ONONDAGA COUNTY – For two long seasons, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls volleyball team looked up at Fulton in the standings, unable to keep up or overtake the Red Raiders.
But all of that changed Saturday night at Chittenango High School, when the Red Rams broke though and toppled Fulton to win the Section III Class A championship.
Even when the Red Raiders won the opening set 25-17, J-D did not flinch, turning it around in a second set that would swing the entire match.
Going back and forth, the two sides kept swapping points after a 20-20 tie, neither side able to close out the set until, at 27-27, J-D gained the serve and then won the set 29-27 to pull even.
Now having all the momentum, the Rams would inch out in front in the third set and hang on, 25-23, and in the fourth set the pattern repeated, J-D getting a narrow lead and getting all the crucial points at the end.
By a 25-21 margin, the Rams closed out the match and were sectional champions, having seen Cadence Milligan earn 33 assists and 10 digs, helped on the back line by Kanami LaClair (13 digs) and Sophia Zoghby (12 digs).
Up front, things were spread around as Merris Kessler, Clair Trevisani and Cella Kemmis had eight kills apiece and Aaliyah Anderson had seven kills, matching LaClair’s three aces. Kessler also got six blocks.
J-D earned this opportunity by claiming last Wednesday’s semifinal against no. 3 seed Central Square, also in four sets.
Both of the first two sets was close, the Rams taking the opener 25-23 and the Redhawks getting the second set 25-21. But then J-D rolled through the third set 25-11 and closed it out 25-19 in the fourth.
With her 34 assists, Milligan passed it to a well-balanced front line led by Catherine DeForest, who had nine kills. Anderson had eight kills, with Kessler and Zamora McBride each getting six kills and Trevisani four kills. LaClair had 10 digs and Zoghby added eight digs.
Up in Class AA, Fayetteville-Manlius had an opportunity to defend its sectional Class A title, only to fall in five sets to Liverpool in last Wednesday’s semifinal round.
The no. 2 seed Hornets delighted the home fans by winning the first set 25-20. The Warriors got even 25-16 in the second, and a crucial third set went back and forth before Liverpool claimed it 26-24.
Keeping itself alive, F-M won the fourth set 25-21, but never could get going in the final set, dropping it 15-9 as Liverpool was led by Lola Sageer’s 21 kills and 22 digs, with Addie Tanton adding 18 assists.
F-M, who finished its season at 13-3, saw Zoe Myint amass 53 assists and 18 digs as Oksana Dannenberg got 15 digs. Kaylene Nobel put away 21 kills, with Kalyna Dannenberg adding 17 kills and Rebekah Beasley 11 kills.
Meanwhile, in Class D last Tuesday Bishop Grimes, who had required its own five-set win over Bishop Ludden to reach the semifinals, saw its season ended by top seed LaFayette.
Each of the three sets followed a similar pattern, with the Lancers building a comfortable margin and the Cobras unable to catch up, ultimately taking a 25-17, 25-18, 25-18 defeat.
Avery Burnette led Grimes with seven kills, with Kayla Duenkel adding three kills and two aces. Tori Coppola had 11 assists and 12 digs as Tori Sikorski got 13 digs and Remy Cleland six digs. The Cobras finished its season with an 8-9 record.
