From a no. 3 seed, the West Genesee girls volleyball team has made an impressive run to the Section III Class AA championship match.
And while the Wildcats will likely be a prohibitive underdog to top seed and defending champion Baldwinsville in that title match next Wednesday night at Cicero-North Syracuse’s gym, it will go in there with as much confidence as it has shown all season.
That’s because, in last Thursday night’s AA semifinal, WG, the no. 3 seed, went to no. 2 seed Liverpool and delivered a four-set victory over the Warriors.
They had met twice in the regular season, the Wildcats losing in four sets in the Sept. 3 opener and again in a five-set battle on Oct. 10. But WG would save its best performance for the most meaningful encounter.
Instead of struggles at the start, the Wildcats won each of the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-17. The Warriors did prevail 25-20 in the third set, but the Wildcats rebounded and, by a 25-21 margin, closed out the match in the fourth.
Kara Sweeney put up 30 assists, to go with 10 digs, three aces and two kills, while Courtney Shoults earned 20 digs to go with seven kills. Brianna Richardson (14 kills) and Jessie Allen (10 kills) led the Wildcats’ front line, with Allen also contributing seven blocks and 10 digs.
Lynn Copeland was right with Richardson and Allen, gaining eight kills and two blocks, while Hannah Bakowski picked up 11 digs and Katie McIntyre added six digs.
Liverpool, in defeat, saw Meg Stonebarger pick up five kills to go with her 30 assists and five digs. Amanda Lauricella managed a team-best 12 digs as Emily Flohr earned 10 kills, just ahead of Dallas Merola (six kills) and Sam Wolf (five kills, 11 digs).
WG had no problem getting to the semifinals, quickly dispatching of no. 6 seed Corcoran in a 25-9, 25-8, 25-6 sweep in last Tuesday night’s opening round.
Despite the Cougars’ 9-8 record going into the sectional tournament, WG made quick work of it as Kayla Case set the tone with seven aces. Allen and Grace Osterdale each had a team-high five kills as Sweeney managed 17 assists and three aces. Allen added eight digs.
Bishop Ludden was part of the Class D sectional bracket, a three-team affair where it had to beat Bishop Grimes in last Tuesday night’s play-in match to meet LaFayette in Saturday’s finals.
The Gaelic Knights lost in three sets to the Cobras 25-15, 25-17, 25-18. Aubree Dixon, in defeat, managed four aces, while Jill Kompf had a team-best seven assists. Hailey Bevard gained six digs as Allison Horne got three digs, two aces and two kills. Abby Johnson had two aces, two kills, two blocks and two digs as Allison Barletta and Nina Truong both had three digs.
