All seemed in place for the Cazenovia girls volleyball team Friday night at Fayetteville-Manlius as the crowd was on its feet, anticipating the match point that would cap off a superb performance and produce a Section III Class C championship at the expense of its top-seeded Laker rivals from Skaneateles.
An hour later, though, Cazenovia was still on the court, its moment of triumph turned into one of sadness and disbelief.
Somehow, someway, Skaneateles had made its way back from several large deficits, not to mention two match points, to defeat Cazenovia in five sets and earn the sectional title.
The fact that Cazenovia did gain such complete control of the match was not a total surprise. It had pushed Skaneateles hard in both of their regular-season meetings – a four-set defeat on Sept. 12 and a five-set loss on Oct. 8.
In the latter of those two matches, Cazenovia was up 2-1 after three sets but could not hold on to it, a harbinger for what happened in the sectional final.
Both sides had overcome season-ending injuries to key players – Mackenzie Waite on this Lakers’ side, Lily Delasin on the other Lakers’ side. They also had gone through long layoffs before the sectional final, though Cazenovia’s 10-day break after its semifinal win over Jordan-Elbridge paled next to the 17 days off Skaneateles had after its regular season ended.
Helped by some tremendous serving, Cazenovia rattled off seven consecutive points at two different times in the opening set, building a 20-7 margin and, though Skaneateles did make up some ground, the set ended 25-16.
The drama really started in the second set. Despite another 7-0 run and several different leads, including 20-18, Cazenovia found itself trailing 24-22 and ready to have the match go even. But it got the serve back, fought off another set point and then got two more points to snatch the set 26-24.
Such a momentum shift seemed impossible to recover from, and Cazenovia jumped out 13-6 in the third set. But Skaneateles started to get its serves in good spots and, like the second set, caught up to take a 24-22 lead.
Just as in that previous set, Cazenovia denied Skaneateles on two set points. Then, at 26-25 and again at 27-26, a match point was at hand, and one more good serve, or successful rally, would produce a sectional championship.
Despite all that had gone wrong before, though, Skaneateles would not surrender. It fought off those match points, pulled out the third set 29-27, and kept the match alive.
Initially, Cazenovia wasn’t rattled, for it resumed its strong all-around play and built a 16-5 lead in the fourth set. Once again, though, it was a string of serves that allowed Skaneateles to eat into that margin.
Still in front 21-19, Cazenovia saw Skaneateles use a timeout and, out of that break, notch four consecutive points, and this time the top seed did finish off the set, 25-22, and suddenly it all came down to a fifth set.
The two Lakers sides went back and forth for most of that last set, with eight early ties. But at 13-13, Skaneateles put together a 7-1 run and never got caught.
Fittingly, Kristen Henry, who had eight aces, closed it out with the last of those aces on match point, Henry also earning nine kills and 16 digs as Maeve Canty had 21 kills and 23 digs, with Emma Keady getting 34 assists.
One bright spot for Cazenovia is that it graduates just three seniors – setter Josie Avery, Julia Bauder and Mackenzie Waite. Maddie Waite is back for 2020, as are Kylie Fenton, Helen Hausser, Maren Smith, Quinilan Emhoff, Natalie Tresco and other Lakers primed by what they did this fall, and bent on writing a different ending.
