In more than 20 years at the helm of the Cazenovia girls volleyball team, Brian Ellithorpe has stacked up lots of coaching honors and watched his players claim a handful of Section III championships at the Class B and C levels while transitioning from a winter to fall program.
Eventually, the wins add up, and when the Lakers claimed a tough four-set battle with Oswego in the Sept. 1 season opener, Ellithorpe had achieved 300 career victories at Cazenovia.
Ellithorpe took over in 1996, when the Lakers’ program was looking up at the likes of Solvay, Marcellus and Skaneateles. It took a decade, and several near-misses, but the Lakers finally won a sectional title in the winter of 2006, adding more titles after.
But when the 2015 season ended, Ellithorpe was stuck on 299 career wins, something his players wanted to change the moment a new campaign began. They started to do so by rolling past Oswego 25-13 in the opening set and claiming a close second set 25-23.
To its credit, the Buccaneers nearly pulled even, winning the third set 25-21 and pushing Cazenovia to the wire in the fourth set before the Lakers held on in another 25-23 decision.
Danielle Tedesco put away 19 k ills, four blocks and three aces, with Molly Carges adding 11 kills and five digs. Morgan Hodinger had eight digs, to with four kills and three blocks, while Marlin Rogers finished with three kills.
Cazenovia’s back line included Maleigha Ellithorpe, Brian’s daughter, who put together 19 assists, three blocks and four digs, and Lauren Lyons, who earned 16 assists, six digs and two aces. Lauren Burbidge contributed nine digs.
This was a prelude to a big Wednesday-night match between Cazenovia and Westhill. In that match, though the Lakers had plenty of good moments, its struggles with the serve, combined with the Warriors’ fine all-around play, led to a three-set defeat.
The Lakers trailed throughout the opening set, which Cazenovia claimed 25-16. Midway through the second set, it was tied, 14-14, but Westhill used a timely 6-0 run to go in front for good and make the difference in a 25-19 decision.
During the third set, Cazenovia fell behind by as much as six points, and were still down 23-17 before a frantic 6-1 run nearly extended the set and the match. But one more bad serve allowed the Warriors to close it out, 25-23.
Lyons, with 13 assists, and Maleigha Ellithorpe, with five assists, passed it to a front line where Tedesco had seven kills, Carges six kills and Hodinger four kills to go with seven digs. Westhill saw Montana Gedney put away 17 kills, largely off feeds from Mackenzie Martin, who earned 21 assists.
The Lakers visited Fulton Friday night and prevailed in four sets, overcoming a 25-20 defeat in the opener to even it, 25-18, in the second and then survive a 25-23 third set. Fulton nearly pushed it to the limit, but after several match points Cazenovia won the fourth set 28-26 to end it.
Most of Lyons’ 21 assists went to Tedesco, who put away 15 kills and added two blocks. Carges was solid on the front line, too, with nine kills and four blocks, while Maleigha Ellithorpe had seven assists and four digs. Burbidge and Hodinger had six digs apiece and Lyons contributed four digs.
Adding to its schedule, Cazenovia hosts Hamilton at Buckley Gym next Monday, also taking on Institute of Technology Central and Solvay before appearing next Saturday in Baldwinsville’s Fall Fling Tournament.
