Since three of its first six victories involved matches that went to five sets, the Skaneateles girls volleyball team may have felt that its best hope in slowing down undefeated Cazenovia in last Tuesday night’s first-place OHSL Liberty division showdown was to drag things out and make the visiting Lakers work for everything.
That did not happen, though.
Showing that it’s bent on defending both its league and Section III Class C titles, Cazenovia prevailed in three sets, doing most of its damage early as it roared to 25-14 and 25-9 victories in the first two sets.
Though the third set proved much closer, Skaneateles could not extend the match, dropping that set 25-22. Still, fine defense was shown as Karah Blair finished with 11 digs and Rachel Smith got seven digs, with Sarah Delasin adding five digs.
Lily Delasin also had five digs to go with six assists as Cassidy Pitman had nine assists, four digs and three kills. Jessica Patalino had six kills and Mia Grasso contributed five kills, with Jenna Moore and Aidan Bennett earning two kills apiece.
Cazenovia had plenty of standouts, including Delaney Yorks, who earned 24 assists and eight digs. Morgan Hodinger managed 10 kills, 11 digs and four aces as Lindsey Lawson and Madison West had five kills apiece. Libero Lauren Burbidge earned six aces and six digs. Ava Brennan and Ryleigh Tillison had four kills apiece.
With three days to recover from this defeat, Skaneateles did so, returning to action Friday against Bishop Grimes and breezing through the first two sets over the Cobras 25-15 and 25-17, dropping the third set by that same 25-17 but finishing it off with a 25-14 romp through the fourth set.
Grasso and Bennett both finished with eight kills, while Patalino had seven kills and three blocks. Blair had three kills to go with her 16 digs as Hannah Blowers also finished with three kills.
Blair, who matched Maeve Canty’s total of three assists, was part of a back line where Lily Delasin had 19 assists and Pitman chimed in with 12 assists, three aces and two kills. Rachel Smith managed eight digs and Sarah Delasin seven digs. Grimes got eight kills from Bri Squier and 13 assists from Audrey Hathaway.
On Monday night, Skaneateles would test itself again in a match at Jamesville-DeWitt before facing Institute of Technology Central Wednesday and competing Saturday in the Marcellus Tournament.
