CENTRAL NEW YORK – Amid a busy stretch and just before hosting its own invitational tournament last weekend, the Marcellus girls volleyball team had to deal with the departure of head coach Joe Schettine.
Saying that it was in the program’s best interests that he step down, Schettine stepped away after a five-year tenure which included a 2021 Section III and regional Class B championship and a 26-match win streak.
This fall the Mustangs were 2-5 before starting to stir with three consecutive victories to reach the .500 mark, including last Monday’s 25-14, 25-7, 25-17 sweep of Cortland as Meghan O’Brien and Lauren Young handled coaching duties.
Maddy Foy had seven aces and Chloe Kuttruff six aces against the Purple Tigers as Kuttruff produced 34 assists. Foy had a team-best 11 kills, helped by Harper Camp (eight kills), Lake Ziober (seven kills) and Dorothy McMahon (six kills).
Even more impressive was the battle Marcellus waged on Wednesday night against Cazenovia, a five-set epic.
Having won the opener 25-16, the Mustangs found itself in two long sets with the Lakers, dropping the second 31-29 but emerging with the third 30-28. Even after the Lakers won the fourth 25-22, Marcellus outlasted Cazenovia 15-9 in the final-set race to 15 points.
Westhill kept rolling, meanwhile. Against a Homer team Marcellus beat the week before, the Warriors prevailed in three sets 25-20, 25-17, 25-15, its 10th sweep of the season.
Sophia Johnson’s 35 assists went to a front line led by Eva Tarolli and her 15 kills. Ava Baty had nine kills, with Jocelyn Caputo and Lottie Bruzdzinski earning five kills apiece. Alice Bender (12 digs) and Sydney Medeiros (eight digs) led on the defensive side.
Then Westhill put away Skaneateles 25-8, 25-10, 25-17 on Wednesday night. Caputo’s five aces set the tone for a match where Tarolli gained 12 kills and Baty had 10 kills. Emma West added four kills as Johnson finished with 18 assists and Sisack 11 assists, Bender accumulating 21 digs.
At 3-8 going into the week, Skaneateles earned one of its best wins of the season last Monday against 7-3 Phoenix, taking the first 25-21 and, after dropping the second 25-17, earning all the close points in the third set 25-23 and fourth set 27-25 to beat the Firebirds.
Finn Pas’cal had nine kills and 12 digs, with Hannah Ruetsch earning six kills, four aces and 14 digs. Maddie Mayer added five kills as Delaney Fish recorded 27 assists and three aces. Madi Rossi (11 digs), Natalie Quinn (nine digs) and Celia Rogers (seven digs) also stood out on the defensive side.
Far tougher was Thursday’s match with Weedsport where, after winning the first two sets 25-23 and 25-18, the Lakers saw Weedsport pull out the third set 25-23 and fourth 25-21 before a tense final set went 15-12 in Skaneateles’ favor.
Solvay lost in four sets last Monday to Cazenovia 25-15, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20. Defensively, Jenna Wing earned 26 digs, Hannah Cintron adding 17 digs and Gianna D’Eredita 15 digs as Cintron also got seven kills, 11 assists and four aces. Emma Rutkowski had seven kills and Samantha Sacco earned eight digs.
Then the Bearcats took a 25-12, 27-25, 25-21 defeat to Homer on Wednesday night, not quite able to turn the match around in the second despite 25 digs from D’Eredita, 12 digs from Cintron and 13 digs from Ciara Togni. Cintron and Riley Gosha each got six assists and Victoria Zappala had five kills. Sacco gained nine digs.
In Thursday night’s 26-24, 25-12 25-22 loss to Phoenix, Solvay was close in the first and third sets as D’Eredita earned 28 digs and Cintron got 17 digs to go with nine assists. Rutkowski and Zappala led the team with five kills apiece.
