True, the Skaneateles girls volleyball team was busy with the usual assortment of practices and contests in recent days, but according to senior captain Sidney Lawson, something else was in the air.
“We were excited for two weeks to face Marcellus,” Lawson said. “It (playing them) is a huge motivating factor.”
Indeed, the Lakers and Mustangs did get together on Thursday night for the first of two regular-season clashes, and Skaneateles maintained its undefeated mark, sweeping Marcellus in three sets.
Each of these showdowns in this long-simmering rivalry have more relevance this fall because, at its own request, Skaneateles moved up from Class C, where it was in 2011, to Class B for the Section III and state tournaments.
Lakers head coach Doreen Doctor said the move will allow her team to play a full set of sectional matches before the state playoffs, should it get that far.
That could, of course, mean facing Marcellus, which added to the excitement surrounding this match as the two main title contenders took each other’s measure.
“We love playing Marcellus because it’s such a challenge,” senior Julianna Augustine said.
For most of the first set, it went back and forth, with 10 ties, until Skaneateles inched in front in the middle of the set. It was still tight, at 19-18, when the Lakers went on a 6-1 run to close the set and prevail 25-19.
“We were very excited early on,” Lawson said. “But everybody got settled, we put our heads down and played our very best.”
That included a second set where Skaneateles never trailed, scoring the first three points and sprinting out to a 12-point edge, 23-11, at one point before cruising to a 25-14 decision.
Marcellus tried to extend the match, putting the Lakers into a 13-6 deficit in the third set. But Skaneateles roared back and, at 17-17, inched in front thanks to three straight kills from Augustine, who would finish with 12 kills and five blocks.
Though the Mustangs made its own comeback and pulled even, 24-24, Skaneateles got back the serve and earned the match point to end it at 26-24.
Aside from Augustine, Joanna Dean, with seven kills, three blocks and 10 digs, led the Lakers’ front line. Lawson backed up her 23 assists with nine digs as Anna Smith added five assists and seven digs. Natalie Roche contributed four kills, as did Mallorie Olin, with Roche adding a team-best 11 digs.
The two sides will see each other again Oct. 22. What the Mustangs will see, Lawson said, is a side improved from last fall’s run into the state tournament.
“This is a better team (than 2011),” she said. “We are so motivated, and we know how we want this season to play out.”
Two nights earlier, Skaneateles warmed up by meeting Jamesville-DeWitt, a new fall program, and ripped the Red Rams 25-9 in the first set before claiming the next two sets 25-14 and 25-22.
Lawson’s all-around effort included five kills, nine assists and eight digs. Dean also had five kills, adding six digs and two aces, while Augustine managed four kills, three blocks, three aces and three digs. Roche had a team-best eight digs as she and Olin each put up three kills.
Another team currently undefeated, Westhill, awaits the Lakers’ challenge next Thursday night, just after Skaneateles hosts Fulton.
