Easy wins in its first three matches had the Cazenovia girls volleyball team in a good frame of mind as it traveled east to meet Skaneateles last Wednesday night for its first major test of the fall.
And Cazenovia passed that test, winning this latest Laker clash in four sets to move to the top of the OHSL Liberty division standings with a 4-0 mark.
After building a 21-13 lead in the first set, Cazenovia withstood a Skaneateles comeback to win that opening set 25-18. Then the visiting Lakers played a superb second set, prevailing 25-16.
In fact, Cazenovia almost got the sweep, but Skaneateles prolonged the match, pulling out the third set 25-23. The fourth set proved close, too, but by a 25-21 margin, the visiting Lakers pulled it out to stay undefeated.
This made Friday night’s five-set defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse a bit easier to take. Twice in the match, the Lakers rallied, winning the second set 25-17 after dropping a close first set 26-24, and dominating the fourth set 25-9 after the Northstars won the third set 25-18.
A terrific final set went back and forth, but Cazenovia lost it, 25-23, ending a match where Danielle Tedesco picked up 18 kills and six blocks, while Willa Mihayli Koch did a bit of everything, including 12 kills, 14 digs, three assists, two aces and two blocks.
Taylor Eldred was also busy, with seven kills, 16 digs and four aces, with Molly Carges managing nine kills and four blocks. Jenna Britton gained 39 assists, adding nine digs and four aces. Rebeckah Swart had eight digs. For C-NS, Kira Kullman got 13 kills, with Jess Doran (13 assists) and Kelsey Hess (nine assists) splitting back-line duties.
Another big match for the Lakers loomed Tuesday night, at defending Class B champion Westhill, before a return to Buckley Gym on Thursday to take on Homer.
