If they were successful on Saturday afternoon, the Westhill and Skaneateles girls volleyball teams would make their way to Glens Falls to chase state championships this weekend.
Westhill, in particular, knew the trail, having won back-to-back state Class B titles in 2018 and 2019, and wanted to repeat that run.
The first part proved easy enough. Playing on its home floor last Wednesday night, the Warriors easily turned back Section X champion Malone 25-3, 25-5, 25-18.
Janiah Robinson led the front line with nine kills and two blocks. Alison Lancette had seven kills, with Eva Tarolli getting four kills.
On the back line, Ava Baty managed 21 assists, matching Sydney Medeiros in serving up three aces as Tori Militi got 21 digs. Hannah Schmitz and Emmie Sistack had two aces apiece.
This led to Saturday’s regional final at Fayetteville-Manlius between Westhill and Section II’s Ichabod Crane, which would again prove a showcase for the Warriors as, with a three-set sweep of the Riders, it earned its berth in the state final four.
Though it led most of the first set, Westhill saw Crane tie it, 15-15, leading to a time-out. Then the Warriors rattled off seven straight points, most of them on Joclyn Caputo’s serve, and went on to win the set 25-20.
A close early second set broke open when Westhill put together an 11-1 spurt to get away from the Riders. Even though four set points were required, by a 25-19 margin the Warriors padded its lead.
Then it ended quickly, Westhill starting the third set 10-2 and then rattling off eight straight points near the end on the way to a 25-10 sweep and a state final four berth.
Baty, with her 34 assists, fed it to Robinson, who got 13 kills and four blocks. Lancette had eight kills and Tarolli seven kills as Sofia Domovski and Brynn Schneider got four kills apiece. Militi earned 14 digs and Medeiros eight digs.
Skaneateles, on the other hand, only had one regional match to worry about, but had to travel Saturday to Owego to face Section IV’s Lansing in its regional final and was overwhelmed by the Bobcats.
The two sides traded points early, and it was 6-6 in the opening set before Lansing started to pull clear, using a series of mini-runs to eventually establish a 25-16 winning margin.
Now with the momentum, the Bobcats rolled through the second set 25-12, and despite an all-out effort, the Lakers could not turn it around in the third set, the season ending with another 25-16 decision.
Ending with an overall record of 17-3, the Lakers have nine seniors graduating, a group that includes Kate Raddant, Katie Combs, Maddy Bender and Bella Shoenborn, but still has Ayla Pas’cal and Alice Bender back for 2023.
Next weekend at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, Westhill joins Hendrick Hudson, Wayne and Seaford in pursuit of the state title. Six sets of round-robin play begin Saturday at 3 p.m., with the two best records advancing to a best-of-five final Sunday at 2 p.m.
