More than 18 months had passed since the Marcellus and Skaneateles girls volleyball teams met on the court.
But that separation ended Thursday night, when the two long-time rivals reunited in the Lakers’ gymnasium and, in a battle of unbeaten sides, the Mustangs beat the Lakers in four sets.
That last encounter, in February 2010, came in the Section III Class B semifinals. Skaneateles won, on its way to a sectional title, and proceeded to move its schedule to fall in order to take a run at state championship honors.
In the Lakers’ absence, Marcellus claimed sectional honors last winter. Then the Mustangs made its own move to the fall, part of a large-scale migration of programs into a full-blown Onondaga High School League.
This would be the only time the Mustangs and Lakers would meet this season. What’s more, since Marcellus is assigned to Class B and Skaneateles to Class C for the state tournament, they could not participate in the kind of elimination match that was so commonplace in winters past.
So far, both sides had romped through their respective opposition. Marcellus was 7-0 and Skaneateles 9-0 entering the match. A large and loud crowd, full of vocal students from both schools, was on hand for this highly-anticipated showdown.
They saw Marcellus smash its way in front during the opening set and prevail, 25-18. But the Lakers rebounded in the second set, combining strong defense with excellent serves to take over in the middle stages and win, 25-15, to pull even.
In the pivotal third set, there were 11 ties in a tense exchange of points until, at 13-13, the Mustangs broke in front with five consecutive points. Though the Lakers kept making comeback attempts, Marcellus hung on by a 25-22 margin to regain the lead.
It was much the same in the fourth set, with 10 ties until, again, the Mustangs put together four straight points, breaking a 15-15 deadlock. The Lakers pulled back even 21-21, but Marcellus recorded the last four points, clinching it 25-21 on Devon Landers’ kill on match point.
Landers, with 12 kills, and Nicole Fletcher, with 18 kills and seven blocks, offered front-line power the Lakers could not equal. Allie Massara had five kills and nine digs, while libero Brittney Valentine offered 10 digs and four aces. Jessica Cost earned 37 assists as Tori Bingham managed eight digs and Tabby McBride got six digs.
Skaneateles, in defeat, saw Julianna Augustine stand out with 14 kills, 10 digs, six blocks and three aces. Joanna Dean added eight kills and three aces, with Casey Van Slyke managing 10 digs. On the back line, Colleen Cargile had 16 assists and nine digs, while Sidney Lawson had 12 assists and four digs.
