CENTRAL NEW YORK – A trio of Section III girls volleyball championships were possible for area teams at Phoenix this weekend, and they nearly won them all.
Satisfaction, in particular, was gained by Fayetteville-Manlius, who got payback in its sectional Class AA final against West Genesee, who beat them in the 2023 title match.
Having topped the Wildcats in four sets in both regular-season meetings, the Hornets didn’t need that long in the sectional final, establishing the tone with a 25-13 first set and then closing out WG 25-15 and 25-18 in the next two sets.
No one could stop Kalyna Dannenberg, who between her 16 kills and 15 assists offered leadership as Olivia Tom added nine kills and Malana Noble seven kills. Kara Evans added eight kills, with Lailah Duggal earning 28 assists.
As WG was sweeping Central Square in one semifinal F-M was breezing through Oswego 25-9 and 25-10 in its first two sets before letting up a bit in the third, falling 25-23 before another 25-10 romp in the fourth set.
Duggal managed 25 assists and Larah Schepp had 16 digs. Dannenberg put it all together earning 16 kills and 13 digs, Olivia Tom adding nine kills as Noble and Evans had four kills apiece.
Jamesville-DeWitt faced just a three-team field in Class A and beat the other two, capping it by sweeping top seed Indian River in the championship match for its third consecutive sectional crown.
Far more exciting was last Tuesday’s semifinal against no. 3 seed Fulton, a match where, after winning the opener 25-16, the Rams got into trouble when the Red Dragons got its own 25-16 victory in the second and then claimed the third 25-20.
But J-D dominated the fourth set 25-15 and, in a tense final set, did just enough to knock out Fulton 15-13 led by Alana Bates’ eight aces and 14 digs along with 19 digs from Hannah Trevisani.
Yeva Balayan (15 assists) and Lacey Phaneuf (10 assists) fed passes to a deep front line where Merris Kessler led with 11 kills. Aaliyah Anderson had eight kills and eight digs, with Ellyana Deng adding seven kills and Lyla Commandeur five kills.
Compared to that, Indian River fell quickly in the final, the match going 25-19 in the first and third sets and 25-12 in the second. Bates set the tone with six aces to go with 13 digs as Kessler had four aces, five blocks and four kills and Trevisani also got 13 digs.
Bishop Grimes would face LaFayette in the Class D final and get agonizingly close to a championship before the Lancers rallied and prevailed in five sets.
Strong at the outset, the Cobras won the opening set 25-17. Even after the Lancers jumped out 6-0 in the second set, Grimes roared back, took the lead and then held on 25-23 to move within a set of the championship.
Then came the third set. Facing three set points down 24-21, the Cobras put up four points in a row, earning itself a match point – but LaFayette fended it off, took the lead with a long rally and with a Chylure Bucktooth ace took that set 27-25.
Stunned by this, Grimes saw the Lancers get away in the fourth set 25-13, so it was now one set for the title, which proved a microcosm of the entire match.
The Cobras built an 8-4 advantage. When they changed ends, though, LaFayette caught up, and at the decisive moment two long rallies were both won by the Lancers as it took the title 15-13.
All this happened after Grimes got through Tuesday’s semifinal match with no. 4 seed Bishop Ludden in four sets.
They split the first two sets, with the Cobras winning 25-20 before losing the second 25-19. From there, though, it was all Grimes blasting through the third set 25-13 and taking the fourth 25-19.
Kayla Duenkel amassed 19 kills and Riley Abernethy was close behind earning 17 kills. Olivia Vitale added five kills as Ava Christodoulou dominated on the back line thanks to her 27 assists and 10 digs. Isabella Coppola added seven digs.
LaFayette survived five sets with Hamilton in the other semifinal, perhaps steeling itself for what it would do against Grimes later in the week.
Both F-M and J-D will play in regional finals next weekend, each of them looking to advance to the Nov. 22-24 state final four at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
