to go to Solvay, but in yet another signal of how competitive things are atop the OHSL Liberty American division, the Lakers beat the Bearcats, also in four sets.
This time, Cazenovia didn’t wait to play its best volleyball, seizing control in each of the first two sets and winning them by 25-16 and 25-17 margins. And though Solvay earned a 25-18 win in the third set, the Lakers rebounded and closed out the match 25-19 in the fourth set.
Carges excelled at the net with 11 kills and six blocks, with Mihayli-Koch adding 10 kills and eight digs and Tedesco chiming in with six kills. Britton earned 28 assists and 12 digs, with Eldred and Katie Davis each earning 13 digs.
Rebeckah Swart augmented her nine digs with three blocks, three aces, two kills and two assists, with Paige Nardella and Ashley Marti each earning seven digs. On Solvay’s side, Jackie Gardner had 22 assists and 13 digs as Lauren Bandera earned nine kills, nine assists and 13 digs, and Jackie Allen added 10 kills and 19 digs.
This win improved Cazenovia’s record to 6-3, and after participating in Baldwinsville’s Fall Swing Tournament on Saturday, it heads back to league action against Marcellus and Skaneateles early next week.
