ONONDAGA COUNTY – All season long, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls volleyball team worked with the knowledge that, regardless of its record, it would all come down to a single match on its home court against Cortland for the Section III Class A championship.
That pressure of a single match defining an entire season did not bother the Red Rams, though, as it zipped to a three-set victory over the Purple Tigers to claim the sectional banner again.
Quick out of the gate, J-D won the opening set 25-14. Cortland was much tougher in the next two sets, even taking brief leads in both of them, but still did not get too close to the Rams, who won 25-21 in the second and 25-20 in the third for the sweep.
Earning 29 assists, Cadence Milligan passed it to a trio up front led by Merris Kessler, who had 10 kills. Claire Trevisani got eight kills, with Aaliyah Anderson adding six kills. Alana Bates and Yeva Balayan each got three aces as Bates and Sophia Zoghby produced six digs apiece.
It was different for Fayetteville-Manlius in Class AA, with three sectional rounds through which it had to navigate, including last Wednesday’s semifinal against no. 3 seed Central Square.
The opening set was pivotal, with the Redhawks nearly getting in front, but the Hornets taking it 25-23 and then sprinting through the second set 25-11 before taking the third 25-20.
Back at full strength up front, F-M had Rebekah Beasley get 14 kills and Kalyna Dannenberg add nine kills. Malana Noble had four kills and five digs as Kathryn McNany got 11 digs, Beasley and Dannenberg with nine digs apiece. Ava Zerillo remained steady on the back line, earning 31 assists.
And it led to the final Saturday night against West Genesee, who needed four tough sets to get past Fulton in the other semifinal, but was quite ready here, taking the first set 25-22 and the second set 25-17.
F-M nearly extended things in the third set, but the Wildcats took it 25-23 and, by doing so, claimed the sectional title as F-M’s season ended with a 12-6 record.
Dannenberg led with 10 kills and Beasley got five kills, the pair joining McNany in picking up 13 digs as Noble had 11 digs and Zerillo finished with 20 assists.
Bishop Grimes, the no. 4 seed in Class D, challenged top seed Hamilton in last Monday’s semifinal round and lost in three sets to the Emerald Knights.
All match long, the Cobras found it difficult to string points together, ultimately taking a 25-13, 25-15, 25-7 defeat where Megan Crowell, with 15 assists, 11 digs and eight aces, led Hamilton, Colleen Kelly adding eight kills and 12 digs.
Kayla Duenkel earned seven kills for Grimes, with Ava Christodoulou adding 10 assists and six digs. Elizabeth Corl managed 15 digs and Chloe Dailey five digs as Saba Fasama had three kills. The Cobras’ season finished with a record of 8-12.
