When it plunged into the heart of its OHSL Liberty division schedule, the Skaneateles girls volleyball team already possessed a 2-0 record and an ability to get even better.
Yet the biggest early-season tests lay ahead as, in a 48-hour span last week, the Lakers would welcome two proven championship foes in Cazenovia (who reached the state Class B final four a season ago) and Westhill.
First there was the Laker battle and Skaneateles did quite well in the first set, prevailing 25-17, but it turned in the second set when Skaneatees, two points from extending its lead, could not do so.
Instead, Cazenovia took that set 27-25, and over the course of the next two sets prevailed there, too, by equal 25-21 margins.
Jessica Patalino still finished with 17 kills and nine digs, while Maeve Canty got 14 kills and 11 digs. Lily Delasin produced 28 assists as Emma Keady (six assists) helped her on the back line. Delasin added three aces, matching Hannah Blowers, who also got three kills.
For Cazenovia, Josie Avery furnished 14 assists and 12 digs, with Lindsey Lawson picking up 12 digs of her own to go with nine kills and five aces. Mackenzie Waite had six kills and eight digs.
Two nights later, Westhill brought a 2-0 record to Skaneateles and, unlike with Cazenovia, the Warriors didn’t let the Lakers get much traction, prevailing 25-15, 25-11, 25-18.
In those three sets, Patalino still managed six kills, eight digs, three aces and three blocks as Canty notched 10 kills and five blocks. Blowers also had five blocks as Delasin produced 13 assists. Westhill had Mackenzie Martin earn 13 assists and five aces, plus Sara Galante getting eight aces and 10 kills.
The Lakers had opened by sweeping Jamesville-DeWitt Aug. 28. Two nights later, it 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 Keady got seven kills and seven assists. Kristen Henry earned six kills, with Lily Simmons earning three aces and Blowers two aces, plus three kills.
At 2-2 following those defeats to Cazenovia and Westhill, the Lakers host Jordan-Elbridge next Tuesday and visit LaFayette two nights later.
