At least in the early portion of a new season, the Westhill girls volleyball team shows no signs of any kind of dropoff from its 2018 state Class B championship form.
The Warriors were 2-0 going into last Monday’s match against Homer, and didn’t take too long to make it three in a row, sweeping past the Trojans 25-20, 25-14, 25-21.
Sarah Schwartz notched 20 assists, three aces and six digs as Sara Galante put away 12 kills, three blocks and six digs. Libero Gianna Militi amassed 19 digs as Gracelyn O’Connell earned five blocks and Kate Heinrich had three kills.
In Wednesday’s 25-7, 25-5, 25-21 romp over Phoenix, Hannah Schmitz served up nine aces to go with seven digs. Schwartz (eight assists) and Tori Militi (nine assists) split back-line duties as Heinrich earned seven kills and Galante had six kills. Gianna Militi had nine digs.
Two of Westhill’s neighbors met each other last Tuesday night and Marcellus got the best of it against Solvay, the Mustangs taking the first two sets 25-18 and 25-19 and edging the Bearcats 27-25 in the third set for the sweep.
Bronte Stahl again stood out for Marcellus, leading her team with 15 assists and seven kills, to go with five digs and two blocks. Elaine Grattan finished with four kills as Evelyn Webster finished with six digs.
Marcellus got another victory on Thursday against visiting Liverpool, winning the first two sets 26-24 and 25-19, and then dropping the next two sets 25-19 and 25-23 before edging the Warriors 25-22 in the final set to pull it out.
Jenna Mattison finished the long night with 38 assists, her passes often going to Stahl, who notched 20 kills plus 14 digs. Anna Fern and Brook Finnarty had six kills apiece, Fern adding four blocks as Webster earned 25 digs.
Skaneateles, bouncing back from its Sept. 6 defeat to Westhill, met Jordan-Elbridge last Tuesday and the Lakers used steady play from all of its stars to sweep the Eagles 25-17, 25-15, 25-16.
Maeve Canty put away 18 kills, seven aces and eight digs with the passes coming from Lily Delasin, who finished with 23 assists to go with six aces, five kills and three digs. Emma Keady added five kills, eight assists and five digs. Kristen Henry got six digs.
An even bigger win was attained Thursday, against visiting Cazenovia. Skaneateles won the first set 25-19 and the second 25-22, then lost the third set in another 25-22 decision before holding off those other Lakers 25-22 in the fourth to end it.
Canty had a rare 20-20 showing that included 20 kills and 22 digs. Delasin, aside from her 30 assists, had eight digs and three kills, while Henry earned 11 digs and four kills. Keady earned six kills, while Emma Miller got nine digs and Alex Csenez added seven digs.
J-E split the first two sets of last Monday’s match against Fulton, but struggled late in a 25-18, 19-25, 25-12, 25-9 defeat to the Red Raiders.
Paige Lane had eight assists, with Cassie Klock getting two kills and three blocks. Ashlee Eaton had three kills as Ranait McGuire earned five digs and Gabby Smart added four digs.
J-E then beat Hannibal 25-16, 25-14, 25-15 on Thursday night as Lane got 11 assists and four aces, with McGuire earning three kills and four blocks as Eaton got four kills.
West Genesee ran into Cicero-North Syracuse last Monday night and lost 25-15, 25-16, 25-17 to the Northstars.
Anna Snyder still managed 10 digs and nine assists for the Wildcats as Mackenzie Winn added seven digs. But no WG player had more than two kills as Jennifer Carl led C-NS with 16 assists, six aces and seven digs.
Turning it around two nights later, the Wildcats won a close battle with Liverpool 25-20, 26-24, 26-24, Snyder amassing 28 assists to go with four aces, four kills, six digs and two blocks.
Zajac, with 12 kills, led a well-balanced WG front line as Mia Lamanna earned nine kills and Julia Quirk gained eight kills. Winn put together 18 digs to pace the defense.
Bishop Ludden swept Syracuse Academy of Science 25-8, 25-15, 25-18 last Monday night, serving up 18 aces, five of them by Jasmine Cuffee, who also earned nine kills. Jayden Burney had five blocks as Kate Ruddygot eight assists.
In Wednesday’s match against Central Square, Ludden lost a close opening set 26-24 and the second set 25-13, and though it rolled through the third set 25-14, the Redhawks closed them out 25-21 in the fourth. Cuffee had six kills, while Ruddy produced 10 assists.
This set up a big match with Bishop Grimes on Friday. Ludden lost the first set 25-21 and took the next two sets 25-10 and 25-22, and though the Cobras got the fourth set 25-17, the Gaelic Knights prevailed in the final set by that same margin.
