ONONDAGA COUNTY – A season-opening win over Liverpool on March 19 signaled that the West Genesee girls volleyball team might find itself ready to challenge Baldwinsville’s long-held local supremacy.
And the Wildcats would test itself against the Bees on Saturday afternoon,
Prior to that, WG played twice, starting with last Tuesday’s 25-9, 25-15, 25-8 romp over the Corcoran Cougars where Olivia Snyder recorded six aces along with seven assists as Maggie Clancy got 13 assists.
Cameron Rosenthal, with five aces, was close behind, adding three kills to match Gianna Corbin. Alexis Rydelek had five kills, with Bridget Dunham getting four kills as Grace Lannon earned eight digs.
Then, against Jamesville-DeWitt on Thursday night, WG tailed off, taking a 25-21, 25-18, 25-18 defeat to the Red Rams.
Snyder earned 13 assists and five digs, while Clancy had nine assists. Izzy Allen put away 10 kills and Mia Lamanna earned seven kills and four blocks. Maris Ryan led J-D with 20 assists, eight digs and three kills.
This led WG to its match Saturday against unbeaten Baldwinsville, where only in the first set did the Wildcats get close before the Bees took over and prevailed 25-21, 25-17, 25-11.
Phoebe Anderson still finished with seven kills, while on defense Clancy recorded 22 digs and Snyder got 20 assists. Allen and Cami Zajac both had eight digs as, for B’ville, Brooke Clute had 13 kills, Kyrah Wilbur earned 11 kills and Jenna Garvey managed 26 assists.
Elsewhere in local action, Solvay began its season on a strong note, wiping out Manlius-Pebble Hill 25-5, 25-5, 25-11 as Alicia Granger got seven aces, Myah Platler six aces and Jordan Bamba five aces.
Antoinette Sardo earned 13 assists, passing it to Platler, who got six kills, and Genea Kadlubowski, who got five kills. Olivia Petralito finished with four kills.
Up against Syracuse Academy of Science on Thursday night, the Bearcats again claimed a sweep, wasting little time getting past the Atoms 25-7, 25-15, 25-11.
All told, Solvay amassed 51 aces, 11 of them by Platler and 10 by Peratlito, with Alicia Granger getting nine aces. Sardo and Kadlubowski had six aces apiece as Sardo earned 15 assists and Bryla Bagozzi added 12 assists. Platler got 10 kills, aided by Kadlubowski (nine kills), Grainger (six kills) and Petralito (five kills) on the front line.
In its season opener last Wednesday, Jordan-Elbridge found success against Weedsport, splitting the first two sets before claiming the third set 25-17 from the Warriors and then prevailing in the fourth.
Sarah Lane earned 13 assists to lead the Eagles, her passes often going to Gabby Smart, who had six kills, and Abby Ahern, who earned four kills. Smart also got seven aces and Ahern had six aces as Elizabeth Bartoszewski had four aces to go with her team-best seven digs.
To follow up on Friday, J-E faced Cato-Meridian and made quite a comeback, dropping the first two sets 25-17 and 25-22, but then roaring back to take the next three sets by close margins of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-23 to prevail in five.
Ahern, with six kills, led the comeback, while Smart produced five kilils and Lane got four kills, also serving up six aces as Ava Hiildebrant contributed five aces.
Bishop Ludden subdued Bishop Grimes in four sets last Tuesday night, taking the first two sets 25-13 and 25-8 before easing up in a 25-18 third-set defeat.
The Gaelic Knights held off the Cobra 25-21 in the fourth set to close it out as Kate Ruddy did it all, from eight aces to seven kills to 21 assists. Jasmine Cuffee added eight kills as Sarah Fink recorded seven digs.
