Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Saint Francis 35; California Baptist 10; Southern California 6

Three teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of three combined points.

Next Poll: January 9

Leah Meyer Named AVCA All-Region
By Duke - Sports Information
Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Four Blue Devils Tabbed AVCA All-Region
December 7, 2016

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke senior libero Sasha Karelov, sophomore middle blocker Leah Meyer and senior middle blocker Jordan Tucker earned AVCA All-East Coast Region honors while freshman setter Cindy Marina was tabbed honorable mention as announced by the organization Tuesday.

Tucker makes her second straight appearance on the all-region squad. Karelov, an honorable mention pick in 2014 and 2015, and Meyer both earned their first all-region nods.

Duke’s starting libero each of the past three seasons, Karelov once again anchored the Blue Devil back row in 2016, leading the conference with 634 digs and a 5.42 digs-per-set average. The Raleigh, N.C., native picked up 20-plus digs on 15 occasions, including a program-record 44 digs Sept. 30 at Notre Dame.

Karelov finished her collegiate career with 2,023 to become the third Blue Devil in program history with 2,000 career digs, joining Ali McCurdy (2,538) and Jenny Shull (2,200). In addition, her career 4.52 digs-per-set average ranks fourth all-time at Duke.

A dominant presence for Duke in the middle, Tucker ended the season with career bests in kills (387), kills per set (3.31) and hitting percentage (.358). She knocked down 10 or more kills 24 times and topped .300 hitting on 18 occasions in 2016. Tucker finished the season ranked third in the ACC in hitting percentage and was the only middle blocker ranked in the top 10 in the league in kills per frame and points (456.0).

For her career, Tucker ranks 14th in program history in kills (1,186), fifth in hitting percentage (.319) and eighth in blocks (401). She is the ninth Blue Devil to surpass 400 career blocks and is one of sixth Duke players all-time to top 1,000 career kills and 400 blocks while hitting above .300 for a career.

Meyer was also a tremendous force for Duke, totaling 316 kills while posting a .333 hitting percentage and 1.31 blocks per set in 2016. She finishes the season ranked seventh in the ACC in hitting percentage (.333) and sixth in blocks per frame (1.31). Meyer dropped double-digit kills 19 times this season, including a career-best 21 Nov. 18 versus Florida State. She also recorded the first double-double by a Duke middle blocker since 2012, totaling 12 kills and 11 blocks Sept. 24 at Virginia.

For her career to date, Meyer ranks fourth in Duke history with a 1.18 blocks per set average and sixth in hitting percentage (.316).

Marina played in every set as a freshman running Duke’s 5-1 system. She leads the league in assists per frame (11.11) and is the only ACC setter to average better than 11.00 assists per set. She topped 40 assists in 17 games and also led the Blue Devils with 27 service aces. Marina was exceptional on defense as well, trailing only Karelov in total digs (313) and digs per set (2.68), to total a team-best 17 double-doubles.

The Blue Devils finished the 2016 campaign tied for third in the ACC standings with a 15-5 league mark and 21-9 overall record. Duke reached 20 wins for the 27th time in program history and 10th time in the past 12 seasons.

Volleyball Ends Historic Season In The East Region Finals
No. 2 Wildcats Fall To No. 4 American International In A 5-Set Battle
Lea Sobieraski, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant, daemenwildcats.com
Sunday, December 4, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen College women's volleyball team saw their history-making season come to an end in the NCAA Division II East Region Finals tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium. The No. 2 seeded Wildcats fell to the fourth-seeded American International College in an epic five-set battle. After trailing two-sets to none, the Wildcats came-from-behind to force a fifth and final set (21-25, 15-25, 28-26, 25-20).

AIC, a member of the NE-10 conference, advances to the NCAA Tournament Elite 8 which is slated for Dec. 8-10 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Yellow Jackets improve to 28-6 overall.

Four players reached double-figure kills in the loss. Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures) each registered a team-high 12 kills, while Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield) recorded 11 and 10 kills respectively.

Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) posted her 18th double-double to end a phenomenal rookie debut, she tallied 50 assists and 13 digs in today's defeat. Amber Drzymala registered a team-high 20 digs, her second 20-dig performance of the year. Her sister Ashley added 15 digs and first year-libero Jess Kranz (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) posted 13 digs. 

The Yellow Jackets were led by Jana Potic (Belgrade, Serbia), Lauren Pires (Dartmouth, Mass.), and Diva Rivas (Tucson, Ariz.), the trio totaled 43 of the team's 61 total kills. Defensively, Mercy Rivera (Canovanas, P.R.) had a match-high 30 digs and added 12 assists. Dolores Kopren (Novi Sad, Serbia) dished out 42 helpers in the victory.

In the opening set of the East Region Finals, the teams traded points early, finding themselves tied 6-6. Apostol nailed down a kill from the middle to take a two-point lead over the Yellow Jackets. American International evened the set 13-13, taking advantage of Wildcat errors. The two teams tied on four more occasions before AIC scored consecutive points to take the 19-17 lead, forcing Daemen to call a timeout. The Yellow Jackets continued their run, scoring three more points, to increase their edge 22-17. The five-score burst featured two kills from Potic. Daemen would battle to get within three but it was not enough to catch the Yellow Jackets who came away with the 25-21 victory. AIC registered 16 kills in the opening set.

The two squads continued back-and-forth action in the second with the score knotted 6-6. AIC went on a four-point spurt on the serve of Boele to take a 10-7 lead. Amber Drzymala powered down a kill from the back row to put the Wildcats within two 13-11, but the Yellow Jackets forced a Daemen timeout after rattling off four unanswered points (16-11). American International continued their dominance, scoring another six-straight for an 11-point lead 22-11. Daemen used three Yellow Jacket mistakes and a kill from Rachel Stephenson to narrow the deficit 23-15, but it wasn't enough to halt AIC who cruised to a 25-15 win. 

Kills from the Drzymala duo and Apostol pushed the Wildcats to a 5-3 advantage to break open the third set. Scanlan pounded down a kill from the right side to grow the Daemen led 9-5, however AIC used a four-point run to level the score 9-9. After trailing 14-11, the Yellow Jackets capitalized on a Daemen service error followed by a kill from Boele to pull within one 14-13. The Wildcats used a 5-2 run, capped by a service ace from Ashley Drzymala to cultivate their lead 19-15. Back-to-back kills by Courtney Scanlan (Ellicotville, N.Y./Stony Brook) forced AIC to call a timeout after lagging 21-16. The Yellow Jackets responded with a four-point run of their own on the serve of Kopren Dolores, evening the score 21-21. The two continued to battle with the set tied 25-25. The Wildcats outplayed the Yellow Jackets to stay alive, winning the set 28-26. Dolegowski ended the set with a service ace.

The fourth set continued in similar fashion, with both teams fighting hard to come away on top. AIC jumped out to a 7-4 advantage, ignited by a kill from Boele and service ace from Rivera. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Wildcats 7-5 growing their lead 14-9. Daemen answered back, putting together a 6-1 burst to even the set 15-15. The run featured kills from Apostol and Ashley Drzymala capped by a huge block from the pair. The Wildcats roared to a three-point advantage on another monstrous block from Ashley Drzymala and Courtney Bernard (19-16). AIC called a timeout after two consecutive errors resulted in a 23-19 margin in favor of Daemen. Amber Drzymala hammered home a kill to win the set 25-20, forcing a winner-takes-all fifth set.

In the final set AIC jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead driving Daemen to call a timeout. Ashley Drzymala and Cristina Apostol continued to be a force up front, blocking down a ball to lessen the gap 5-4. A four-point spout from the Yellow Jackets widened the AIC advantage 9-4. American continued to build their lead on the serve of Mercy Rivera, who served eight straight before Daemen was able to catch a break (13-5). AIC prevailed in the end, winning the set and match 15-9, to move onto the round of eight.

Bernard, a sophomore middle-blocker, and Scanlan, a redshirt-sophomore outside hitter, were both named to the All-Tournament Team for their performances over the last three matches. Bernard recorded double-digit kills in all three matches, totaling 34 in 11 sets, for an impressive .445 hitting percentage. Scanlan posted a double-double performance against Post with 12 kills and 13 digs. Against New Haven and American International she totaled 13 kills and 13 digs.

Daemen finished the 2016 campaign as the ECC Regular Season Champions, the ECC Tournament Runner Up, and the East Region Runner Up. The Wildcats finished the year 25-8 overall, the ninth time in team history Daemen has reached 25 wins in a season, and the first time since going 27-10 in 2012. The Wildcats became the first Daemen team in any sport to qualify for a national tournament at the NCAA Division II level. The Wildcats will be saying good-bye to seniors Amber Drzymala and Alicia Contreras (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia).

Amber Drzymala will go down as one of the greatest all-around players to step onto the court at Daemen. The outside hitter was named to the All-ECC First Team as well as the American Volleyball Coaches All-East Region Team. She became just the third player in team history to reach 1000 kills and 1000 digs in her career. Amber posted a career-best 379 kills this season, while also leading the team in digs with 375. She finishes eighth in women's volleyball history in total kills with 1048, and finished her career with 1197 digs.

The future looks bright for the Coach Albano and the Wildcats, as they will welcome back the 2016 ECC Player of the Year Ashley Drzymala, and the 2016 ECC Co-Rookie of the Year Bailey Dolegowski. Drzymala was also named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-East Region Team and the All-ECC First Team. Dolegowski was named AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year, as well as to the Honorable Mention All-East Region Team. Ashley finished the year with a career-high 434 kills, which ranks fourth in women's volleyball history for total kills in a single season. Dolegowski finished her freshman campaign with 1202 assists, which ranks fifth in women's volleyball history for total assists in a single season. 

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

2016 NCAA Division II East Region Championship (at Lumsden Gymnasium, Daemen College)
Thursday, December 1
12:00 PM No. 4 American International defeats No. 5 Le Moyne (3-0)
2:30 PM No. 1 N.Y. Institute of Technology defeats No. 8 Adelphi (3-1)
5:00 PM No. 3 New Haven defeats No. 6 Philadelphia (3-2)
7:30 PM No. 2 Daemen defeats No. 7 Post (3-2)

Friday, December 2
5:00 PM Semifinal #1 - No. 1 NYIT vs. No. 4 American International (3-1)
7:30 PM Semifinal #2 - No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 3 New Haven (3-0)

Saturday, December 3
5:00 PM Regional Finals - No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 4 American International (3-2)

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
NAME SCHOOL
Kendall Corcoran Le Moyne
Skylar German Post
Courtney Wensel Philadelphia
Melissa Rigo Adelphi
Rachel Guida NYIT
Allison Fowler NYIT
Meghan Kennelly New Haven
Courtney Bernard Daemen
Courtney Scanlan Daemen
Lauren Pires AIC
Diva Rivas AIC
Dolores Kopren AIC

Daemen women's volleyball exits NCAA tournament
Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, December 3, 2016

Daemen College’s women’s volleyball team just missed on earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats dropped a five-set decision to American International in the East Regionals on Daemen’s home floor.

Daemen showed plenty of heart in extending the match to the full distance after losing the first two sets. But the Yellow Jackets, the fourth seed, took the match by scores of 25-21, 25-15, 26-28, 20-25, and 15-0.

Ashley Drzymala and Christina Apostol had 12 kills each for the second-seeded Wildcats, while Amber Drzymala added 11 kills and 20 digs.

American International is off to the Elite Eight, which will be held next week in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Daemen Moves On To Regional Finals
Wildcats Dispatch Of New Haven In Second Round, Will Play For Chance To Advance To Elite 8
Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications, daemenwildcats.com
Saturday, December 3, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's volleyball team will play for the East Region championship after defeating the University of New Haven three-sets-to-none (26-24, 26-24, 25-12) in tonight's NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship second round match at Lumsden Gymnasium. Second-seeded Daemen will face fourth-seeded American International College (Saturday, Dec. 3 at 5 p.m.) for the right to advance to the Elite 8 which is slated for December 8-10 in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Daemen, which is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, improved to 25-7 on the season with the win (11-5 at home). It marks the ninth time in team history that Daemen has reached 25 wins in a season, and the first time since going 27-10 in 2012.

New Haven, the No. 3 seed in the East Regional, was bounced out short of the regional finals for the second straight year after winning the regional title in 2014. The Chargers were making their 31st NCAA tournament appearance all-time, including the last 11 straight. The loss snapped their six-match winning streak which included a run to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament crown, ending their season at 20-9 overall.

