For the Cazenovia girls volleyball team, just getting to the Section III Class B finals involved knocking off top seed Canastota Tuesday night in the semifinal round at Chittenango High School.
But the Lakers were up to the task. In front of a loud and lively crowd, the Lakers both served and defended well, withstanding a few disappointments down the stretch to oust the Raiders in four games.
Here was where the high quality of Cazenovia’s competition in the OHSL Liberty division paid off, as it had faced a tougher schedule than Canastota (who was 19-1) and wasn’t going to be surprised by anything the Raiders offered.
Once Cazenovia went ahead, 4-3, in the opening game, if kept that lead all the way despite all kinds of attempts by Canastota to catch up. Though it closed to 17-16 at one point, the Lakers kept its cool and went on take the game 25-21.
By contrast, in the second game the Lakers fell behind, 16-12, but went on a 10-3 run to pull ahead for good. Though two game points slipped away (an omen of what would happen later), Cazenovia hung on, 25-23, and went up 2-0.
Much the same thing happened in the third game — an early deficit, a surge in the middle, and chances to put it away. This time around, with two match points at 24-22, Cazenovia could not put it away, and Canastota went on to win the game 28-26, igniting dreams of a Raider rally.
But Cazenovia crushed them in the fourth game, erasing three different three-point deficits and, at 18-17, going in front for good. At 24-19, Cazenovia again saw match points (three of them) slip away, but a kill shot ended the match 25-22, and sent the Lakers to the finals.
Alissa Easterly picked up 43 assists, feeding it to a balanced front line. Julie Gregg had 14 kills and 15 digs, while Leah McAleer had 11 kills and 16 digs. Hannah Koennecke balanced out eight kills with 10 assists as Lindsey Nourse got nine kills and Lizzy Reed six kills. Libero Rachel Burbidge had 25 digs, plus three aces.
On Canastota’s side, Jessica Patterelli mixed in 25 assists, 34 digs and seven kills, with Denae Rinaldo adding 10 kills and 16 digs. So good was the Lakers’ defense, though, that the Raiders managed just one assist all night. A day later, Cazenovia found out that it would face Skaneteles in Saturday’s Class B final at 5 p.m. Those other Lakers swept Solvay to get this far.
