ONONDAGA COUNTY – A steady flurry of regular-season activity finally halted and area girls volleyball teams regrouped before they would tackle the Section III playoffs in multiple brackets.
Defending the Class B title, Westhill is favored again, as it showed Wednesday by beating Mexico 25-4 in the first and third sets and 25-11 in the second.
Alice Bender served up a career-best nine aces, Sophia Johnson adding five aces and Allison Lancette four aces. Sofia Dimovski led with six kills, Eva Tarolli and Brynn Schneider getting five kills apiece. Johnson had 17 assists.
Stepping up to face Class AAA power Baldwinsville on Thursday night, Westhill could not overcome 25-21 and 25-13 defeats in the first two sets, taking the third 25-19 but losing a close fourth set 25-22.
Johnson earned 24 assists and eight digs, with Bender adding 14 digs and Eva Militi 10 digs. Up front, Tarollli got 11 kills and Lancette added eight kills.
Skaneateles is expected to be Westhill’s main challenger, and began last week by putting together a sweep of Solvay, the first set close but the Lakers gradually taking over to win 25-23, 25-19, 25-10.
Maggie Lootens (six kills), Ayla Pas’cal (five kills) and Ellie Walsh (four kills) led the Skaneateles back line, Pas’cal adding four blocks as Alyssa Francemone got 11 assists, Cydney Pitman nine assists and Delaney Fish eight assists.
Solvay, in defeat, got six aces, nine digs and three kills from Rachel Willsey, with Hannah Haase getting 10 digs as Emma Rutkowski earned seven kills and Hannah Cintron added five assists.
Marcellus followed up its Oct. 14 tournament with tough home matches, including Monday’s 25-17, 25-23, 26-24 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse. Bryn Goldsworthy had five kills and 14 digs, with Hannah Fagan adding 12 digs, Mary Curtin getting 10 assists and Ellie DeMarle earning four kills.
Rebounding on Wednesday night as Skaneateles swept Phoenix 25-20, 25-7, 25-19, Marcellus met Cazenovia and lost the opening set 25-17 before controlling the next two sets 25-11 and 25-15.
And even when Cazenovia dominated the fourth set 25-7, the Mustangs won a 15-11 final set as Curtin got 20 asssits and Chloe Kuttruff 10 assists. DeMarle had 10 kills and four blocks, Goldsworthy and Harper Camp each earning seven kills as Goldsworthy earned 14 digs, Fagan 15 digs and Camp 10 digs.
In the Skaneateles sweep of Phoenix, Fish and Pitman both earned 13 assists, with Lootens earning 10 kills and Pas’cal getting seven kills. Lootens also had four aces.
With no time to rest following the battle with Cazenovia, Marcellus went out and swept Solvay 25-14, 25-15, 25-14 on Thursday night.
Curtin, with her 15 assists, passed it to Goldsworthy, who had five kills, along with DeMarle, Camp and Maddy Foy, who had four kills apiece. Kutruff added six assists and Fagan got six digs. Cintron gave the Bearcats six assists and three aces as D’Eredita had eight digs and Rutkowski had three kills.
Eight teams were in the sectional Class B bracket. Westhill, as the top seed, faces Syracuse ITC in Friday night’s quarterfinal round, just as no. 2 seed Skaneateles meets no. 7 seed Solvay and Marcellus, the no. 3 seed, hosts no. 6 seed Phoenix. Semifinals are Nov.1 , with the final Nov. 4 at Jamesville-DeWitt.