Outside hitters Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), and middle hitter Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield Union) combined for 29 of the Wildcats' 44 kills in the match. The Wildcats hit 25.6 percent for the match, up from just 13.7 percent in yesterday's five-set win over No. 7 Post University in the opening round. Amber Drzymala notched a match-high 11 kills, and Bernard reached double figures for the second straight match with 10. Ashley Drzymala chipped in with eight kills, all of which came after the first set, to go with eight digs.

Freshman setter Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) posted her 17th double-double (29 assists, 10 digs) of the season. Of those, 12 have come in the Wildcats' last 13 matches.

The Wildcats also picked up 12 digs from freshman Jess Kranz (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) who got the nod as the team's libero today.

UNH, which hit just 14.9 percent with 36 kills, was led by junior outside hitter Caroline Martins (Tres Pontas, Brazil) with 10 kills. The Chargers also got eight kills from senior outside hitter Meghan Kennelly (Detroit, Mich.) who came into the match as the team's offensive leader, pacing a group of five players who have totaled between 209 and 274 kills this season. Kennelly added a team-high 12 digs tonight as well.

Annika Hacker (Bayreuth, Germany) and Kristine Rios (Miami, Fla.) contributed 15 and 13 assists, respectively, to the Charger cause.

Daemen, which trailed by as many as 12 points in the first set last night vs. Post, got off to a decidedly better start today as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the opening set. Amber Drzymala, Bernard and freshman Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures) each put down two kills in the spurt.

But, UNH would battle back. They seized control in the set with an 11-1 run to take a 14-11 lead. The Charger lead would eventually grow to four (24-20) before Daemen rattled off six consecutive points to win the set. Four UNH attack errors aided the Daemen efforts.

Late in the second set, Kennelly knotted the score at 24-24 with a kill, but Daemen closed the set with consecutive points, including an Amber Drzymala kill, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

With a crowd of over 300 behind them, the Wildcats scored the first six points of the third set which included a pair of Dolegowski service aces. Daemen would run their lead to as many as 14 points (17-3) as the wheels came off for the Chargers.

The Wildcats closed the set and the match on a kill by freshman Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden), and the team rushed off the bench to celebrate on the court, setting up a showdown with the AIC Yellow Jackets in tomorrow's East Region finals. The Yellow Jackets (27-6), who finished second during the regular season in the Northeast-10, advanced by knocking off top-seeded N.Y. Institute of Technology, the ECC Tournament and defending East Region champs, in four sets (21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17) to become the first lower seeded team to advance in this regional.

Diva Rivas-Reyes, the NE-10 Player of the Year, led a balanced AIC attack with 16 kills, and Dolores Kopren (Novi Sad, Serbia) notched 49 assists in the win.

The Yellow Jackets are also seeking their first-ever East Region championship in this, just their second-ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats and Yellow Jackets last met on September 21, 2013 with Daemen scoring a 3-0 win behind the 14 kills of Ye Wang (Beijing, China/Hachioji Jissen).

Saturday's regional final is slated for a 5 p.m. start at Lumsden Gymnasium.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.


2016 NCAA Division II East Region Championship (at Lumsden Gymnasium, Daemen College)
Thursday, December 1
12:00 PM No. 4 American International defeats No. 5 Le Moyne (3-0)
2:30 PM No. 1 N.Y. Institute of Technology defeats No. 8 Adelphi (3-1)
5:00 PM No. 3 New Haven defeats No. 6 Philadelphia (3-2)
7:30 PM No. 2 Daemen defeats No. 7 Post (3-2)

Friday, December 2
5:00 PM Semifinal #1 - No. 1 NYIT vs. No. 4 American International (3-1)
7:30 PM Semifinal #2 - No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 3 New Haven (3-0)

Saturday, December 3
5:00 PM Regional Finals - No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 4 American International

Survive & Advance: Wildcats Rally Past Eagles In NCAA Tourney Debut
Daemen Moves On To Second Round; Will Face Third-Seeded New Haven
Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications, daemenwildcats.com
Friday, December 2, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. - A raucous Lumsden Gymnasium crowd got their monies worth tonight as Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures) and Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield Union) combined for 30 kills out of the middle to lead Daemen College to a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory (17-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 15-12) over Post University in the opening round of the East Regional portion of the 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship. With the win, second-seeded Daemen moves on to tomorrow's second round where they'll face third-seeded University of New Haven.

Daemen, which moved to 24-7 on the season with the win, battled from behind all night long. Post, the No. 7 seed out of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, put the Wildcats in 1-0 and 2-1 deficits (in sets), before the latter found a way to gut out wins in the fourth and fifth sets. The Eagles, a team making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, end their season at 26-6.

Apostol and Bernard keyed the Daemen offense for much of the contest, combining for a .310 hitting percentage. Both posted career-highs in kills - Apostol with 16 and Bernard with 14. After reaching double-figure kills just once in her first 22 matches, the 6-foot-2 has now gone for 10-plus in four of the last six outings. Bernard, who just recently returned to the lineup after battling an injury for much of the season, registered her first match with double-figure kills since September 14.

Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), the East Coast Conference Player of the Year, and redshirt-sophomore outside hitter Courtney Scanlan (Ellicottville, N.Y./Stony Brook University) each posted double-doubles in the Wildcat victory. Drzymala contributed 15 kills and 14 digs, while Scanlan went for 12 kills and a season-best 13 digs. Drzymala now has 414 kills this season, as she moves into the top-10 in team history for a single season. She becomes the first Daemen player to surpass 400 kills in a season since Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) notched 409 during the 2011 season.

Freshman setter Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) also doubled up with 56 assists and a team-high 18 digs. The newly-minted American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) East Region Rookie of the Year has now posted seven matches this season with at least 50 assists. Of her 16 double-doubles this season, 11 have come in the team's last 12 matches. With 1,123 assists now on the season, Dolegowski is one of just four players in team history to surpass 1,100 for a single season, and the first since all-time record holder Kristie Martzolf did so in 2004 with 1,728 helpers.

Senior outside hitter Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) chipped in with nine kills and 12 digs, and sophomore defensive specialist Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) added 16 digs.

The Eagles were led by senior Skylar German (Kansas City, Mo.). The 5-foor-10 middle hitter, who was recently named the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association East Region Player of the Year, put down a team-best 14 kills and added 18 digs. No other Post player managed more than seven kills.

Sophomore setter Brianna Root (Bristol, Conn.) registered 33 assists to go with a game-high 19 digs for the Eagles.

Daemen enjoyed a 69-37 advantage in kills, but also aided the upset-minded Eagles by committing 41 hitting errors.

On the brink of elimination in the fourth set, Daemen rallied for the final four points to snap a 21-21 tie. Kills from the Drzymala sisters - first Amber, then Ashley - were the bookends of the 4-0 spurt which also included a pair of kills by Bernard. Ashley's kill on set-point sent the home crowd into a frenzy as the Wildcats forced the match to a fifth set.

In the fifth, Daemen jumped out to a 9-3 lead with a pair of big swings from Scanlan in the spurt which was capped by another from Apostol. But, Post hung around, eventually pulling within one point on two ocassions (12-11 and 13-12). Daemen never relinquished the lead, however, as Scanlan sent the Wildcats on to the next round with her kill at match-point.

Daemen's second round opponent, the UNH Chargers, needed five sets themselves to dispose of sixth-seeded Philadelphia University, the CACC Tournament champs. UNH took the odd-numbered sets (25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 16-14) to advance in what is their 31st NCAA tournament appearance all-time, including the last 11 in-a-row. They've now won six straight matches which includes their run to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title. Match time for No. 2 Daemen vs. No. 3 New Haven is set for 7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening.

In other first round action at Lumsden Gymnasium today, top-seeded N.Y. Institute of Technology needed four sets to knock off No. 8 Adelphi University (25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21). And, No. 4 American International College sent its NE-10 brethren from No. 5 Le Moyne College home with a straight-sets defeat (25-23, 25-12, 26-24). No. 1 NYIT and No. 4 AIC face off in the first match of the day tomorrow at 5 p.m.

The winners of tomorrow's second round matchups will meet on Saturday, December 3 at 5 p.m. for the East Region Championship and the right to advance to the 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship Elite 8 which will be held in Sioux Falls, S.D. from December 8-10.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

Girls volleyball players earn honors
Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Orchard Park girls varsity volleyball team had its annual end of the season banquet recently.

At the banquet, Coach Greg Lardo informed the team and individual players that although they were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the Section VI playoffs, there were several ECIC honors awarded to them.

The team was awarded the ECIC Division I award for Sportsmanship.

In addition, Captain Elizabeth Chow, a junior and a setter, was awarded the individual ECIC Division I award for Sportsmanship and was named to the All-ECIC first team in addition to being named MVP for the Orchard Park team.

Junior Amanda Renaldo, the Libero, was named to the All ECIC second team. Team Captain Sadie Joba, a junior, and a hitter, and freshman Abby Ryan, a hitter, were named to the ECIC Division I team.

Niagara Frontier Athletes Sign - Update
By Kate Braun, NFVBJuniors.com
Thursday, December 1, 2016

Congratulations to the following athletes on Signing Day!

Molly Breier (Eden HS)- Edinboro

Sam Burgio (Eden HS)- Maryland

Julie Milbrand (North Tonawanda HS) - Alderson Broaddus

Meghan Neelon (Clarence HS) - Alabama

Tirzah Peters (Sweet Home HS)- Daemen

Lindsay Proctor (Grand Island HS)- West Virginia

Clarence Boys volleyball team holds awards banquet
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Clarence’s boys volleyball team put the finishing touches on its standout 2016 campaign Nov. 15 by holding its annual team awards banquet.

Highlighting the team awards in coach Kevin Starr’s eyes was the fact that the Red Devils were named the Western New York Boys Volleyball Officials Association’s Team of the Year for the sixth time in the 17-year history of the award. The award is voted on by all area coaches and officials, and it recognizes the team that conducts itself in the most sportsmanlike manner.

“The Team of the Year award is a big one, and we’re as proud of this as anything else,” said Starr, who was named the Varsity Coach of the Year for the third time in his career when the annual Western New York Coaches and Officials’ banquet was held on Nov. 10. “It’s something that we set as one of our goals each year, and we’re very proud to have earned it again.”

Individually, senior Henry Payne was named a Section VI NYSPHSAA all-star, was the ECIC Division I Sportsmanship Award recipient and was nominated for Section VI Player of the Year honors through the American Volleyball

Coaches’ Association/ New York Volleyball Coaches’ Association. Payne paced the team this season in spike attempts, kills and kill percentage, which helped him break the program’s career records for spike attempts (3,397) by 37 attempts, and kills (1,668) by 209 kills.

Senior Tyler White, the team’s leader in serving percentage, was named both an ECIC I First Team all-star and a Section VI scholar athlete, while freshman Teddy Payne, who led the team in serve attempts, service points and digs, was named an ECIC I First Team all-star. Junior Shawn Trznadel, who led the team in assists, was named an ECIC I Second Team all-star.

Senior Jake Ireland was recognized for leading the team in blocks.

This year’s Will to Win Award went to senior manager Zach Kilga, while the Michael T. Schlabach Memorial Award for leadership, dedication and service went to senior Danny Janzow.

The Red Devil Player of the Year award was shared by Ireland, Janzow, White, Henry Payne, Achilles Blessios, Ares Blessios, Barton Bookmiller and Nick Ciraolo, as Starr said “it was impossible for me to choose just one winner.”

“This year’s seniors were not just teammates but also brothers,” Starr said. “They were unified and focused, and our successes this year were largely because of their team-first attitude. I felt that each one of them deserved the award.”

Clarence finished the year 21-5 overall, which tied the 1999 team for the most wins in a season and ended the season ranked second in the final Western New York Coaches Poll.

NCAA Woman's DI Bracket
NCAA.com
Monday, November 28, 2016

NCAA Woman's DI Bracket

NCAA Woman's DII Bracket
NCAA.com
Sunday, November 27, 2016

NCAA Woman's DII Bracket

WKBW Super 7
#3 – Samantha Burgio, Eden Girls Volleyball
Buffalo News
Friday, November 25, 2016

“She was easily one of the most dynamic kids in the gym, regardless of any class,” Eden coach Stephen Pierce said. “Teams just could not stop her. She had 27 kills, 14 digs, and 5 aces on the day. Her power at the net allowed us to separate from our opponents early in nearly every game."

Burgio is the reigning Gatorade Player of the year and is graduating early so she can start her college career with national powerhouse Maryland.

