Nothing was made easy for the trio of girls volleyball teams that plunged into the Section III winter playoffs last week, and only one – Manlius-Pebble Hill – made it to the semifinal round.
In Class D, Manlius-Pebble Hill, the no. 8 seed, nearly got knocked off in the opening round, but rallied in five sets to beat no. 9 seed Belleville-Henderson.
After the Trojans won the opening set 25-22, the Panthers took a close second set 26-24 and carried that momentum into the third set, where it prevailed 25-18. Staring at elimination, MPH won the fourth set 25-16 and then, in a close fifth set, held on in another 25-22 decision to advance.
Up front, Sophie Novak had 21 kills and four blocks, with Maura Colley adding 14 kills, three blocks, three aces, four digs and two assists. Leandrah Shelmidine managed 11 blocks and eight kills.
Splitting back-line duties, Jessica Gavigan had 21 assists to go with four blocks and Kaylee Steiner gained 17 assists, plus four aces. Jordan Dunaway-Barlow got 10 digs and five kills, with Caroline Blanck and Maggie Carmen combining for 17 digs and getting three aces apiece.
Once it got past that match, though, the Trojans had confidence and, in Thursday’s Class D quarterfinal, upended no. 2 seed Stockbridge Valley.
A close opening set went well beyond the wire, but MPH won it, 29-27. Once that was done, the Trojans could absorb dropping the second set to the Cougars 25-14 and go back in front during a 25-23 third set.
Two points from going to the wire again, MPH knocked off the Cougars 26-24 in the fourth set to advance, seeing Steiner earn 15 assists as her passes went to, among others, Novak, who had six kills and five blocks, and Shelmidine, who also had six kills. Carmen added seven digs as Colley produced four blocks.
In this week’s Class D semifinal, MPH will take on another surprise entrant, no. 6 seed DeRuyter, who knocked off no. 3 seed Faith Heritage in its quarterfinal. The winner gets to Saturday’s championship match at Chittenango High School against Remsen or Cincinnatus.
Unlike MPH, Christian Brothers Academy, the no. 5 seed in a six-team Class B sectional bracket, didn’t make it past the opening match, taking a five-set loss to no. 4 seed Holland Patent.
Twice, the Brothers won sets by 25-22 margins, in the first and fourth. In between them, though, the Golden Knights rolled through the second set 25-12 and won its own 25-22 decision in the third. When it came down to the final set, HP grabbed the early lead and never let go of it, winning 25-16 to end CBA’s season.
Hannah Werner, with nine kills, and Ryan Congel, with seven kills and five blocks, led the Brothers’ front line, with Amelia Genneco adding six kills.
Sarah Roberts produced 10 assists, with Congel and Liz Hucko each getting five assists as Morgan Riley picked up 15 digs, Alexandra Fess seven digs and Annie Carhart five digs. Dannielle Arcuri led HP with 12 kills and four aces, while Mackenzie Schrader had six kills and eight assists, and Adrienne Lyon had 15 assists. The Brothers finished its season with a 9-10 record.
East Syracuse Minoa, as the no. 8 seed, would have to go north and try to knock off unbeaten (17-0, top-seeded Carthage in last Saturday’s Class A quarterfinal, but saw the Comets prevail in three sets.
To get there, the Spartans first had to sweep no. 9 seed Rome Free Academy 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 in last Wednesday night’s opening-round match.
Julianna Cacace had a spectacular match, earning 14 kills, while Sarah Kulas had seven kills and Katheryn Mangovski had seven digs to go with her five kills. Claire Maring added three assists and Sophia Zacharek eight digs as Samantha LoBello picked up 30 assists.
Then, against Carthage, each of the sets was competitive. Having lost the opener 25-20, ESM got close to pulling even, only to see the Comets take that second set 25-23, and go on to win the third set 25-19 as Cassie Birth (nine kills), Kerri McHale (12 assists) and Morgan Miller (nine kills) led the way.
For the Spartans, whose season ended with a 12-8 mark, LoBello had 12 assists, her passes often going to Kulas, who led with six kills. Cacace added three kills as Mangovski produced eight digs and McKenna Abbott had four digs.
