One consequence of playing a fall schedule, as the Skaneateles girls volleyball team discovered, is that things begin in conditions far removed from autumn.
The Lakers hosted Jamesville-DeWitt last Tuesday, but did not let the steamy conditions affect its performance one bit as it swept past the Red Rams in three sets.
Each of those sets was close. Skaneateles claimed the opener 25-21, and earned the key points late to take the second set 25-23 before getting the third set in another 25-21 decision.
Returning from a season ago, Maeve Canty and Jessica Patalino were quite strong on the Lakers’ front line, Canty earning 16 kills, four aces and four assists as Patalino got 15 kills, six digs, four blocks, three assists and two aces.
Lily Delasin did most of the back-line work for Skaneateles, earning 22 assists, plus four digs, two blocks and two kills. Emma Keady added eight assists and three kills.
Hannah Blowers (four kills) and Kristen Henry (three kills) helped out on the front line, while on defense Lily Simmons set the pace with eight digs as Zoe Francemone matched Patalino’s total of six digs. Alexis LeClair (23 digs) and Madeline Ferris (14 assists) led J-D.
Two nights later, the Lakers took out Central Square in four sets, making it back-to-back wins against Salt City Athletic Conference Empire division foes.
Each of the first two sets went 25-18 in the Lakers’ favor. Central Square prolonged the match by taking the third set 25-21, but Skaneateles closed out the Redhawks 25-21 in the fourth.
Delasin, earning 29 assists, fed it to Patalino, who augmented her 14 kills with three blocks, 10 digs and three assists. Canty had her own double-double of 11 kills and 13 digs, plus four assists.
Delasin tacked on five kills, 12 digs, four aces and two blocks in a grand all-around effort as Emma Keady got seven kills and seven assists. Henry earned six kills, with Simmons earning three aces and Blowers two aces, plus three kills.