WKBW Super 7
#5 – Madalyn Bowen & Quinn Payne, Panama Girls Volleyball
Buffalo News
Friday, November 25, 2016

Their coach calls them the dynamic duo. The two have been playing together for five years and were pivotal in Panama’s state championship. “Quinn willingly moved from libero to setter this year and did a great job,” Volleyball coach Chris Payne said. “She is also our leading server. She was selected to 1st team for our league and to the all-tournament team at the state tournament.” 

"Madalyn is our leading hitter and our steadiest passer,” Payne added. “She was selected the MVP of our league and was also the MVP at the State tournament.”

DeHaven Named Men’s Volleyball Head Coach
juniatasports.net
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata athletic department has named Glenn DeHaven as head coach of the men's volleyball program. DeHaven officially begins his duties on January 1, 2017.

DeHaven comes to Juniata after serving as the head women's volleyball coach at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. since 2012. While there, he posted a record of 132-50 and was a four-time Empire 8 Coach of the Year. DeHaven's teams won three E8 regular season titles, one Tournament title, and made two NCAA Tournament appearances. He had two players named Rookie and Player of the Year and many others named to All-Conference Teams.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Glenn and his wife Brittany back to Juniata," said Juniata Athletic Director Greg Curley. "Glenn's familiarity and success as a student-athlete at Juniata, along with his impressive record of competitive success at Stevens, certainly stand out, but more impressive is the level of academic success his program has achieved in an incredibly challenging academic environment. His commitment to developing the whole student-athlete while pursuing competitive excellence ushers in a new and exciting chapter in the proud and storied tradition of our men's volleyball program."

From 2010-2012, DeHaven assisted the women's volleyball team at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. The Pioneers were back to back regular season champs during DeHaven's time and posted their best regular season (26) and conference win totals (8) in 2010.

DeHaven returns to College Hill after a four-year playing career on the men's volleyball team from 2003-2007. He was a four-year starter, a two-year captain, and was a part of four Molten Championship squads. Upon the completion of his playing career, he was an assistant for the Eagles from 2008-2010.

DeHaven graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Sports Management from Juniata. He and his wife had their first child in July 2014, a daughter named Aria Grace.

College Power 10: Daemen spikers make NCAA Tourney
By Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

The Daemen College women’s volleyball team earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The team becomes the first Daemen squad to reach a Division II national event. Daemen just moved up to full-fledged D-II status last year. Daemen leads this week’s College Power 10.

The Wildcats will host the eight-team East Regional Dec. 1-3. Daemen (23-7) earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 seed Post University (26-5) in the opening match. The winner of the regional advances to the NCAA Elite Eight event at Sioux Falls, S.D.

The No. 1 seed is defending region champion New York Institute of Technology (28-5), which beat Daemen in the final of the East Coast Conference tournament last week. Daemen is 1-2 vs. NYIT this season and 4-4 against NCAA Tournament teams.

“This is a great accomplishment for our team, especially considering we have just two seniors on the roster,” said Daemen coach Stephanie Albano. “We are doubly excited to have been awarded the hosting bid.”

Albano, who starred at Lancaster High and then the University of North Carolina, is in her first year as Daemen coach.

The Wildcats are led by sophomore outside hitter Ashley Drzymala (St. Mary's of Lancaster), the ECC Player of the Year, who is one of just three players in the ECC to top 300 kills and 300 digs this season. She has 399 kills. Her sister, senior outside hitter Amber Drzymala (St. Mary’s of Lancaster), has 348 kills and was first-team all-ECC. Freshman setter Bailey Dolegowski (St. Mary's of Lancaster) was named the ECC Co-Rookie of the Year. She leads all ECC players with 1,072 assists.

OP grad named to All-League for college team
Orchard Park Bee
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Maryellen Devic

Senior middle hitter and Orchard Park resident Maryellen Devic has again been named a Northeast-10 Conference All-League pick as voted upon by the 15 head coaches. This marks the fourth time that she has garnered All-Conference accolades throughout her career.

Devic has established herself as one of the most dominant players in Golden Knights history. She was a first-team pick as both a sophomore and junior, and was a third-team honoree in 2013 when she was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCAA Division II East Region Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, she was selected to the Daktronics All-East squad.

Devic closed out her career last weekend second all-time in program annals with 1,231 career kills and ninth all-time with 912 digs. She also stands third all-time with 3.30 kills per set and is sixth behind a .274 career attack percentage. Additionally, she owns two of the top-five single-season kill totals in program annals.

This past year, Devic finished fourth in the NE-10 with 402 total kills and was third with 3.87 kills per set. She was also 17th with 350 digs and wound up second with 460.5 points.

East girls volleyball finishes third at state championships
Amherst Bee
Tuesday, November 22, 2016

For the second straight year, the Williamsville East girls volleyball team fell short in its attempt to advance to the state finals.

The Lady Flames lost to Section XI’s Kings Park, 17-25, in a one-game playoff Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, placing them third overall in Class A.

Earlier in pool play, East lost to Walter Panas of Section I’s 18-25, 27-29; and split games with Kings Park 25-17, 18-25; and Section II’s Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 22-25, 25-21.

“Overall, we played really well but we had some mistakes at crucial times that stopped us from capitalizing on our good play,” East coach Scott Wright said. “The matches against Kings Park and Burnt Hills were disappointing because we won the first game of each match. There was a sliver of difference between the teams there. Not finishing the second games against Kings Park or Burnt Hills would have gotten us in the finals.”

Pool play finished with Walter Panas in first place and a three-way tie for second between East, Burnt Hills and Kings Park.

The tournament format called for the three teams to play off for the right to advance to the finals. East received a bye due to having the best point differential among the three teams.

Kings Park defeated Burnt Hills in the first playoff match, meaning the winner of the East-Kings Park would decide which team would play Walter Panas in the final.

A kill from Rachel Steffan, a block from Makayla Greenfield and Leah Orsini, and a kill from Lexi Novak gave East a 3-0 lead.

After another Novak kill gave East a 4-2 lead, Kings Park won the next six points, taking an 8-4 advantage.

Kings Park extended the lead to 14-7. A kill from Orsini and a kill and a block from Steffan brought East to within 14-10 before winning four of the next six points to take the 18-12 lead.

Three kills from Novak brought East within five to 20-15, but Kings Park held off the rally and won the set.

For the match, Novak had six kills; Steffan had three kills and Greenfield handed out 12 assists.

Panas went on to defeat Burnt Hills 25-12, 25-17, 25-23 to win the state championship.

Earlier in pool play, Panas started the first set ahead 9-4 and extended the lead to 19-9.

The Lady Flames rallied to win eight of the next nine points, including two kills from Novak, and aces from Steffan and Jessica Weaver.

A kill from Novak cut the deficit to 21-18, but Panas won the final four points.

East trailed 10-8 in the second set before Panas won nine of the next 12 points to take a commanding 19-11 lead.

The Lady Flames cut the deficit to 20-16 behind kills from Steffan and Allison Jozwiak.

The end of the match saw each team take the lead. Trailing 23-20, East won the next four points, capped off by a kill from Novak.

Panas won the next two points to take a 25-24 lead. East won the next two, earning its second set point at 26-25, but Panas fought off the set point and a third one before winning the final three points and winning 29-27.

Contributing for East were Novak (14 kills, 13 digs); Greenfield (23 assists); Jozwiak and Orsini (three kills each); Ann Marie Jones (12 digs); and Weaver (eight digs).

East took an 8-5 lead in the first set against Burnt Hills behind two kills from Novak, two kills from Steffan and a block from Summer Clark.

Two kills from Novak, a kill from Jozwiak, and blocks from Greenfield and Orsini, extended the lead to 15-10.

Burnt Hills, the defending state champions, won 10 of the next 13 points, taking a 20-18 lead.

A kill from Novak and an ace from Weaver tied the set at 20-20 before Burnt Hills won the set 25-22.

Trailing 10-8 in the second set, East won six of the next seven points to take a 14-11 lead. The run included three kills from Novak and a block from Jozwiak.

Two kills from Steffan extended the Lady Flames’ lead to 20-15. Burnt Hills rallied to get within one at 22-21 before East won the final three points.

Contributing for East were Novak (17 kills); Jozwiak (three kills); Steffan (six kills, 19 digs); Julianna Benz (10 digs); and Greenfield (22 assists).

East went down 8-5 in the first set against Kings Park. Kills from Novak and Steffan tied the set at 10-10.

Four kills from Novak, a kill from Jozwiak, and an ace from Greenfield, put the Lady Flames out in front 18-12. East went on to win the set on a block from Orsini.

In the second set, East fell behind 12-4. Trailing 13-7, East won the next four points with two kills from Steffan, and one each from Novak and Orsini, to cut the lead to 13-11.

Kings Park won 11 of the next 13 points to extend the lead to 22-15. Consecutive kills from Orsini, Jozwiak and Novak made the score 22-18 before Kings Park won the final three points.

Contributing for East were Novak (17 kills); Steffan (16 kills); Greenfield (24 assists); Benz (seven digs); and Jozwiak and Orsini (three kills each).

For the tournament, Novak recorded 56 kills and 35 digs.

Greenfield finished with 85 assists, 33 digs and five blocks.

East also received strong performances from Steffan (17 kills, 45 digs); Jozwiak (10 kills, 14 digs); Orsini (five kills, six blocks); Jones (28 digs); Benz (26 digs); and Weaver (20 digs).

East finished the regular season 12-0 and did not lose a set during league play. They finished the regular season undefeated, and won the sectional championship and regional championship without losing a set.

Including a best three-out-of-five sets, East went 19-0. Including tournaments and the state meet, East’s record is 32-5-2.

East graduates six seniors: Novak, Orsini, Benz, Jones, Weaver and Megan Wiese.All were a part of four ECIC II titles, three Section VI titles and two regional titles.

“I appreciate how hard each of them worked to help the team have success,” Wright said.

Novak finished her senior year by leading the team with 609 kills (school record), 359 digs, and 71 aces. Her career totals are 1,804 kills (school record), 1368 digs, 277 aces, and 129 blocks.

Greenfield finished the season with a school record 1,129 assists, which currently ranks her second in the state, and her 10.9 assists per set leads the state.

(Patrick J. Nagy contributed to the article).

Peters to play volleyball at Daemen
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Sweet Home seniors Sam Peterman, left, and Tirzah Peters signed letters of intent Thursday at the high school’s
Vergils Community Center. Peterman will run at Duke University and Peters will play volleyball at Daemen College.

Peters had no idea when she started playing volleyball two years ago that she would be taking her game to the collegiate level. But Daemen is giving her a chance at middle hitter/right side hitter.

“When they told me they were willing to work with me regardless of how long I have been playing, I couldn’t say no,” Peters said. “This is the sport I love. I can’t stand not being on the court. To say I get to it at an amazing school with an amazing team is a dream come true.”

Peters was a two-year starter for Sweet Home, helping the Lady Panthers reach the Section VI final in 2015.

“She had one half-hour tryout and I was sold,” Sweet Home coach Breean Martin said. “It was kind of a blessing in disguise. She moved into a starting role not knowing much about the game and she helped our team to a sectional final appearance. It just showed the perseverance and the way she dealt with pressures of a new game. Her athletic ability really is incomparable at this level. She led our team in kills. She’s been a special part of the program. We’ll going to miss her but we know she will do incredible things.”

Peters will major in physical therapy.

Going Dancing: Wildcats Claim At-Large Bid To NCAA Tournament
Daemen Named No. 2 Seed & Awarded Hosting Rights To East Regional Championship
Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications, daemenwildcats.com
Monday, November 21, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. - In just their second year as a full-fledged NCAA Division II program, the Daemen College women's volleyball team has been awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first Daemen team in any sport to qualify for a national tournament at the Division II level. Daemen is the No. 2 seed from the East Region and will face No. 7 seed Post University in the opening round of the NCAA Division II East Region Championship. The announcement of the NCAA Tournament field was made this evening on a live Selection Show broadcasted on NCAA.com.

In addition to learning their seed and first round opponent, Daemen has been awarded the right to host the entire East Region Championship - one of eight regional championships from across the country with the winners advancing to the Elite 8 in Sioux Falls, S.D. from December 8-10. Lumsden Gymnasium will serve as the site for the East Region Championship which features the top eight teams from the region which is comprised of the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The tournament will take place from Dec. 1-3; starting times for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be announced at a later time.

Additional quarterfinal matchups in the East Region Championship include: No. 1 N.Y. Institute of Technology, the ECC Tournament champions, vs. No. 8 Adelphi University; No. 4 American International College vs. No. 5 Le Moyne College; and, No. 3 University of New Haven, the NE-10 Conference Tournament champions, vs. No. 6 Philadelphia University, the CACC Tournament champions. View the full NCAA Tournament bracket HERE. An opening round win for Daemen would pit the Wildcats against the New Haven-Philadelphia winner.

