Through a wild final week of the regular season, girls volleyball teams from Solvay, Westhill and Marcellus would interact with each other on the court, providing a preview of the battles ahead in the Section III Class B fall playoffs.
And it all culminated Thursday night with the Bearcats, 5-11 a season ago, locking up the OHSL Liberty American division title with a dramatic comeback to beat the Warriors in five sets.
All looked fine for Westhill as, in front of the home crowd, it rolled through the first set 25-15 and won the second set 25-21. But Solvay, just two points from getting swept, pulled out the third set 25-23, and used that momentum to control the fourth set 25-17 and pull out the final set 25-20.
Jackie Allen, with 13 kills, four aces and 21 digs, led the Bearcats comeback. Heather Thompson also had 13 kills, adding eight digs, four aces and four assists, while Brenna Poli managed six kills.
On the back line, Solvay libero Juila Tomoroska saved points with her 37 digs, adding seven aces. Lauren Bandera, with 23 assists and 12 digs, and Jackie Gardner, with 13 assists, 12 digs and five kills, shared the other duties.
Westhill, in defeat, saw Annaleigh Gedney earn 24 assists, 17 digs, four kills and three aces. Delaney Martin added 31 digs as Lina Guindy had 17 digs to go with five kills. Xiomara Rodriguez had 12 digs and seven kills as Bella Sterly got eight kills and six digs, and Melissa Newcomb added seven kills and nine digs. Maggie Liberatti managed five aces and seven digs.
Before all that, it was Marcellus cooling down the Warriors in four sets last Tuesday night, winning each of the first two sets by 25-21 margins before dropping the third set 25-23, only to rebound and close it out 25-18 in the fourth set.
Kayla Bryant led Marcellus with 30 assists, getting defensive help from Brittney Valentine, who had 18 digs, and Jennie Delia, who had 10 digs to go with four assists. Haley Fogg got nine digs.
Zoe Higgins led the Marcellus front line, putting together 14 kills, five aces, four digs and two blocks. Suzanna Sylcox had eight kills and seven digs, with Anna Smith getting six kills and Eimile O’Brien adding five kills, plus four blocks.
Westhill saw Newcomb (nine kills) and Sterly (eight kills) get passes from Gedney, who had 26 assists, 15 digs and four aces. Martin produced 16 digs and Rodriguez added 15 digs as Guindy managed 11 digs and four kills.
Before facing Westhill, Solvay had to get past Phoenix last Tuesday, and lost the first set 25-17 to the Firebirds. On the brink of a two-set deficit, the Bearcats pulled out the second, 25-23, and then won the third set 25-17 before squeaking past Phoenix by that same 25-23 margin in the fourth set.
Bandera had a fine all-around effort, picking up 12 assists, 15 digs, five kills and five aces, while Gardner managed 10 assists, 11 digs, three aces and three kills. Allen and Tomoroska both had 18 digs, with Allen picking up eight kills. Heather Thompson added six kills.
Bishop Ludden earned its second win of the season last Tuesday, taking four sets to beat the Fowler Falcons 25-22, 25-23, 11-25, 25-17.
Jill Kompf finished with 13 assists, two kills and two aces as Allison Barletta contributed 21 digs. Hailey Bevard had seven kills and five digs, with Allison Horne picking up five aces. Abby Johnson mixed in 12 digs, four aces, three kills, two assists and two blocks.
As that went on, Jordan-Elbridge beat Mexico in four sets, losing the first set 25-23, but recovering to beat the Tigers 25-20, 25-14 and 25-21 in the next three sets to win the match.
Kali Kimak finished with eight kills, four aces and eight digs. Haley Schwarting and Jessie Karagosian each got seven assists, with Ashley Hamlin contributing four kills. Mackenzie Mannion, Brittany Hares and Kim Olivers got three kills apiece.
But the Eagles lost to Marcellus 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 on Wednesday night, despite Hamlin’s eight digs and Karagosian’s three assists. Bryant, for the Mustangs, earned 17 assists, feeding a deep front line where 11 different players earned kills, but none more than the four kills gained by Higgins and Smith. Valentine and Smith led with six digs apiece.
In Thursday night’s 25-14, 25-19, 22-25, 25-8 defeat to Homer, J-E saw Kimak record five aces, three kills and seven digs, while Karagosian had three assists, two aces and three digs. Rachel Gleason contributed four digs.
