CENTRAL NEW YORK – Later this week, the Skaneateles girls volleyball team will set out on its post-season journey, looking to defend the Section III Class C championship.
The Lakers go there with lots of momentum, helped by a pair of wins last week.
Skaneateles continued its winning ways last Monday when it played Phoenix and, despite some challenges late in the match, won in four sets over the Firebirds 25-10, 25-20, 21-25, 25-20.
Kate Raddant excelled with nine aces, eight kills and 16 digs. Maddy Bender got 27 assists and 13 digs, with Ayla Pas’cal earning nine kills as Alice Bender (21 digs) and Katie Combs (15 digs) made big defensive contributions, too.
During Wednesday’s 25-10, 25-10, 25-6 sweep of Hannibal, Maddy Bender managed five aces to go with 15 assists. Raddant had seven kills and Combs five kills as she and Baryl Malcolm had three aces apiece.
Jordan-Elbridge was 4-11 going into last Monday’s match with APW, where it kept the Rebels winless by earning a 25-13, 25-18, 25-22 sweep.
Of the Eagles’ 24 aces, eight came from Madison Clochessy, with Kendra Anderson getting five aces. Aside from her four aces, Brooke Chiaramonte had four assists and two kills as Taylor Eaton had a team-best six kills and Sarah Lane picked up 10 assists.
J-E lost 25-23, 25-18, 25-12 to Cazenovia on Wednesday, unable to recover from a close defeat in the opening set, though Lane had six kills, four assists and eight digs. Anderson got 12 digs and Eaton had four kills.
Bishop Ludden, who will be in the Class D sectional tournament, moved to 10-6 on the season last Monday with a 25-13, 25-19, 25-15 sweep of Cato-Meridian.
Bridget Dunham led with seven kills, while Tess Murray and Tiz’Ariah Blue got five kills apiece. Murray added four aces and matched Sarah Fink’s total of eight assists.
A day later, Ludden lost 25-21, 25-23, 25-14 to Hamilton, unable to get key early points despite six kills and 15 digs from Dunham. Fink added 14 digs, five assists and three aces as Murray got six assists and nine digs.
Even more troubling was a five-set defeat to Bishop Grimes on Thursday where the Gaelic Knights won the opener 26-24 and, after losing the next two sets 25-12 and 25-20, claimed a marathon 29-27 fourth set to stay alive.
Yet the Cobras won the final set 15-9, overcoming Dunham’s 11 kills, 18 digs and four aces as Fink got 10 digs, six assists, four kills and four aces. Grace Hilton recorded 22 digs as Murray had 13 assists and six digs, with Jordyn Howard earning five kills.