Daemen will enter tournament play with a 23-7 overall record. The Wildcats captured the ECC regular season championship with a 13-1 league mark before seeing their 15-match winning streak come to an end in the ECC Tournament finals this past Saturday evening at Lumsden Gymnasium against NYIT which earned their first conference tournament title since 1990. The NYIT Bears are the defending East Region champions.

"We are thrilled to be in the tournament field, and proud to be the first Daemen team to earn a national tournament bid at the Division II level," said first-year Daemen head coach Stephanie Albano, the recently-named ECC Coach of the Year. "This is a great accomplishment for our team, especially considering we have just two seniors on the roster. We are doubly excited to have been awarded the hosting bid, and to be able to bring this exciting level of volleyball to the Buffalo-Niagara region. We hope this bigger, more prestigious tournament is received just as well as the ECC Tournament was last weekend."

The Wildcats feature sophomore outside hitter Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), the 2016 ECC Player of the Year, who is one of just three players in the ECC to top 300 kills and 300 digs so far this season. Her 399 kills presently rank second among all ECC players and 10th in the East Region, and she's on pace to become the first Daemen player to surpass 400 kills in a season since Jenn Karan (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) notched 409 in the 2011 season.

Her sister, senior outside hitter Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) leads Daemen with 336 digs this season while also posting 348 kills. The first-team All-ECC selection and two-time ECC Player of the Week honoree became just the third player in team history to surpass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career earlier this season.

Freshman setter Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) was named the ECC Co-Rookie of the Year. She leads all ECC players with 1,072 assists, driving a Daemen offense that ranks first in the ECC in kills per set (13.13) and second in hitting percentage (.215).

Additional production has come from Division I transfer Courtney Scanlan (Ellicottville, N.Y./Stony Brook University), sophomore defensive specialist Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden), and freshmen Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) and Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures).

Daemen is 4-4 this season against NCAA Tournament teams. Their opening round opponent, the Post Eagles, enter tournament play at 26-5 after falling the semifinals of the CACC Tournament. The Wildcats and Eagles have not met since the latter scored a straight-sets win on September 11, 2015 at the Charger Invitational hosted by New Haven.

Stay tuned to daemenwildcats.com as more information about the upcoming East Region Championship portion of the NCAA Tournament becomes available. A full tournament preview will be posted in the days leading up to the tournament. And, as always, ror breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

College volleyball: Calvin claims 3rd National Title, first since 2013
Calvin Athletics
Sunday, November 20, 2016

OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Calvin volleyball program won its third national title on Saturday night in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Knights swept Washington University in St. Louis, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21. Calvin has also won a national title in 2010 and 2013. This is the 11th NCAA title in Calvin athletics history.

"I'd like to once again congratulate (coach) Vanessa Walby and Washington University for advancing to the finals," said head coach Amber Warners. "I'd like to thank the NCAA for putting on a fabulous tournament, Oshkosh for all the work they have done, the AVCA for all of their part of what goes into this championship. I thought that from the very beginning, the coaching staff has tried to have our players believe in themselves as women and as volleyball players and we have worked incredibly hard at that all year."

This is the second national title for the senior class.

"When people ask me how you measure success, I say that when your seniors give absolutely everything and walk away and they can't give anymore," said Warners. "I don't just mean that on the court, people see us about five percent of the time in our season. What these women have given is just unbelievable. I am really proud of the women they are, I was really proud of their fight, we asked them to just green light go and lay it out there and I thought they did that."

Laura Danhoff was named the Most Outstanding Player at the championships. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team was Sarah DeVries and Jenna Lodewyk.

"When I was a freshman, Megan Rietema and Kristen Zietse did the same thing," said Laura Danhoff. "I decided if I could do that is year that would be the icing on the cake. I mean this is great, but these girls and this program, I am forever going to miss this and this program, more than this win. I will remember all the moments with these girls."

The Knights and Bears tied the match 10 times and would sit tied at 12. Calvin would break the tie with a 3-0 run behind the serve of senior Laura Danhoff (Willard, Ohio/Willard). Calvin would break the set open leading 15-13 with a 6-0 run behind the serve of junior Jenna Lodewyk (Villa Park, Ill./Timothy Christian). Sophomore Anna Kamp (Orland Park, Ill./Chicago Christian) and freshman Sarah DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northpointe Christian) both had two kills in the run. Calvin would take the set, 25-21. Anna Kamp had five kills in the first set. Junior Kristen Vyletel (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) had six digs in the first set. The Knights hit .278 in the first set.

In the second set, the serve of junior Emily Blankespoor (Grand Rapids, Mich./South Christian) helped Calvin take a 4-1 lead. The Bears would fightback and tie the set at four. The Knights would take the next three points and not give the lead back the rest of the set. Leading 7-5, Calvin would get some separation in the set with a 7-3 run. Laura Danhoff had five kills in the second set.

The Bears would pounce early in the third set and take an early 5-3 lead. Calvin would take the next four points to take the lead back at 7-5. With the set tied at 19, Calvin would jump out to a 22-19 lead with the serve of junior Kristen Vyletel (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron). Calvin would take the set once again at 25-21. Anna Kamp had six kills in the third set and sophomore Keilahna Castillo (Grandville, Mich./Grandville) had seven digs.

Anna Kamp finished with a match-high 13 kills, Sarah DeVries had 10 kills and Laura Danhoff had eight. Jenna Lodewyk finished the night with 35 assists and Keilahna Castillohad 13 digs. Kristen Vyletel finished with 11 digs and a match-high three aces.

The Knights finish the season at 33-1.

All-Tournament Team
Laura Danhoff (Calvin College) • Most Outstanding Player
Sarah DeVries (Calvin College)
Caroline Dupont (Washington University)
Leesa Hulstrand (University of Northwestern)
Jenna Lodewyk (Calvin College)
Julianne Malek (Washington University)
Kate Mitchell (Southwestern University)

NCAA Woman's DIII Bracket
NCAA.com
Sunday, November 20, 2016

NCAA Woman's DIII Bracket

Coach Stephen Pierce exits an 8-time champ as Eden wins another state title
By Diana C. Nearhos, Special to the News, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 20, 2016

Eden players celebrate after sweeping Pawling for the NYSPHSAA Class C Championship
at Glens Falls Civic Center. (Nick Serrata/Special to The News)

GLENS FALLS — The parents had all kinds of photo requests for the Eden volleyball team, but Stephen Pierce pulled his phone out just once.

The coach wanted to recreate a photo he had of this year’s seniors back when they were on the under-12 team at his club program.

Athletic director Marisa Fallacaro pulled out the framed photo and directed everyone where to stand and what facial expression they were making.

Pierce might frame the new one and display them next to each other, but for now, they’ll go on Facebook.

In his final season after 28 years as coach, there was some significance to finishing with this group.

As he added to his own record with eight straight state titles – the last six of which were in Class C – on Sunday, Sam Burgio and Molly Breier set a record for six straight as players.

“It’s a Hollywood script,” Pierce said after the 3-0 sweep of Pawling (25-10, 25-11, 25-10). “We traveled literally 860 miles through the playoffs and we did play some pretty tough matches to get here. So, for them to play as well as they did, I feel mostly gratitude.”

Eden’s level of play was even more impressive given that it maintained it despite the lack of competition.

The Raiders breezed through semifinal pool play without a margin closer than 12 points. In all, they gave up 89 points in the tournament — an average of about 10 per set.

Burgio, the senior graduating early to enroll at University of Maryland and get started with the team there, credited the team’s focus on serving to achieve that.

Eden’s serving has been on and off all year, but it went up a notch in the tournament.

Specifically, Burgio pointed to a serve-and-run drill the Raiders don’t particularly enjoy, but is effective. You serve, then run to the other end of the court — Pierce makes sure it’s a run — and serve there.

“When people practice serving, they often just stand back there and serve,” Pierce said, “We try to do it where you just ran around for a play, you’re breathing heavy and now you have to calm yourself down toserve.”

Burgio’s four aces led the team, followed by three each by setter Alyssa Durski and middle hitter Sam Logan.

Breier also credited the Raiders’ sideout attitude. They praise themselves on not giving up consecutive points often.

The only thing Breier would have liked to do differently over the last six years is get Pierce to 1,000 wins.

As much fun as it has all been, Pierce isn’t tempted to stick around longer — not even for the five wins he needs to reach that landmark.

Maybe he’ll come back down the road, but he’s good with his 995 wins and 14 state championships for now.

Panama caps off perfect season with thrilling state title win
By Diana C. Nearhos, Special to the News, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 20, 2016

Panama Girls Volleyball team react after winning the NYSPHSAA Class D Volleyball
Championship in Glens Falls Civic Center. Nick Serrata – For The Buffalo News

GLENS FALLS — As Panama closed in on a state championship, Madalyn Bowen leaned into her setter and told Quinn Payne to set up Tara Sweeney. She didn’t care where the ball was on the court, the set had to go to Sweeney.

Bowen is the go-to player on that team, and for good reason with 33 kills in the Class D state volleyball final, but she wanted the Panthers’ only senior to have the final hit. So, Payne set Sweeney and set Sweeney and set Sweeney — all on the same play.

Argyle outside hitter Danielle Sill kept getting the block and finally, after the volley had seemed to go on for a minute, she got a block down. So, on the next play, Payne set Sweeney again. Sweeney and Sill had a shorter back-and-forth and then Sweeney finally got one down. But even as she hit the ball the final time, Sweeney wasn’t sure if it was coming back again.

“I hit the one and they got it, then I hit again and I thought this may be it,” Sweeney said after Sunday’s 3-2 win over Argyle (17-25, 26-24, 24-26, 25-13, 25-14). “It came back over and dropped out of bounds. I couldn’t believe we just did it.”

Even though Panama swept them in the semifinal pool play (25-16, 25-16), the Panthers struggled to put away the Scots through the first three sets. Argyle kept coming back. It came from behind to win the first and third sets and almost did it in the second. Finally, Panama established itself in the fourth.

Coach Tammy Hoiser was just happy to see the Panthers start playing their game, swinging hard and making Argyle’s passers work. The first comeback got to Panama. The team that usually plays as a close-knit unit started to panic and pick at each other.

“I just used that (after Argyle came back to win the third set, 26-24),” she said. “I said, ‘You see how you play when you’re in panic mode. We can’t do that.’ ”

Instead of “Team: Together Everyone Achieves More,” Hoiser turned to “start strong, stay strong, finish strong” as the motto of the day. Slogans have had extra significance for the Panthers. They aren’t just rotely called out in a huddle.

Bowen said their call of “Whose game is it? Our game” coming out of the huddle resonates with her. The Panthers started that one in the playoffs and she finds it helps her settle before matches.

Argyle coach Peggy Seese pointed out that Section VI always sends strong teams — especially in Class D, where seven of the last 12 champions have come from the Western New York region — so she wasn’t surprised by Panama’s strength. There’s a reason the Panthers were undefeated, she said.

Eden, Panama play for state volleyball titles Sunday
By Diana C. Nearhos, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 19, 2016

GLENS FALLS – Panama just keeps rolling with the firsts. The Panthers were the first Panama team since 2003 to win Section VI and the first to make it to the State Volleyball Tournament, now they’re the first to advance to the final.

The Panthers have the chance to be the first Panama team to win the Class D state championship Sunday at noon against Argyle. And middle hitter Alexys Marsh wants to hang a big banner in the gym

Tara Sweeney, the team’s only senior, couldn’t find the words: "It’s so exciting," she said. "It feels like a dream."

Panama swept its way through pool play, winning all six matches against Tuxedo (25-18, 25-9), Argyle (25-16, 25-16) and Bishop Ludden (25-17, 25-21).

The key was to keep swinging and playing their game. When the Panthers swung and hit hard – rail it, Marsh said they call it — they threw other teams off. Madalyn Bowen made 24 kills, Natalie Angeletti had 22 and Marsh 14.

Eden back in finals

Eden may have had an easy path through Class C pool play, but the Raiders aren’t considering their eighth straight championship a given. They remember last year, when they blew out Millbrook in pool play and then had to work for the 3-1 championship win.

Eden swept Pawling (25-11, 25-13), Galway (25-13, 25-6) and East Rockaway (25-8, 25-7).

"The way we do things, we don’t really care what’s going on on the other side of the net," coach Stephen Pierce said. "We’re going to do things the same way whether it’s a big AA school – which we play during the year – or a school our size."

