CENTRAL NEW YORK – For a trio of the area’s girls volleyball teams, league competition provided wildly varying results.
Bishop Ludden moved to 2-0 on the season last Monday by sweeping Corcoran 25-20, 25-10, 25-7, improving as the match went along. Sophia Rivera had five aces, with Natalie Testa earning six assists and Abby Reynolds six kills.
It was the first of three matches in five days, and Ludden proved just as good against Living Word Academy, taking just three sets to get a 25-18, 25-20, 25-14 victory over the Lions.
Rivera earned seven assists and Natalie Testa five assists. Tiz’Ariah Billue served up five aces as Jaylianna Pascarella got a team-best four kills ahead of three kills from Billue, Rivera and Abby Reynolds.
While those wins were impressive, what Ludden did Friday night, fending off a fierce comeback to beat Mexico in five sets, might prove as memorable as any match this season.
Each of the first two sets was competitive, but the Gaelic Knights won them by scores of 25-23 and 25-20. Fighting back, the Tigers were close to defeat twice, yet pulled out the third and fourth sets by equal 25-23 margins.
Yet in the final set it was Ludden seizing control and winning it 15-9, led by Rivera’s 17 assists and Testa’s 15 assists. Billue and Pascarella paced the front line with nine kills apiece, with Abby Mossotti joining Rivera on six kills and Billue earning seven aces. Grace Hilton’s 17 digs keyed the defensive effort.
Jordan-Elbridge, who was coming off a five-set defeat to Skaneateles on Sept. 6, would not spend as much time on the court in last Tuesday’s match against Hamilton.
The Eagles lost 25-13, 25-14, 25-21 to the Emerald Knights, who got six aces and 18 assists from Alivya Packer as Cameron Cleveland earned eight kills and 11 digs. Claire Brown (16 digs) and Isabella Jay (11 digs) led J-E’s defense, with Zoie Karcz recording four kills and six assists.
Quickly rebounding on Thursday night, J-E got a three-set sweep against Onondaga, putting away the Tigers by scores of 25-13, 25-14 and 25-15, the tone set by Karcz’s six aces and Sydney Parsons’ five aces.
Playing all three sets, Brianna Tubbert led the Eagles with six kills. Karcz got seven assists and Brooke Chiaramonte four assistsas Jay led the defense with nine digs, just ahead of Brown’s eight digs. Abby DelFavero and Madison Clochessy had five digs apiece.
West Genesee headed into Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division competition last Wednesday against visiting Liverpool, where it got swept by the Warriors 25-23, 25-14, 25-23.
The closeness of the first and third sets reflects a match tighter than the ultimate outcome. Isabella Vallely led the Wildcats’ front line with nine kills, while Eliana Becker got eight assists and Sidney Hamilton seven assists. Hollis Pfeiffer had 10 digs, with Maddie Cook getting seven digs, Lizzie Dunham six digs and Sophia Simiele five digs.
