Girls volleyball teams from Solvay, Marcellus and Westhill each entered the fray of the Section III Class B playoffs in separate quarterfinal matches Friday night, and all of them won.
For the no. 5 seed Bearcats and no. 6 seed Mustangs, it was particularly exciting as they both prevailed in five sets on the road against teams who beat them in the regular season – Solvay at no. 4 seed Skaneateles, Marcellus at no. 3 seed Homer – while Westhill, the defending sectional champions, swept no. 7 seed Phoenix.
Back on Oct. 4, Solvay went to Skaneateles and was leading 2-1 in sets before the Lakers rallied to win in five, taking the final set 25-9. This was why the Bearcats were on the road for this sectional opener, where it led again – and nearly lost again.
Late in the first set, Solvay trailed, 19-18, but finished strong and pulled it out 25-22. It was close to the same in the second set, only here the Bearcats were down 22-21 late before producing the big points at the end to win 25-23.
It almost was a sweep, Solvay rallying from a 21-15 deficit in the third set to pull even. But when Skaneateles pulled it out, 25-23, things began to turn, and the Lakers didn’t let the Bearcats get as close in the fourth set, prevailing 25-21 to even the match.
With the season riding on the fifth set, Solvay again fell behind 13-10 and again fought its way back. The turning point wasn’t a point at all, but rather a rotation mistake by Skaneateles when it had a chance to serve.
Instead of tying it, 20-20, it was now 21-19, and despite Skaneateles coming back once more to pull even, 23-23, Solvay won back the serve and, with a single match point, converted it to claim the match 25-23.
Sharing back-line duties, Mackenzie McCarthy had 29 assists and 14 digs, with Allie Posnick registering 20 assists and 20 digs. Taylor Preble chimed in with 29 digs, adding five assists and two aces.
Bella Petralito put up a team-best 15 kills, plus 22 digs, as Brielle Bagozzi earned 27 digs to go with 11 kills. Lauren Nichols added 10 kills as Mikayla Knight gained nine kills and Anna Rolince seven kills to go with nine digs. Ashley Bosco had five kills and Phebe Guadagnolo earned five aces.
Meanwhile, at Homer, Marcellus was getting its own kind of payback against a Homer side that, like Skaneateles did with Solvay, prevailed in five sets when they first met Sept. 20. Back then, the Mustangs led 2-1 in sets (just like the Bearcats did in its first match with the Lakers) and could not hold on. Now, the exact opposite happened.
Pulling out a close opening set 25-23 proved valuable for the Mustangs, who saw the Trojans take the next two sets by 25-16 and 25-18 margins. In the fourth set, Marcellus got within two points of defeat, but pulled it out 26-24 and, flush with momentum, went on to claim the final set by a 25-20 margin.
Rachel Randall saved points with her career-best 40 digs and Julia Piorkowski earned 21 digs as Olivia Quick recorded 38 assists. Emily Welch helped, too, with five assists to go with seven digs and four kills.
Meghan O’Brien paced the Marcellus front line with 15 kills, adding three blocks. Maggie Kianka finished with 12 kills, 12 digs and five aces, while Katie Sauro earned nine kills and three aces.
The reward for Marcellus and its playoff win at Homer was a semifinal date with Westhill, who avoided all of the twists and turns its neighbors faced and simply swept Phoenix, nearly blanking the Firebirds in a 25-3 first set before taking the next two sets by margins of 25-12 and 25-5.
Bridget Lougen pounded Phoenix with 18 kills, while Mackenzie Martin put together 26 assists, seven kills and seven digs. Brigid Heinrich earned six kills. Isabella Radio-Rodriguea earned 13 digs and matched Sophia Sgroi with three aces and two kills, Sgroi adding six digs and four assists. Emma Bryant finished with four assists.
Only Jordan-Elbridge, the no. 8 seed, did not survive the opening weekend. With a berth in the semifinals against Solvay at stake, the Eagles never got close against top seed Cazenovia at Buckley Gym on Saturday afternoon, taking a 25-9, 25-15, 25-5 defeat.
Jane Strife and Cassie Schader each finished with five digs, while Ranait McGuire had four digs. Emily Klock got a pair of kills, but Cazenovia picked up 27 aces, seven of them by Maleigha Ellithorpe to go with 14 assists as Lauren Lyons added 14 assists and four kills. Danielle Tedesco and Molly Carges each got seven kills, combining for six aces to help J-E end its season with an 8-11 record.
