CENTRAL NEW YORK – A mid-season coaching change did not keep the Marcellus girls volleyball team from putting together a four-match win streak that climbed the Mustangs above the .500 mark.
However, getting up to the level of Westhill was quite another matter, evidenced by the Warriors’ 25-14, 25-21, 25-16 win over the Mustangs in Tuesday’s action.
With her 35 assists, Sophia Johnson passed it to a well-balanced front line led by 12 kills apiece from Eva Tarolli and Ava Baty. Emma West’s nine kills was her best showing all season and Jocelyn Caputo gained seven kills, with Alice Bender dominating on defense thanks to her 19 digs and Baty adding eight digs.
Again, though, when Westhill went up against a large-school power, the result proved different, Liverpool on Thursday echoing what Baldwinsville accomplished a month earlier and sweeping this Warrior clash.
Liverpool took it by scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19, gradually imposing its will and overcoming 11 kills from Tarolli and 10 kills from Baty. Johnson earned 25 assists and Bender contributed 15 digs.
Westhill recovered Saturday to sweep Indian River 25-14, 25-19, 25-14. Johnson’s 32 assists and five aces, plus Bender’s 24 digs, served as a back-line anchor, with Baty earning 13 kills, Tarolli nine kills and West seven kills. Eva Militi added four aces.
Skaneateles has gone through plenty of struggles this season, but it gained a satisfying amount of payback Wednesday when it won its latest Laker duel with Cazenovia in five sets.
Having lost at Buckley Gym when these two teams met Sept. 16, Skaneateles split a pair of tight sets at the outset of the rematch, winning the opener 25-23 and dropping second 26-24.
Then it romped 25-8 through the third set, though Cazenovia recovered enough to take the fourth 25-19 before a final-set race to 15 where Skaneateles quickly took charge and then won it 15-6.
Delaney Fish had 35 assists to go with 12 digs. Quinn Reilley added 13 digs, with Finn Pas’cal getting 11 kills and 14 digs ahead of Hannah Ruetsch’s nine kills and 15 digs. Natalie Quinn managed seven kills, eight digs and four aces, with Maddie Mayer and Piper McAllister earning eight kills apiece.
Solvay handled Nottingham 25-10, 25-12, 25-22 Tuesday night, with Hannah Cintron earning 12 assists and Riley Gosha six assists. Up front, Ciara Togni got six kills as Emma Rutkowski and Ashlyn Smorol earned five kills apiece. Gianna D’Eredita gained 11 digs and Rachel Willsey had eight digs.
Another win followed Thursday night, this time with the Bearcats turning back Cortland 25-20 in each of the first two sets and 25-16 in the third with Cintron serving up seven aces to go with 12 assists and six digs.
Rutkowski, Togni and Victoria Zappala led Solvay up front, each of them recording five kills. Willsey added four kills, while Togni had a team-best 10 digs and tacked on three aces.