He’s confident that enough of the players remember that to maintain a business-like attitude and not let up in preparing for the final against Pawling at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Sam Burgio led the Raiders with 27 kills and 16 digs. Paiton Bainski made 14 kills and seven digs. Alyssa Durski served 10 aces.

Will East loses playoff

Williamsville East made it to the 14th set of pool play but fell to Kings Park in a one-set playoff and was knocked out in Class A.

The Flames got out to a 6-2 lead but then gave up six points to let Kings Park come back. The Kingsmen went off from there to a 25-17 win.

The Flames split their matches against Kings Park (25-17, 18-25) and Burnt Hills (25-22, 21-25) and were swept by Walter Panas of Cortlandt Manor (25-18, 27-29). East came close to pulling out the second set against Walter Panas, with two set points, but couldn’t get there.

At the time, coach Scott Wright hoped the momentum from the comeback would carry the Flames through the next four sets. But Wright didn’t think they played with the same intensity after that and wondered if not finishing on either of two game points against the top-seeded team might have gotten into the Flames’ heads.

"Overall, we just did a really good job that wasn’t enough," Wright said.

Daemen bows out in conference volleyball final
Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 19, 2016

Daemen put up a heroic fight to extend its championship match against New York Institute of Technology on Saturday in the East Coast Conference Tournament before 325 at Lumsden Gymnasium in Amherst.

The No. 1 seeded Wildcats kept the match going with a 26-24 win in the third set, but No. 2 NYIT closed it out, 25-20, in the fourth set. NYIT had scored hard-fought decisions in the opening two sets, 25-23 and 25-21.

The teams had split their regular season matches, each side winning on the other’s home court.

Ashley Drzymala (St. Mary’s, Lancaster) had kills on the last two points to give Daemen its 26-24 decision in the third set. Ashley Drzymala had 16 kills while Meghan Ballou (Eden) had 15 in the match for Daemen. Bailey Dolegowski (St. Mary’s, Lancaster) had 43 assists. NYIT’s defense proved tough to crack with 16 blocks, including 10 by Rachel Guida.

Panama secures spot in volleyball final
By Diana C. Nearhos, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 19, 2016

GLENS FALLS — Panama got the job done quickly Saturday. Four sets, four wins and the Panthers had their spot in the Class D state volleyball championship.

The Panthers secured their spot with a 25-16, 25-16 sweep of Argyle.

"It's a big relief," coach Tammy Hoiser said.

Like their sweep of Tuxedo in the first set, it came down to sticking to the strong hitting that got the Panthers this far. Panama was able to throw off a strong Argyle team that way.

Panama had some nerves to shake off in the first match, but once it did, the Panthers ran away from Tuxedo. Panama won the first set 25-18, but dominated the second 25-9.

Once the Panthers started started swinging, the Tornedoes' chances to do so were very limited.

"They were very nervous to start out that second set," Hoiser said. "The first game, we weren't hitting the ball hard. That's how we got here. I told them we had to play our game."

Hoiser pointed out that the tiebreaker to make it to the finals is point differentials, so she told the Panthers, the bigger the margin the better.

Panama has one more match remaining against Bishop Ludden.

Even after six sets of pool play on Saturday, Williamsville East isn't done. With a three-way tie in Class A, there are two more sets of the semifinal round.

Burnt Hills will play Kings Park in a one-set playoff, the winner will then play Williamsville East to decide who advances to the final. The only team to secure a path to the final is Walter Panas.

The Flames split their matches against Kings Park (25-17, 18-25) and Burnt Hills (25-22, 21-25) and were swept by Walter Panas (25-18, 27-29). Williamsville East came close to pulling out a win in the second set against Walter Panas, with two set points, but couldn't get there.

At the time, coach Scott Wright was happy with the effort to come that close.

"The comeback is really what you're looking for," he said. "In a situation when you're really in desperate times, you really like the fighting spirit. We can get a little momentum to carry us into the next four sets."

Women's Volleyball Falls To NYIT 3-1 In ECC Championship
daemenwildcats.com
Saturday, November 19, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen College women's volleyball team fell to N.Y. Institute of Technology in the East Coast Conference Championship match tonight inside Lumsden Gymnasium. The No. 1-seeded Wildcats were ousted by the No. 4-seeded Bears in 4 sets (23-25, 21-25, 26-24, 20-25).

In the upset, the Bears put up 16 blocks, holding the Wildcats to a slim .117 hitting percentage. Daemen controlled every other statistical category, but was unable to come away victorious.

Daemen falls to 23-7 on the year while NYIT improves to 28-5 overall and clinches the ECC's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament. This was the first time Daemen played in the title game since joining the conference in 2013. Tonight's win is NYIT's first ECC Volleyball Championship since 1990, the Bears are the first champion other than Bridgeport or Dowling since 2013 to win the title.

Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) led the Wildcats with her 15th double-double of the season, tallying 16 kills and 19 digs. The younger Drzymala was crowned ECC Player of the Year after a standout sophomore season. Megan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) notched double-digit kills with 13, and added three blocks. Classmate Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targue Mures) enjoyed nine kills, and senior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) registered 17 digs and 7 kills.

ECC Co-Rookie of the Year, Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) posted another double-double performance with 43 assists 17 digs. Libero Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) recorded nine digs and seven assists in the loss.

NYIT was led by Tiffany Verni's (Patchogue, N.Y.) 14 kills, Rachel Guida's (Huntington, N.Y.) 10 blocks, Allison Fowler's (Centennial, Colo.) 35 assists, and Chessie Santeramo's (Freemont, Calif) 30 digs. Karolina Moderova (Zalesie, Slovakia) added 13 kills and seven digs in the win.

Daemen scored the first five points of the opening match to take an early 5-0 lead, featuring two kills from Ashley Drzymala and, a Dolegowski service ace. NYIT capitalized on Wildcat errors followed by a kill from Fowler to pull within one 9-8. The Bears used a kill from Guida to even the score at 13. Apostol hammered down consecutive points, resulting in a 18-15 edge in favor of the Wildcats. The two teams battled back and forth, and found themselves knotted 20-20. NYIT outscored Daemen 5-3 in final eight points, resulting in 25-23 Bears' victory.

In the second set, Daemen jumped out to 5-2 lead, ignited by kills from three different players. The Bears fought back, winning three straight points on the serve of Portia Mcintosh (Aurora, Colo.) to level the score 8-8. After falling behind 11-9, the Wildcats regained the 13-12 lead, which featured two kills from Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier). NYIT used a quick 6-2 run to take a three-point lead, but once again Daemen closed in 19-18. The Wildcats, who committed eight attack errors in the set, were unable to catch the Bears dropping the second 25-21.

NYIT used the momentum from the second set to take an early 7-3 lead after two consecutive Daemen mistakes. Daemen narrowed the gap 9-8 on the strength of kills from Ashley Drzymala and Apostol. After a 13-13 draw, NYIT racked up the next three points to for the 15-12 go ahead, forcing Daemen to call a timeout. The Wildcats answered with an 8-4 run, featuring two kills from Apostol to gain their first lead of the set, 21-19. The end of the set was as close as the two teams, but the Drzymala duo each nailed down kills to stay alive 26-24.

After trailing 7-1 in the beginning of the fourth, Daemen used a 9-2 burst to even the score 9-9. The run featured two kills from Courtney Bernard (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield), and one apiece from Megan Ballou and Apostol. After two more set ties, the Bears took a three-point lead 19-16, which included three kills from Verni. After being down 23-17 Daemen charged back with a three-point surge, but it wasn't enough to force a deciding set, and NYIT closed the set and match 25-20. 

Despite the loss, Daemen stands a good chance of receiving one of the five at-large bids available to East Region teams thanks to their No. 1 ranking the region. Fans are encouraged to join the team, and attend a watch party for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday. The live streaming will take place in The Den, and will also feature games and prizes. The watch party is open to the entire campus community and friends of Daemen Athletics.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter

Wildcats Advance To Tournament Finals
No. 1 Daemen Ousts No. 4 LIU Post 3-1
daemenwildcats.com
Friday, November 18, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen College women's volleyball team advanced to the East Coast Conference Tournament finals after defeating LIU Post 3-1 in semifinal action (25-22, 33-31, 17-25, 27-25). The No. 1 Wildcats ousted the No. 4 seeded Pioneers in front of a packed house at Lumsden Gymnasium this evening.

Daemen earned their 15-straight win, improving to 23-6 overall. With the loss, LIU Post finishes 2016 with a 15-13 season mark.

Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster), ECC Player of the Year, led the Wildcats with a match-high 20 digs and added nine digs and three blocks. Cristina Apostol (Bucharest, Romania/Targu Mures), Megan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden), and Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) each tallied double digit kills. 

Bailey Dolegowski, the East Coast Conference Co-Rookie of the Year, posted her 15th double-double this season, dishing out 52 assists and recording 14 digs. Defensively Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) continued to shine with a team-high 17 digs. 

LIU Post was led by Danielle Valenza (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Rachel Londot (Utica, Ohio), who registered 18 and 14 kills respectively. The pair also totaled 27 digs of the squad's 63. Kassie Akour-Tejedor (North Miami Beach, Fla.) had 24 helpers and Abby Eckhardt (Westminster, Colo.) recorded 20 digs in the losing effort.

In the first set of the ECC tourney, Daemen took an early 4-2 lead on the swing of Apostol, but LIU Post evened the score, winning the next two points. A kill from Ashley Drzymala followed by a Dolegowski service ace gave Daemen the 9-7 advantage, but the Pioneers used a three-point run to steal the lead, 10-9. Post widened the gap 14-10, capped by a block from Taryn McCullouch (Buena Park, Calif) and Guilia Genna (Rome, Ital), forcing Daemen to call a timeout. Daemen roared back on the serve of Meghan Ballou, for the 16-14 lead. LIU Post broke another tie with two consecutive scores, leading 19-17, but the Wildcats battled back, taking their own two-point lead with kills from Ashley Drzymala and Meghan Ballou, 23-21. Amber Drzymala hammered home the winning-kill, bolstered by a perfect pass from her sister, Ashley Drzymala, for the 25-22 Wildcat win.

The semifinal showdown continued with back and forth action in the second set to begin with a 3-3 draw. Megan Ballou tacked down a kill and a service ace giving Daemen the 6-3 edge. The Pioneers fought back with kills from Lea Brady (Woodbridge, Va.) and Londot to even the score at 11, then took the 14-12 lead on the serve of Eckhardt. After trailing 18-14, Daemen used a 5-1 run to tie the set 19-19, ignited by Kailey Ballou's strong defensive efforts. Post, who had the 24-21 lead was forced to take a pair of timeouts after Daemen tied the game 24-24. The contest would feature seven more ties, before Daemen captured the 33-31 overtime victory. 

Following a crazy 30 point-set, the Pioneers jumped to a 6-3 lead bolstered by a three-point run to open the third. After two consecutive errors Daemen trailed 10-6, but Apostol pounded down a kill to the middle of the floor putting the Wildcats back within three 10-7. LIU Post outscored Daemen 9-3, featuring kills from Valenza and McCulloch to grow the Pioneer lead 19-10. After lagging 22-12, Daemen scored the next three points to trail by single digits 22-15, but it wasn't enough to halt LIU Post, who cruised to a 25-17 conquest.

The fourth and final set continued to give the crowd of 325 everything and more opening with a 6-6 standstill. Kills from the Drzymala duo, followed by a monstrous Wildcat block gave Daemen the 11-8 advantage. Post notched 7 of the next 11 points to tie the match at 15, but Daemen scored five-straight to reoccupy the lead 19-15. Courtney Bernard pinned down three kills to keep Daemen in control of a slim 23-21 margin. The two squads contended to the very end for another overtime production but Daemen was victorious in seeing another day. The Wildcats won the closing set 27-25.

The Wildcats will face off against either No. 2 N.Y. Institute of Technology or No 3 University of Bridgeport tomorrow night for the East Coast Conference Championship. Match time for the tourney finals is set for 5:00 p.m. in Lumsden Gymnasium. 

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

Lady Lancers win 15th state title
Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 17, 2016

For the 15th time in school history, the St. Mary’s girls volleyball team is the New York State Catholic Champion.

The Lady Lancers won the championship match over Kellenberg Memorial Saturday, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-15. St. Mary’s overcame a seven point deficit in the first set before splitting close sets in the second and third.

