Whatever challenges the Westhill girls volleyball team has faced in September have not turned serious or threatening.
Homer brought a 5-1 record into last Thursday’s match against the unbeaten Warriors, but other than a close second set, it didn’t get close to Westhill, who prevailed in a 25-13, 25-23, 25-19 sweep.
Up front, Brigid Heinrich had eight kills for the Warriors, with Montana Gedney getting five aces to go with her seven kills. Mackenzie Martin earned five aces to go with 17 assists as Leah Diefendorf picked up six digs and three aces. Sophia Sgroi had five assists and Isabella Radio-Rodriguez earned a team-best nine digs.
Westhill took its unbeaten mark to Jordan-Elbridge last Tuesday and beat the Eagles 25-4, 25-14, 25-13. Martin earned 31 assists, helping a front line where Bridget Lougen had 13 kills and Gedney added nine kills, plus six aces. Emma Bryant added four kills and Sgroi four aces.
Homer had just beaten Marcellus in five sets earlier in the week. After losing a close opening set 25-23, the Mustangs won the next two sets by 25-21 margins, only to see the Trojans dominate the fourth set 25-13.
Both sides had chances to pull it out in the final set, but Homer did so 26-24, leaving Marcellus frustrated as Olivia Quick got 15 assists and Sydney French added 12 assists. plus four aces. Rachel Randall added nine digs.
Up front for the Mustangs, Allison Field had eight kills and four aces, with Katherine Sauro adding seven kills and Meghan O’Brien adding five kills and three aces. Margaret Kianka got four kills. On Homer’s side, Deede Partigianoni (13 kills, 17 digs), Gillian McEvoy (10 kills, 14 digs) and Meleah Hartnett (23 assists, 15 digs) led the way.
Things sipped for Marcellus, though, in Friday’s 25-14, 25-20, 25-14 defeat to LaFayette. Quick had 13 assists, feeding it to O’Brien (seven kills) and Field (five kills) as Randall got eight digs, but the Lancers got 15 kills and 10 digs from Sophia Powless, plus 24 assists from Rhiannon Abrams and 15 digs from Ashley Anastas.
Before meeting Westhill, Jordan-Elbridge continued to show improvement in last Monday’s match at Hannibal, sweeping the Warriors. Each of the sets was a close one, but J-E claimed the opener 25-21, added a 25-20 win in the second set and prevented further work by pulling out the third set 25-23.
Emily Klock’s strong season continued, too, as she put away 20 kills, nearly a set’s worth of points from her spikes. Renee Eggleston had five kills, four aces and seven digs, while Cassie Schader had four kills and six digs.
Bailey Van Gorden earned 17 assists, five digs, three kills and two aces, getting help on the back line from Molly Derby, who earned eight assists. Jane Strife added six digs and three kills.
But then J-E ran into Westhill, where Van Gorden and Klock had three kills apiece and Van Gorden added three assists, with Klock getting four digs. And then the Eagles had to face another power, Cazenovia, Thursday night at Buckley Gym and got swept there, too, by the Lakers.
Then, in Thursday’s match at Cazenovia, J-E won the second set 25-22 after dropping the first set 25-10, only to have the Lakers claim the last two sets by 25-11 and 25-19 margins. Van Gorden had nine assists, three aces and three digs, while Klock also got nine digs and three aces. Jane Strife had eight digs and four aces.
