Though it took a whole lot of effort and court time, the Cazenovia girls volleyball team was quite happy to walk away from the 2014 regular season holding a share of the OHSL Liberty division title with the Westhill Warriors.
Yet it nearly didn’t happen. Twice in last Tuesday’s match against visiting Solvay, the Lakers trailed, but it rallied both times and took full command by the end of a five-set victory over the Bearcats on Senior Night.
Solvay won the first set 25-21 and, after Cazenovia got on the board by taking the second set 25-18, the Bearcats appeared to reclaim momentum when it pulled out a 25-23 victory in the third set.
After that, though, the Lakers found its rhythm, winning by a 25-16 margin in the fourth set, and then using long runs in the final set to win 25-9 and take the match.
On Cazenovia’s side, Molly Carges (13 kills), Willa Mihayli-Koch (10 kills) and Danielle Tedesco (nine kills) worked on a well-balanced front line where Carges and Tedesco both earned nine blocks, each of them breaking the school record for blocks in a single match.
Jenna Britton had 29 assists and 18 digs, but that was just part of a tremendous back-line effort that included Mihayli-Koch’s 18 digs and Rebeckah Swart adding 12 assists, four kills, three assists and three blocks. Taylor Eldred and Paige Nardella each earned 10 digs.
Solvay’s Lauren Bandera still had a triple-double of 14 kills, 13 assists and 17 digs, with Jackie Gardner adding 18 assists, 18 digs and seven kills. Kseniya Mialik had 19 digs and nine kills as Jackie Allen contributed 27 digs, six kills and four aces. Michaela Marotti earned 16 digs.
Cazenovia would visit LaFayette two nights later, looking to avenge a Sept. 22 defeat to the Lancers – and did so in an emphatic manner with a three-set sweep that locked up at least a share of the league crown.
Ironically, LaFayette had faced Westhill on the same night Cazenovia had held off Solvay, and could have helped Cazenovia gain sole possession of first place in the league, but lost to the Warriors in four sets.
Here, the Lancers didn’t even get a set. Cazenovia’s 25-19, 25-13, 25-13 romp of LaFayette included 27 assists and 14 digs from Britton, her passes mostly going to Tedesco, who picked up 15 kills, and Mihayli-Koch, who had eight kills, nine digs, four aces and two blocks. Carges added five kills as Katie Davis (12 digs), Eldred, Swart (eight digs each) and Nardella (seven digs) helped out.
Now the Lakers waited to see if the league title would be shared, or held alone. Westhill, facing Homer, saw 1-0 and 2-1 leads in sets vanish, but won the finale 25-21 to claim a five-set decision and grab its piece of first place.