In set four, the Lady Lancers never trailed before coasting to a 10-point victory and their 15th state title with a 5-0 record on the day. The Lancers were led in the finals by Jillian Vitale's 55 assists, Caitlyn Meyer's 22 kills and Gina Appenheimer's 27 digs.

The Lady Lancers opened pool play with a 1-1 tie with Kellenberg Memorial. They dropped the first set 25-20 before winning 25-17 in the second. In the next match, St. Mary’s defeated Maria Regina 25-7, 25-14.

In the final round of pool play, the Lady Lancers topped St. Francis Prep 25-19, 25-15. The semifinal round featured a rematch between the two teams, where St. Mary’s again prevailed 25-10, 25-16.

Meyer led the team with 52 kills on the day. Summer Slade had 31 kills and 39 digs. Hannah Mulhern racked up 30 kills. Caroline Zanghi had eight blocks. Vitale accumulated 130 assists. Appenheimer had 46 digs.

The team hit for a whopping .311 average with Meyer at .424 and Mulhern at .436.

Maryvale boys volleyball reaches sectional final
Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, November 17, 2016

Jordan Nosal one-hands a deflected block to prevent the ball from going out of bounds during Maryvale’s straight-sets loss to Eden in the
Section VI Division II-B championship match, held Nov. 8 at Lackawanna. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Maryvale’s boys volleyball team extended its 2016 season longer than most Flyers clubs have in the recent past, advancing all the way to the Section VI Division II-B final before being shut down by perennial powerhouse Eden, 3-0.

All three games were fairly close, thanks in part to the solid jump serving of Jordan Nosal and the passing of Deante Mecca. However, coach Andrew Murtha noted that the Flyers did have some areas to their game that Eden was eager to take advantage of as the match played out.

“We played a pretty good match, but we didn’t make enough plays on defense to turn the longer rallies in our favor,” Murtha said. “We just didn’t read the attackers well on defense and were late to react to off-speed shots. We didn’t block as many balls as we needed to either. And offensively, we didn’t have enough balance and became rather one-dimensional. But overall I was proud at how we competed in a tough, high-pressure environment.”

Maryvale was triumphant at Lackawanna in the semifinal round on Nov. 5, however, as the Flyers swept Lake Shore, 3-0, behind a solid team effort.

Maryvale came out strong to start the match before falling behind in the first set, forcing the Flyers to ultimately rally to secure the win in the opening set. Nosal carried the bulk of the offensive load on the day for the victors and was the recipient of multiple sets from Nate Zawadzki, whom Murtha said “ran a smart offense.”

“We played well defensively, picking up a lot of digs,” Murtha said. “Mark Bailey blocked well, and Zach Amato passed well and played solid defense. Jason McCarthy came to play and provided several extra effort digs.”

For the year, Maryvale finished 19-5 overall, a mark that included winning the Grand Island Tournament right before the postseason began. The Flyers completed league play 10-2 to place second and finished the year ranked ninth in the Western New York Coaches Poll to finish in the top 10 for the first time in a decade.

“It was a tough ending to an otherwise awesome season, and though we will definitely miss having senior middle blocker Shanto Anderson around next year, he is the only senior departing the team,” Murtha said. “We have a lot to look forward to next year with nine players returning. We had more newcomers than returners on this year’s squad, so to achieve what we did was phenomenal. Our goal in the offseason will be to get stronger and gain more experience and confidence.”

COME ON DOWN ... TO WEST VIRGINIA
West Seneca Bee
Thursday, November 17, 2016

West Seneca West’s Ian Barker, front row middle, recently signed his national letter of intent to continue his volleyball career at NCAA Division I’s University of Charleston in West Virginia. Witnesses to the signing included, from left: front row - mom Laura Barker, West varsity volleyball coach Brett Widman; back row - athletics director Vinny Dell’Oso and West Principal Jay Brinker.

Daemen Volleyball Rolling as Tournament Begins
Stu Boyer, WGRZ
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

AMHERST, NY- An amazing season for the Daemen women's volleyball continues this weekend when the Wildcats host the East Coast Conference Championship. Its the first time in school history that Daemen has hosted a conference championship. 

The Wildcats come into the tournament riding a 14 game winning streak. Daemen brings a 22-6 record into the tournament. They are 13-1 in ECC play.

Daemen will play LIU Post in the semifinal matchup which begins at 5-pm Friday. The other semifinal features NYIT battling Bridgeport. 

First year head coach Stephanie Albano told Two On Your Side's Stu Boyar that the Wildcats offense has been a big key to their success. "We have a lot of offensive weapons and power and Bailey Dolegowski has been doing a great job as a freshman coming in and distributing the offense pretty evenly so its hard to defend. If you're the other team and you're scouting against us you don't know who's going to get the ball when. So I definitely think that's been a key to our success this year."

Reusch, Liberty League First Team all-star
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Rachel Reusch, a Sweet Home graduate and freshman middle hitter of the Clarkson University women’s volleyball team was selected as a Liberty League First Team all-star.

At the Liberty League Tournament, Reusch recorded a .600 hitting percentage and more than three kills per set. For the year, Reusch led the conference in hitting percentage with a rate of .342 and also averaged 2.22 kills per set. She also finished third in the conference in blocks per set at 0.83 per game.

East girls volleyball repeats in regional, advances to state championships
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Williamsville East’s girls volleyball team is heading back to the state championships.

The Lady Flames (19-0) defeated Section V Pittsford Sutherland in the Class A Far West Regional 25-17, 25-23, 25-22 Saturday at Victor High School in Rochester. East beat Pittsford-Sutherland in five sets in last year’s regional.

East faces Section II’s Burnt Hills-Balston Lake, Section XI’s Kings Park and Section I’s Walter Panas in pool play beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls. The Class A final is 10 a.m. Sunday.

Last year East went 2-4 in pool play and did not reach the finals.

“It’s really what the girls put as their main goal, to get back to Glens Falls and have another crack at the state title,” East coach Scott Wright said. “They worked hard to get there.”

Wright said his team did not play its “A” game against Pittsford-Sutherland but his players came up in big situations.

Strong serving from Rachel Steffan pushed East out to a 4-0 lead to start the first set. Pittsford Sutherland cut the deficit to 6-5, but East extended the lead to 11-7 with a kill by Steffan, an ace from Allison Jozwiak, and a block from Steffan and Leah Orsini.

Blocks by Jozwiak/Lexi Novak and Jozwiak/Summer Clark built East’s advantage to 16-12, and kills from Novak and Orsini put the Lady Flames up 22-16.

East built a 4-1 advantage in the second set on kills from Steffan and Greenfield, and two kills from Novak.

Pittsford-Sutherland – Class A state champion two years ago – responded and took its first lead, 10-9.

East trailed 13-11 but two kills from Steffan kept the Lady Flames in the set.

Kills from Novak and Orsini tied the score at 16-16 and East regained the lead on a block from Greenfield and Orsini.

Two kills from Novak extended the lead to 20-18. Ahead 23-22, East extended a point with seven digs before Steffan slammed home a kill.

Pittsford-Sutherland won the next point, but a kill from the back row from Novak closed out the set.

East raced out to a 6-1 lead in the third set. Pittsford Sutherland won the next five points before a kill from Novak gave the Lady Flames a 7-6 advantage.

East trailed 17-16 but a kill from Joziwak tied the score at 17-17. An ace from Jozwiak put the Lady Flames up 19-17.

Pittsford-Sutherland battled back to tie the score at 20-20, but East scored the next four points, including a block from Novak and Orsini, and a kill from Orsini. Novak closed out the match with a kill.

Novak (19 kills, 16 digs); Steffan (10 kills, 13 digs); and Greenfield (39 assists, three kills, six digs) led the Lady Flames.

“It’s always good to have someone like Lexi, Makayla and Rachel because they have another gear when the game is on the line,” Wright said. “I hope it will continue for us this weekend.”

Orsini (five kills, five blocks); Jozwiak (three kills, three blocks, two aces); Benz (eight digs) and Jessie Weaver (six digs) also contributed to the victory.

(Patrick J. Nagy contributed to the article)

Sweet Home boys volleyball falls in section final
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Sweet Home’s Anthony Nguyen saves a deflected ball on the baseline during the Panthers’ 14-25, 21-25, 14-25 loss to Hamburg in the
Section VI Division II-A final Nov. 8 at Lackawanna High School. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The Sweet Home boys volleyball team’s turnaround season came to an end in the Section VI Division II-A final Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Lackawanna High School.

The third-seeded Panthers committed too many unforced errors and struggled with setting in their 14-25, 21-25, 14-25 loss against fifth-seeded Hamburg.

Sweet Home did not win a match last year.

“I felt like we tried hard, but I don’t think we played to our potential,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “Our setting struggled. I don’t think we put the ball up where we could hit it. Part of that was because I wanted a quicker attack. I knew from the type of defense that Hamburg runs that we needed to spread out their blockers, and we didn’t have the setting.”

The first set was tied at 2-2 before Hamburg rolled off five straight points through a combination of kills and Sweet Home mistakes.

It was like that throughout the first set, as every time Sweet Home scored a point, Hamburg rolled off three or four more points.

Sweet Home fell behind 6-1 and 12-3 in the second set. But Sweet Home, led by kills from senior Colin May and junior Dylan Aarum, cut the deficit to 21-22 late before Hamburg closed out the set with kills by seniors Alex Andrzejewski and Jon Gordner, and a hitting error by Sweet Home.

“The big difference between this year and last year was our firepower,” Cicero said. “We have a lot more hitters this year. When we were down, I was confident that we could come back because

I thought the kids could put the ball down.”

Sweet Home seemed like they did not have much left in the tank by the third set. Hamburg extended a 10-5 lead to 15-5 and never looked back.

Gordner closed out the match with a kill.

May led the Panthers’ offense with seven kills. Junior Jon Miller added three kills. Junior Jack Hilwiller supplied two aces and good play in the back row.

Cicero knew this year’s team would be good, but he was surprised as to how quickly everything came together.

“We knew what we had,” he said. “I didn’t think a lot of people thought we would be this good. But with the returning players becoming stronger in the offseason and the younger players coming up from JV, it’s not a total surprise, but it was a surprise that we came together so quickly.”

May, Mike Ciminella and Anthony Nguyen – all starters – and Alex Wagner and Mike Hill are seniors.

Clarence Girls volleyball upended in Far West Regionals
JASON NADOLINSKI, Sports Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Clarence’s girls volleyball team reached the Far West Regional round for the third consecutive season Saturday, but unlike last year was unable to advance further after dropping a 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 setback to Penfield in a match played at Rochester’s Victor High School.

Clarence had leads in all three sets as the score progressed through the single digits and teens, and also got to 20 first in both the second and third games, but the Lady Red Devils were unable to get over the hump in any of the sets.

“We played about as well as we can play on Saturday and that really pushed Victor to the limit,” coach Michael Meyer said. “I really cannot complain about the fight the Clarence girls put up. Literally until the last ball dropped all of us believed that we had a chance. The last five or six points of that match may be the best volleyball that I have ever seen, and I bet if you ask anyone who was there they would agree.”

Meghan Neelon played like the All-American that she is, Meyer said, in finishing with 12 kills, seven assists and 14 digs. Emiley Kuhn collected many of her six kills on the night at critical points in the match, while Kennedy Oleszak added three kills. Melissa Ratzel finished with two kills and two blocks.

Lexi Leipold and Lyndsey Leipold also played strong defense, posting 15 digs between them against a very tall, strong and hard-hitting team. Maddie Christopher played her best defensive match of the year with five digs, and also had 12 assists, including a run of about four straight perfect sets that Neelon put away to almost bring the team back in the third set.

“Penfield’s hitter bombed ball after ball down the line and Meghan was up to the challenge,” Meyer said. “I think the best part of the night for us, though, was our tough serving and defense. Lexi Leipold, Maddie Christopher, and Lyndsey Leipold served tough all night, getting the other team out of system and giving us many free balls. The serve receive of Jaide Cummings, Lexi and Lyndsey was solid all night against probably the toughest serving team that we have seen all year.”

Clarence (17-2, 10-1 league) graduates seven players — Neelon, Christopher, Kuhn, Gretchen Weiss, Hannah Marlowe, Mary Owen and Emily Perna — off this year’s squad, all of whom contributed to the team’s success this season in their own way.

