CENTRAL NEW YORK – A season full of dramatic matches and plenty of emotion for the West Genesee girls volleyball team ultimately rode on one more showdown with Fayetteville-Manlius and the Section III Class AA championship on the line.
Having split two regular-season meetings, the Wildcats and Hornets fittingly played a close first set, but WG took it, 25-22, to gain the upper hand, and followed it up with an impressive 25-17 victory in the second set.
Only needing one more set for victory, the Wildcats battled through a close third set, but pulled it out 25-23 and, by doing so, brought the sectional title back to Camillus.
Sonya Dunham earned 14 assists and 14 digs. Cami Zajac led the defense with 19 digs, adding six kills and five assists as Celia Spicer had 11 digs and Colleen Barry 10 digs.
Claire DeVore’s 10 kills and Alaina Dudzinski’s eight blocks paced the front line, with Spicer earning five kills. Lillianna Iacampo and Isabella Vallely had four kills apiece, Iacampo contributing five blocks
Getting there wasn’t easy for WG, who battled with Fulton in last Wednesday’s sectional semifinal but pulled it out in four sets.
A 25-21 win in the opening sets was followed by Fulton rolling through the second 25-15 and then pushing the Wildcats hard in the third set before the hosts prevailed 25-22.
It was just as tough in the fourth set, WG nearly forced into a fifth-set scenario, but able to pull it out 25-23 led by Kami Zajac, who put together 18 digs, seven kills, five aces and four assists.
Claire DeVore had a team-best 14 kills, with Isabella Vallely getting five kills and three blocks. Sonya Dunham managed 17 assists and Sidney Hamilton 13 assists to go with seven digs. Colleen Barry contributed 11 digs.
Then there was Class C, where Jordan-Elbridge, who had steadily improved all season, nearly earned an historic sectional championship, only to get denied in last Friday’s final by LaFayette.
Swept twice by the Lancers in the regular season, the Eagles used three straight points late in the opening set to pull it out 27-25. The second set was just as close, J-E trailing 21-20 at one point but able to get in front and, after a couple of set points went wrong, win it 28-26.
Trailing 18-12 in the third set, the Eagles came back, went up 22-21 and, at 24-24, were just two points from the title. But LaFayette took that set 26-24, and when the same thing happened in the fourth set the Lancers again won by that margin.
Getting so close broke J-E as, in the fifth-set race to 15, LaFayette rolled 15-5, the Eagles denied despite some great performances, such as Zoie Karcz’s 14 assists and 22 digs.
Kendra Anderson had 20 digs, with Claire Brown adding 10 digs. Brooke Chiaramonte and Makayla Penird had eight digs apiece, Chiaramonte adding seven assists as Sydney Parson and Abby DelFavero had seven kills apiece, Ryleigh Gill adding six kills and three blocks.
Before all this, J-E topped Cato-Meridian in three sets 25-17, 25-14, 25-18 in the semifinal round as Parsons put away 10 kills and added three digs, with DelFavero getting four kills and two blocks.
Karcz managed 13 assists and two aces, Penird getting three aces to go with 12 digs and three kills. Brown contributed 10 digs and Chiaramonte had seven assists, Gill getting three kills
Bishop Ludden had the no. 3 seed in Class D, but when it challenged no. 2 seed Living Word Academy in last Monday’s semifinal round, it lost to the Lions in three sets.
The 25-17, 25-13, 25-19 saw the Gaelic Knights never really get close to scaring LWA. Sophia Rivera had nine assists and Natalie Testa six assists as Ava Bush and Sarah Prowak both got four kills.
Abigail Mossotti and Jaylianna Pascarella had three kills apiece, with Grace Hilton earning nine digs.Grace Plewak (18 kills), Alexa Sleight (26 assists) and Emma Snyder (19 digs) led LWA into the sectional final, where it fell to top seed Hamilton in a five-set classic.
