In between its many conquests of weekend tournaments, the Westhill girls volleyball team has stayed busy turning aside all of its area Class B challengers, too.
When the Warriors hosted its neighbors from Solvay Wednesday, it cared little about the Bearcats’ place atop the OHSL Liberty American division standings, and swept them in three sets to improve its mark to 10-0.
This was the only regular-season meeting between Westhill and Solvay, who could end up as the top two seeds when the Section III Class B tournament starts later this month.
The quality of the teams, and the local bragging rights, gave this match the ingredients to be special – and a fired-up Bearcats squad made several great defensive stops in the opening set, taking a 14-13 lead.
However, Westhill snuffed out those upset hopes with a 9-1 run that put them in front for good, leading to a 25-19 victory, and the Warriors never trailed in the second set, scoring the first four points and prevailing 25-12.
Even when Solvay bolted out to a 9-4 lead in the third set, Westhill countered with 10 straight points off the serve of Sarah Schwartz, a spurt from which the Bearcats could not recover as the Warriors won again 25-19.
Schwartz had three aces to go with 14 assists as Sara Galante got 10 kills, five digs and three aces. Libero Gianni Militi had seven kills to go with 11 digs as Mackenzie Martin had six kills, six assists, four aces and four digs. Montanna Gedney had seven digs and three aces.
For the Bearcats, Allie Posnick finished with nine assists, seven digs and two aces, with Myah Platler gaining five kills. Jordan Bamba had six digs as Izzy Lambert and Gianna D’Agostino had four digs apiece. Brielle Bagozzi contributed three kills.
The drama didn’t end for Solvay as, a day later, it got pushed to five sets before getting past Living Word Academy.
After winning the opener 25-21, Solvay saw the Lions win marathon second and third sets by equal 28-26 margins. Somehow, the Bearcats kept its poise and handled the fourth set 25-18 before prevailing 25-21 in the final set.
Posnick amassed 42 assists, 19 digs, four kills and three aces as Platler got 20 kills and 16 digs. Anastasia LaFlair earned eight kills as Lambert contributed six kills.
Sophia Guadagnolo had eight aces and Alexa Filicia had six aces, plus 11 digs. Bamba finished with 15 digs as Living Word got 14 kills from Melita Fernandez and 21 assists from Amelia Reitz.
By contrast, Westhill, who also played on Thursday, cast aside a strong LaFayette squad, pushed a bit in the third set, but still sweeping the Lancers 25-17, 25-11, 25-23 to make it 11 wins in a row.
Martin again took over, with 20 assists, 10 kills, six aces and eight digs as Galante earned 11 kills and Gedney got seven kills. Schwartz finished with 14 assists as Katie Culligan and Kate Heinrich earned four kills apiece.
Back on Tuesday night, Marcellus had its own big match against a main rival, Skaneateles, but lost in four sets, this despite winning the opener 25-22.
Once the Lakers took the second set by that same 25-22 margin, it also took charge, the other sets going 25-19 and 25-18 as Lily Delasin (31 assists), Jessica Patalino (16 kills, 17 digs) and Maeve Canty (14 kills, 19 digs) led Skaneateles.
On the Mustangs’ side, Bronte Stahl had 18 assists and seven digs, with Evelyn Webster getting 16 digs. Up front, Sydney French led with 10 kills as Michaela Godbold added six kills and Anna Fern four kills.
Marcellus turned around on Wednesday and swept Mexico 25-6, 25-13, 25-16. Godbold’s six aces set the tone as French got nine kills and 10 digs, with Stahl earning 16 assists. Webster added seven digs and Emily Falge had four kills.