SYRACUSE – Even with the way it played down the stretch and the impressive poise it showed beating Phoenix in the opening round of the Section III Class B playoffs the Cazenovia girls volleyball team always knew the standard it had to meet.
It was a standard established in recent years by Westhill that’s included sectional and state titles and plenty of state final four appearance in Glens Falls – which it had in 2023 getting all the way to the championship match.
Little seemed different in 2024, as least when measured by Cazenovia’s match with the Warriors in Wednesday’s Section III Class B semifinal, the Lakers again on the wrong end of a three-set decision.
The first set was a 25-8 romp on Westhill’s part, and the second set nearly similar at 25-12. Only in the third set did Cazenovia string together enough point to extend the contest a bit longer.
Still, the Warriors closed it out 25-16, overcoming another double-double from Lucy Bliss that included 14 assists and 11 digs.
Olivia Pirkl earned 10 digs to go with her team-best seven kills. Alyssa Wardell managed four kills and three blocks, with Caitee Fenton adding five digs and Elizabeth Enigk adding four digs.
Westhill won with eight aces from Ava Baty to go with five kills as Sophia Johnson dished out 21 assists. Alice Bender got 12 digs and shared team honors with Eva Tarolli who earned nine kills apiece as Emma West got six kills.
All of this followed the Nov. 1 sectional quarterfinal four-set win over Phoenix where defense was the main reason for this win, starting with 19 digs from Bliss and continuing with 16 digs from Pirkl and 14 digs from McKenzie Warman asFenton earned nine digs, Jocelyn Szalach got seven digs and McKenna Weismore had six digs.
Most of the 22 assists Bliss recorded went to Pirkl, who earned 10 kills, and Wardell, who had eight kills and five blocks. Szalach and Sofie Reger had three kills apiece, with Fenton and Weismore each earning three aces.
This would prove to be Cazenovia’s last win in an 11-7 season. Five seniors graduate, including Bliss, Reger, Szalach, Warman and Olivia Ruddy. Top players returning in 2025 include Pirkl, Wardell, Fenton, Weismore and Sophia Wilmot.
