CENTRAL NEW YORK – All had gone so well for the West Genesee girls volleyball team that it could not wait to get into October and see if its magical run could continue.
Two big events – last Thursday’s match against unbeaten Fayetteville-Manlius and Saturday’s Fall Fling Tournament at Baldwinsville – would help determine how the Wildcats felt a month into the season.
That match at F-M would humble WG as it lost the first two sets 25-16 and 25-13. Nearly getting swept. The Wildcats would pull out the third 26-24 and battle in the fourth, too, only to see the Hornets close it out 25-22.
Moving on to the tournament at B’ville, WG reached the semifinals in the Gold Bracket, only to fall to the host Bees, who went on to beat Westhill in the finals.
Before all this, WG first had to endure surrendering a big lead to Cicero-North Syracuse before regrouping to beat the Northstars in five sets.
A C-NS side that was only 3-4 going into the match didn’t go away after WG took the first two sets by close 25-20 and 25-23 margins.
Instead, encouraged by the way it played in those sets, the Northstars dominated the third 25-12 and then, in a tense fourth set, pulled it out 25-23, only to have the Wildcats regroup in the final set and win by a 15-10 margin.
Sonya Dunham managed 19 assists and 16 digs, with Sidney Hamilton earning 15 assists and eight digs as Colleen Barry got 17 digs to go with her four assists.
Claire DeVore, with 16 kills, led WG’s front line. Ella Bickering got eight kills and 18 digs, with Alaina Dudzinski getting seven kills and five blocks, helped by Isabella Vallely (five
kills), Lillianna Iacampo (four kills) and Norah Emery (three kills) as Nadia Stojanovski earned three aces.
On C-NS’s side, Allison Navarra had 26 digs, Kendall Rumble 16 assists and Ellie Blumer 13 assists on the back line. Grace Murray got 11 kills, six digs and three aces,
Jordan-Elbridge continued to play well, too, moving to 9-2 on the season last Wednesday when it claimed a five-set thriller over Phoenix.
Having won the first set 25-18, the Eagles saw the Firebirds pull out the second set 26-24 and the third set 25-20. On the brink of defeat in the fourth, J-E hung close, then won that set 27-25 before dominating the final set 15-7.
Claire Brown (20 digs) and Kendra Anderson (13 digs) played terrific defense as Zoie Karcz earned 12 assists. Up front, Abby DelFavero led with nine kills, adding five aces as Brenna Tubbert had five kills and Ryleigh Gill four kills. Claire Brown, Makayla Penird and Brooke Chiaramonte joined Karcz and Anderson, each of them with three aces.
Before this, J-E turned back Syracuse Academy of Science 25-17, 25-13, 25-5, but after it beat Phoenix the Eagles were quieted Thursday in a 26-24, 25-22, 25-15 defeat to Living Word Academy, despite Chiaramonte’s six digs and six assists, plus five kills from DelFavero and five assists from Karcz.
Bishop Ludden ran into LaFayette last Monday and took a 25-21, 25-14, 25-23 defeat to the Class C sectional front-runners, who improved its record to 10-1.
Bridget Dunham produced nine kills and seven digs, with Jordynn Howard adding four kills as Ava Bush got nine assists and Grace Hilton five digs. Chylure Bucktooth’s 18 assists paced the Lancers.
Turning it around, Ludden swept Institute of Technology Central 25-17, 25-10, 25-15 on Wednesday night, helped in no small part by Tiz’Ariah Billue getting 10 aces and five kills. Howard added four kills.
Then, in four sets on Friday night, the Gaelic Knights beat Nottingham 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17. Howard managed six kills, with Natalie Testa and Sophia Rivera each getting six assists. Hilton managed nine digs and Dunham added eight digs.
