Trying to give departing head coach Doreen Doctor one more championship run, the Skaneateles girls volleyball team could not pull it off, stopped short in the semifinals by Westhill Friday night in a three-set sweep as the Lakers’ season ended with a record of 14-4.
Just making it to Westhill was enough of a struggle for the no. 3 seed Lakers, who needed all five sets to knock off rival no. 6 seed Marcellus in last Tuesday’s Class B quarterfinal classic.
The draining match took a toll on the Lakers, who now faced a Westhill side that, by contrast, had swept Jamesville-DeWitt in three sets in its opening-round sectional match.
Each of the first two sets was close, but the Warriors prevailed in them 25-22. And the third set saw Westhill put the match away 25-19 to earn a spot in the finals against Phoenix, who stunned top seed Solvay in five sets that same night.
Malorie Olin finished with seven kills, five blocks and four digs. Natalie Roche had five kills and seven digs, with Kelsey Kraetz adding four kills and five blocks.
Casey VanSlyke (12 digs), Mia Campanile (11 digs) and Kelsey Farrell (10 digs) each played well on the back line as Anna Smith managed seven assists.
Westhill’s Annnaleigh Gedney led her side with 28 assists, 10 digs and five aces, feeding her passes to a front line where Delaney Martin (nine kills, 10 digs), Melissa Newcomb (eight kills, four aces) and Xiomara Rodriguez (seven kills, 13 digs) all made big contributions.
