If the Cazenovia girls volleyball team wanted an ideal path to take in order to earn the Section III Class B championship, it would resemble what actually took place.
The Lakers, to earn this latest sectional title, would need to get through Marcellus and Westhill, the two teams that beat them late in the regular season.And it all culminated in Saturday’s four-set victory over the Warriors in the final at Fayetteville-Manlius.
First, though, there was the small matter of last Wednesday’s sectional semifinal at Buckley Gym against no. 3 seed Marcellus, whose five-set win over Cazenovia on Oct. 17 was the first blemish of the Lakers’ fall campaign.
Blessed with both a vivid memory of that night and a desire for payback two weeks later, Cazenovia seized control during a 25-16 first set and then withstood the Mustangs’ best efforts in the second set to win it 25-22.
An emphatic 25-14 decision in the third set closed out the sweep, the Lakers seeing Delaney Yorks dish out 29 assists and Lauren Burbidge earn 13 digs on a solid back line.
Cazenovia was perfectly balanced up front as Morgan Hodinger, Lindsey Lawson and Madison West each finished with nine kills, West adding three aces along with Laura Clements as Hodinger matched Burbidge’s total of 13 digs.
With one part of the payback handled, the Lakers could deal with the other at F-M in the sectional final.
Top-seeded Westhill had needed just three sets to win at Cazenovia two nights after the Marcellus upset on Oct. 19, so the Lakers knew that the final would require a complete turnaround from what had taken place in that first meeting.
The opening set proved quite important. The Lakers and Warriors traded point spurts, but at the end the Lakers pulled it out, 25-23, giving itself a cushion against a second set where Westhill took charge early and pulled away to win 25-16 and pull even in the match.
Moving to the third set, it almost got away from the Lakers. Ahead 24-21, Cazenovia saw Westhill rally and fight off three set points, only to get the serve back and then hang on to take that set 26-24.
Now determined to put things away, the Lakers roared out to a 16-6 advantage in the fourth set. Again the Warriors fought back, but Cazenovia was able to get the final points it needed to prevail 25-21 and earn another sectional title.
The work up front by Hodinger, Lawson and West, plus the back-line play by Yorks and Burbidge, helped to overcome Westhill’s Mackenzie Martin earning 35 assists, 18 digs, five kills and three aces. Martin’s teammate, Montanna Gedney, had 13 kills and 19 digs as Sara Galante added 11 kills and 16 digs, with Brigid Heinrich earning 14 kills.
Cazenovia now could move on to the state Class B tournament, where it meets Section V champion Wayne Wednesday at Victor High School. Two wins in regional rounds one on Wednesday, and then another one Saturday at Daemen College near Buffalo, are needed for the Lakers to advance to the Nov. 18-19 state championships in Glens Falls.