“The leadership, resolve, and composure of this team allowed us to fight in the face of adversity literally until the last point of the year,” Meyer said. “Before this group, we hadn’t won the regular-season league title in 10 years and hadn’t won sectionals in 25, and now we have a group of seven graduating seniors who won three straight. This group has never been satisfied with where they were as a team and have constantly strived to be better; they stuck together over the years in good times and bad. I am so proud of all that they have accomplished and of the amazing young women that they are, and feel so lucky that I have been here to witness to it.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Clarence Boys volleyball ends 17-year title drought
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Devin Dzierba serves up a point streak during the first set of Clarence’s 25-21, 25-13, 27-25 victory over
Lockport in the Section VI Division I championship match, held Nov. 8 at Lackawanna. It was Clarence’s first
sectional title in 17 years. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos atwww.BeeNews.com

Clarence’s boys volleyball team ended a 17-year long stretch without a sectional championship Nov. 8 when it defeated Lockport in the Division I championship match at Lackawanna, 25-21, 25-13, 27-25.

“Lockport looked so strong in the semis against Orchard Park, but we knew that if we played our game we could take them out of theirs, and that’s exactly what happened,” coach Kevin Starr said. “The celebration after the final point was something I’ll never forget. We have the last point on tape from several different angles and I think I’ve watched each one about 50 times.”

Clarence fell behind early in the first set, 9-4, but Starr said the Red Devils settled down following a timeout in which what was going wrong was discussed. From that point through the end of the second set, Clarence outscored Lockport by a combined 46-25 margin.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum, but at the end of each set, the scoreboard is cleared,” Starr said. “It’s not like in other sports where a bad first half can pretty much ruin a team’s chances to come back. The guys were really pumped after the second set, but the first question I asked them in the huddle before they took the court in the third set was, ‘What are the numbers on the scoreboard now?’ To a man, they responded, ‘Zeroes.’”

Clarence was prepared for the Lions’ hard push in the third set, and that’s what the Red Devils got in finding themselves training 24-22 with Lockport serving for the set. The Red Devils again took a timeout at that point to talk about what options were possible for the next rally, and after calling a play and then executing it, Clarence would ultimately lock down the title.

Henry Payne, who signed his national letter of intent Monday to play collegiately at Penn State, led Clarence with 21 kills and 14 digs. Shawn Trznadel had 31 assists, Teddy Payne had seven digs, and Tyler White had five kills and five digs.

The win put Clarence in the Far West Regional round Saturday at Orchard Park, and that’s where the Red Devils’ season ended as Section V’s Rochester had just a bit more on the day to be able to pull off the 25-19, 25-19, 25-21 victory.

Clarence had a couple of leads in the third set but was unable to finish the job. On two big points in the third set, the Red Devils also made honor calls, reversing points that the officials had awarded to them and giving them to Penfield.

“After the match, their coach went out of his way to say that he and his players were so impressed that we did that,” Starr said. “He said that they make honor calls, but they rarely see other teams that do. Right up to the final point, the guys simply wouldn’t accept the possibility that they could lose. It’s not that we played poorly, though we could have served a little better. Other than that, we played a strong match against a team that just didn’t have any weaknesses of which we could take advantage.

“Any loss is hard, especially when it’s one that ends a season, but hearing another coach say that our guys are worthy of respect and admiration for the way they played the game eased some of the pain of saying goodbye to a spectacular group of guys.”

Henry Payne ended his career with 21 kills, while White added seven kills. Teddy Payne chipped in with eight digs for Clarence.

Western New York 2016 Boys Top 10 Poll - FINAL
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Several standouts make college commitments official
By Miguel Rodriguez, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 (Updated 11/15/16)

It’s November. Do you know what that means?

It’s time for the early college signing period for most non-football sports to commence.

Several Western New York student-athletes will make their commitments official by signing letters of intent between Nov. 9-16.

-- Clarence girls volleyball star, scholastic All-American and past first team All-Western New York selection Meghan Neelon signed to attend University of Alabama.

Classmate and All-WNY boys volleyball selection Henry Payne is expected to sign his letter Monday to attend Penn State.

-- Prep Talk Awards Boys Volleyball Player of the Year Griffin Schmit of Canisius commited to Harvard. His teammate, Devin Joslyn, is going to Loyola-Chicago.

-- City Honors girls volleyball star Jenna Balduci, who also plays basketball and softball, is taking her talents to Division II Mercyhurst.

Any others signing letters of intent with a Division I or II program, please email information to either mrodriguez@buffnews.com or bbailey@buffnews.com.

ECC Volleyball Championship Bracket Officially Announced
Casey Rafferty, ECC Assistant Commissioner For Strategic Communications, daemenwildcats.com
Monday, November 14, 2016

Central Islip, N.Y. – For the first time in school history, Daemen College will host an East Coast Conference Championship when the ECC Volleyball Championship heads to Lumsden Gymnasium on Friday, November 18 and Saturday, November 19.

Hosting duties and home court advantage for the tournament go to Daemen after clinching their first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship. The Wildcats, who are also making their first-ever tournament appearance, come in to championship play riding a 14 game winning streak to move their record to 22-6 (13-1 ECC).

Daemen's semifinal opponent will be No. 4 seed, LIU Post. The Pioneers finished with a 15-12 (8-6 ECC) mark to earn the last spot in the tournament and their 13th straight ECC Championship appearance. The Pioneers, who have never won an ECC Volleyball Championship, dropped both games to Daemen during the regular season.

The other semifinal has No. 2 seed NYIT battling No. 3 seed Bridgeport in a rematch of last season's ECC and NCAA East Region Championship games. NYIT, the defending East Region Champions, wrapped up the regular season with a 26-5 (11-3 ECC) record and are looking for their first conference title since the 1990 season.

Bridgeport earned their conference-leading 14th straight tournament appearance on the heels of a 14-12 (10-4 ECC) record. The Purple Knights are looking to win their fifth straight ECC Championship and sixth in eight seasons.

NYIT and Bridgeport split their season series with each team winning on their home courts.

The tournament will start on Friday, November 18 with the LIU Post vs. Daemen matchup at 5:00 p.m. Bridgeport vs. NYIT will follow at 7:30 p.m. The winners of the semifinal matchups will move on to the final on Saturday, November 19 at 5:00 p.m.

All games during the championship will be broadcast live on the ECC's YouTube page (www.youtube.com/eastcoastconference). To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow us at @ECCsports. Tournament recaps, highlights, interviews, and box scores will also be available on www.eccsports.org at the tournament specific web page which can be found by clicking here.


2016 ECC Volleyball Championship at Daemen College
Semifinals - Friday, November 18
No. 4 LIU Post vs. No. 1 Daemen - 5:00 P.M.
No. 3 Bridgeport vs. No. 2 NYIT - 7:30 P.M.

Final - Saturday, November 19
Winner Semifinal One vs. Winner Semifinal Two - 5:00 P.M.

Amber Drzymala Named ECC Player Of The Week
Lea Sobieraski, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant, daemenwildcats.com
Monday, November 14, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College volleyball player Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) has been dubbed the East Coast Conference Player of the Week for the competitions held November 7 through November 13. The announcement was made via the league's weekly report which was released this afternoon from conference headquarters in Central Islip N.Y.

This is Amber's second weekly honor this season, she was previously named ECC Player of the Week for the competitions help September 12-19. This marks the second week in a row a Daemen player has earned the conference accolade, Amber's sister, Ashley Drzymala was the recipient last week.

Drzymala helped Daemen wrap up the 2016 regular season action two victories last week, defeating long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan College, and ECC opponent Mercy College. The Wildcats are 22-6 overall, and finished with a 13-1 mark in the league. Daemen's 14-game win streak is the seventh-longest active streak among all NCAA Division II teams. In the 3-1 victory against Roberts (Nov. 10), Daemen captured the outright regular season East Coast Conference Championship. 

Drzymala, a 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter, posted 11 kills and seven digs against the host Redhawks. In yesterday's contest against Mercy, Amber put on a stellar-performance in her last regular season home match at Lumsden Gymnasium. She recorded a match-high 19 kills, bringing her career total to 1000. Additionally, she tallied 18 digs for her 12th double-double of the 2016 campaign.

Amber became the ninth player in team history to notch 1000 kills, of that 1000 kills club, she is only the third player to also reach 1000 digs in a career. Amber joined Tristian Seibert (2000-03) and Joanna Fretthold (2009-12) to go down as one of the all-time greatest players in Daemen women's volleyball history. Amber surpassed 1000 digs earlier this season in the first meeting against Roberts Wesleyan. Her career total thus far (1,134), ranks tenth all-time behind Laura Baurer's 1,364. 

Amber ranks fifth in kills (331), sixth in kills per set (3.12), and tenth in digs (312) in the league. She is one of just three players in the ECC to rank in the top 10 in both total kills and digs.

Daemen earned the No. 1 seed and the rights to host the East Coast Conference Tournament, which features the top four teams in the league, this coming weekend Nov. 18-19. Drzymala and the Wildcats host No. 4 LIU Post in the first semifinal game of the ECC tournament this Friday at 5 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium. The winner will advance to the championship match, facing off against either No. 2 NYIT or No. 3 Bridgeport, on Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner of the East Coast Conference Tournament clinches an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

Clarence, Eden boys volleyball reach end of the line
By Melissa Brawdy, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 12, 2016

Two Section VI boys volleyball teams took the court on Saturday looking to punch a ticket to states against a Section V opponent, and two Section VI teams ended the day in disappointment. Clarence and Eden were swept by Penfield and Spencerport, respectively, in Saturday’s Far West Regionals at Orchard Park High School.

But both Section VI coaches refused to let the season be defined by Saturday’s results, choosing instead to focus on their teams’ accomplishments and resilience throughout the season, right up to Saturday’s final match.

The word that came to mind for Clarence coach Kevin Starr to describe his team’s season was “almost.”

On Saturday, his team’s effort against Section V’s Penfield was almost good enough. The Red Devils were swept by the Patriots, 25-19, 25-19 and 25-21, but they refused to accept defeat until the very end.

“We played a team that I think is the best team in the state, and we played ’em straight up,” Starr said. “It just wasn’t quite good enough. Gotta give them a lot of credit. We didn’t play bad. They just did too many things that we couldn’t stop. My guys went out swinging. To the very, very last point, they thought they could win it. I’m very proud of them because of that.”

Clarence took the first lead in the third game and came back to take the lead again and again before ultimately falling, 25-21.

“It never occurred to them that they could lose, and how can I ever want more from a team than that?” Starr said.

Starr was emotional after the match, especially after saying goodbye to seven seniors whom he’s grown extremely close to over the years. That includes captain Henry Payne, who led the Red Devils on Saturday with 12 kills.

“I told them I love them,” Starr said. “Because I do. It just hurts because we’ve been together for a long time – four years with some of them, and it hurts right now. But I also told them that they’ll remember last Tuesday when we won the sectional championship. Long term, they’ll remember that better than they’ll remember today.”

Eden coach Robert Pierce described his team’s season as “outstanding,” a season in which he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“We lost a lot of seniors last year, a lot of really good volleyball players, and we didn’t really have that many expectations,” Pierce said. “We knew we were gonna be good, but we didn’t know how good we were gonna be, and I got a lot of compliments throughout the year, especially towards the end, from people who really got excited about Eden volleyball, and the word that they would use was ‘impressed.’ How they carried themselves on and off the court; how resilient they were.”

But the key ingredients were missing on Saturday, or at the very least, Eden didn’t have enough of them, as Spencerport swept the Raiders, 25-18, 25-21 and 25-17. Eden led the Rangers a few times during the afternoon but fell short of finishing.

“Ultimately volleyball comes down to two skills, and that’s serving and passing, and we lost that game today,” Pierce said. “They outserved us; they outpassed us. And when you’re missing nine serves like we did in Game Three, it’s really difficult to get anything going.”

But at the end of the day, Pierce sat his team down and told his players that he was proud of them and not to let Saturday’s loss define the year.

“I’m proud of them; I’m really happy with them,” Pierce said. “They got us a sectional title. There’s been numerous teams that I’ve had in the past six or seven years that on paper were better, but they didn’t punch through, and this team did. So I think it goes to the character of them and how well they listen.

“One loss does not define our season. There’s 24 other teams who are dying to be in this situation, and they weren’t. We were. We were the last man standing, and today we just fell a little bit short.”

Eden girls' trip to state finals will be last for coach
Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 12, 2016

Eden’s girls volleyball team is going back to the Final Four of the state tournament for the 18th straight time. It will be the last for Raiders coach Stephen Pierce, who announced Saturday that he plans to step down after 28 seasons when Eden’s quest is over.

Eden in Class C and Williamsville East in Class A advanced with victories Saturday over Section V (Rochester area) opponents at Victor.

Eden triumphed over Caledonia-Mumford, 25-9, 25-12 and 25-18.

Senior Sam Burgio, who will graduate early and enroll at the University of Maryland in January, led Eden to its victory with 17 kills.

"If she’s not the best player in the state she’s one of the two or three," said Pierce, who will give up coaching but stay on as a teacher in the Eden schools.

"I’m ready," said Pierce, who gave "family concerns" as his reason for retiring.

"We have the state record for number of titles and for totals wins and we’ve sent kids on to Division I schools. It’s been fun."

Paiton Basinski had nine kills; Emma Sutfin had five aces; and Molly Breier had 10 digs and three kills in the Eden victory over Caledonia-Mumford.

"They are another school that is used to winning a lot. They were 22-1 and they had a crowd of 300 behind them. We started if with a 25-9 victory in the first game. We had a little trouble serving in the third game. Other than that we played well."

Williamsville East prevailed over Pittsford Sutherland in straight sets, despite coach Scott Wright’s declaration that "we didn’t play that well." The set scores were 25-17, 25-23 and 25-22.

"They slowed down our tempo and we made a lot more mistakes than we usually make," Wright said. "We played well enough to win, and that’s all I care about."

Senior Lexi Novak had 12 kills and three blocks, and Rachel Steffan had 10 kills and 12 digs. Makayla Greenfield had 30 assists and was a key to the victory, according to Wright.

"She did a real good job of running our offense," Wright said. "She knows what matchups we want to go to and does a good job of executing the game plan."

It will be the second straight year that the Flames made it to the state finals.

In Class AA, Clarence fell to Penfield of Section V in straight sets at Victor.

In the Class D subregional at LeRoy, Panama defeated Bishop Kearney of Rochester in four sets, 25-13, 23-25, 25-15, 25-16.

Eden claims boys volleyball title in five-set thriller
By Corey Desiderio, Buffalo News
Thursday, November 10, 2016

The Eden Raiders were all smiles after their Overall Division II championship Wednesday.

Eden boys volleyball coach Robert Pierce has adopted a few mantras from Chicago Cubs skipper Joe Maddon for his team this year.

Chief among them is, “don’t try to be perfect, be good enough.”

The Raiders were just that in the Overall Division II Championship on Wednesday.

After dropping the first two sets, the Raiders stormed back by winning the final three to earn a five-set marathon of a victory over Hamburg and a spot in the Far West Regionals.

“Hamburg played a heck of a match,” Pierce said at Lackawanna. “And that’s a team that’s really hot and really physical. There’s nothing better than to have one of us victorious in a crosstown rivalry. Thankfully it was us this time.”

Pierce knew all his team needed to do was win that third set after falling in the first two, 16-25 and 26-28. After struggling in set one, the margin in set two was as close as it could possibly be. The arrow was trending upward.

“When you’re up 0-2 and feeling really good and lose the next one, things start to get really dicey,” Pierce said. “I’ve been in that other situation, too. We were fortunate enough to win that game three.”

After the Raiders won an intense third set, 29-27, the momentum was all theirs. Eden went on to win set four, 25-19, and totally dominate the fifth and decisive set, 25-12.

Junior Collin Rigley, Eden’s top scorer with 27 kills, took awhile to get his game under control. Pierce even resorted to subbing him out at one point at the end of the first set. But once he regrouped and got back on the court, that’s when the Raiders started to roll.

“Collin played an awful match last year, and I’ve told him that. I love the kid, but he had to learn that. Today, he got a little too up. His best mode is not at an 11,” Pierce said, gesturing with his hands. “It’s at a seven and eight, because he just can’t function.

“So I had to sit him. I was willing to lose that game, settled him down and then he started to play a little bit better. We made a few adjustments on his serve, and then he at times was the best player on the floor.”

Setter Gavin Musielak racked up 55 assists for the winners and was uncharacteristically solid at the service line.

“I have to give big time credit to my young sophomore,” Pierce said. “He’s been one of my worst servers all year long, so I sent him to the back of the wall and he just delivered.

“That’s what happens in championship games. Certain guys do certain things that they haven’t done before, and that can be one of the major turning points.”

Junior Drew Hesse also recorded 18 kills for Eden. The trio of seniors Alex Andrzejewski and Jon Gordner and sophomore Jake Couzens carried the load offensively for Hamburg. Statistics for them were not available upon completion of the match.

Next up for Eden is the Far West Regionals at 2 p.m. Saturday at Orchard Park. The Raiders will face the winner of Spencerport and Midlakes, which play Thursday for the Section V title. The winner Saturday moves on to states the following weekend at Suffolk County Community College on Long Island.

Eden advances in girls volleyball with win over LaFayette
Staff, Buffalo News
Thursday, November 10, 2016

There's more traveling in store for the Eden girls volleyball team in its quest for an eight straight New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association title.

The Raiders advanced another step toward the Final Four in Glens Falls next week by sweeping three sets from LaFayette of Section III Wednesday in a subregional match at Chittenango.

Eden will face LeRoy or Caledonia-Mumford of Section V at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Victor.

"We've probably logged 400 miles already," said Eden coach Stephen Pierce. "Tonight it was Syracuse and then its Rochester."

The Raiders had a tough four-set match Monday night against Portville for the Section VI Class C championship at Sweet Home. Then came the subregional round two nights later.

"There was concern about a letdown but they played strong right through the beginning in from of a crowd of about 200 of their fans," Pierce said.

Senior setter Alyssa Durski led Eden with 31 assists and eight digs. Emma Sutfin had three aces and six digs while Sam Burgio provied 17 kills and three aces.

Eden is 39-3 this season. The Raiders have won the last five state Class C titles and won Class B state crowns the two seasons before that. Since 2006, Eden has three Class B state titles and six Class C championships.

In the Class B subregional, Cazenovia of Section III swept three sets from Alden, 25-11, 25-12 and 25-13, ending the season for the Bulldogs, who won a tough five-set Section VI championship match over East Aurora on Monday night at Sweet Home.

It was the first sectional title since 1998 for Alden, which finished the season with a 20-3 record.

Boys Section VI Playoff Brackets
Section VI
Thursday, November 10, 2016

2016 Section VI Boys A Playoff Brackets

2016 Section VI Boys B Playoff Brackets

Girls Section VI Playoff Brackets
Section VI
Thursday, November 10, 2016

2016 Section VI Girls AA Playoff Brackets

2016 Section VI Girls A Playoff Brackets

2016 Section VI Girls B Playoff Brackets

2016 Section VI Girls C Playoff Brackets

2016 Section VI Girls D Playoff Brackets

Lady Legends fall in volleyball championship
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 10, 2016

Lancaster’s Kayla Wolinski goes up for a kill over Clarence's Meghan Neelon during game two in the Section VI Class AA
final at Sweet Home High School Friday. Photo by Nicholas T. LoVerdePurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The Lancaster girls volleyball team did not give up without a fight. The Lady Legends dropped a three-set match against Clarence in the Section VI Class AA Championship Friday at Sweet Home High School. Despite falling behind early in each set, the team continued to fight.

The talented Lady Red Devils squad got off to a 10-4 start in the first set, prompting a Lancaster timeout.

The Lady Legends then began clawing back, inching closer and closer before taking a 21-20 lead. Clarence continued to press however and came back to take the first set 26-24.

The Lady Legends fell behind early again in the second set, prompting another timeout. The girls went back onto the court, trailing 9-4, and went on a run to take a 14-13 lead. The score remained close at 17-17 before Clarence began to take over. The Lady Red Devils scored seven of the final eight points of the set, taking it 25-18.

Clarence jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Lancaster again stormed back, taking a 10-8 lead. The score was tied as high as 18-18 and the Lady Legends late trailed just 22-21. But the Lady Red Devils closed things out with precision and accuracy, taking the set 25-22.

“The difference was we started all three of those matches behind,” Lancaster Coach Becky Edwards said. “We caught up in the middle of the sets. By the time the end came around, it was a little too late.”

The Lady Legends were at their best when Jess Clark was serving well. Her efforts led to the series of runs and comebacks for Lancaster. Clark had five aces while Katie Becht had 16 digs and Julia Kurowski and Kayla Wolinski had six kills.

“One of the servers, Jess Clark, came in and got us big runs when we needed them. She’s basically our serving specialist,” Edwards said. “We could have easily folded over once the game started. We always kept in it and stayed with it. They didn’t want the season to end; this was a great bunch of girls.”

Another major factor from the match was the play of Clarence star middle hitter Megan Neelon. The Division I recruit seemed to come up big whenever Clarence needed her most.

“Meghan Neelon made about two errors the whole match, she’s going to Alabama, she’s just a great competitor,” Edwards said. “She was definitely a big-time factor in this one.”

The Lady Legends may have fallen Friday, but the season is considered a success overall. The team had a tremendous regular season and reached it’s goal of making it to the sectional championship.

“Our goal from the beginning of the season was to make it here. We did that. I thought we played well. A couple points here or there were the difference maker,” Edwards said. “This is a great group of girls and it’s sad to see this season end. We’re losing five great starters, but now we have to get ready for next year. We’re hoping to be back here next year.”

St. Mary’s girls volleyball headed to state championship
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 10, 2016

Victoria Jankowski of St. Mary’s finishes the set with a big spike in the Lady Lancers semi-final
win over Mount Mercy. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The train keeps rolling. The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team is once again the Monsignor Martin champion. The Lady Lancers have now won six titles in a row and more than a dozen this century.

This year’s triumph featured playoff wins over Mount Mercy and Sacred Heart. In the semi-final match, the Lady Lancers topped the Magic in three sets, 25-8, 25-11, 25-10.

“We worked a lot on our ball control,” St. Mary’s Coach Donald Pieczynski said. “If our passing attack is going well, it’s pretty lethal. It was on that day. The team played well. All 16 players played. The whole team contributed.”

That win moved the team onto the finals where Sacred Heart was waiting. The first match was close, with the Lady Lancers edging out a 25-22 win. Things loosened up a bit in the last two, leading to 25-15 and 25-14 St. Mary’s wins.

Summer Slade had 16 kills, Jill Vitale had 35 assists and freshman Kelly Cleversley had five aces in the first set. Monsignor Martin MVP Caitlyn Meyer had nine kills.

“Our service game was A-plus. The first set was pretty close,” Pieczynski said. “We had a seven or-eight-point lead on the team, but they started to come back at the end. We won in style in the last two sets, though.”

The titles have piled up for St. Mary’s to the point where it’s difficult for those around the program to remember exactly how many they’ve won. State tournament appearances and championships have not been uncommon either. The element of constant turnover of players in high school keeps everyone motivated.

“Every team is new. You have new players and some turnover every year,” Pieczynski said. “Some girls that haven’t been there before might be anxious and excited. That helps you keep the enthusiasm.”

The team will now turn its attention to the New York State Catholic Volleyball Championship Tournament at St. Francis Prep in New York City Saturday. The tournament features four teams and begins with pool play. Winning a state title will take an extraordinary effort from the Lady Lancers.

“There is pool play so to win it all, you have to win five matches,” Pieczynski said. “You have to stay focused through the whole day. We’re going to see if we have what it takes. Focus is the key. All the teams are talented and they all have much bigger enrollments. It’s really a David vs. Goliath match up. There’s no class levels when it comes to Catholic volleyball. It’s all one grouping. We’re going to be facing some very good teams.”

Lady Blue Devils win B-1 volleyball title
East Aurora Bee
Thursday, November 10, 2016

East Aurora’s girls volleyball team swept Maryvale in straight sets Thursday to knock off last year’s sectional finalists and claim the Section VI Class B-1 title in its own right by 25-15, 25-20 and 25-14 scores.

“I’m extremely proud of my team and what they accomplished in this game,” coach Rebecca Jacobs said. “We knew what Maryvale was going to do and we responded well. we went into this game with a plan and focused on that plan from start to finish. We knew that we had to stop their outside hitters and that’s exactly what we did. Our serving was tough and our passing was nearly perfect.”

Junior outside hitter Julia Halsey and sophomore middle blocker Olivia Covington were East Aurora’s main weapons for the match, with Halsey blasting eight kills and getting four blocks, and Covington adding six kills, two blocks and two aces.

The Lady Blue Devils then ran into a tough Alden squad in Monday’s overall Class B championship match, dropping a 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 28-26, 21-25 decision to come tantalizingly close to earning a spot in the Far West Regional.

East Aurora started out slow in the first two sets but came roaring back in the next two sets to force a decisive fifth set. The teams battled to an 18-18 tie at one point in the fifth set before a few hitting errors gave Alden the momentum.

Halsey and junior outside hitter Quinn Whatley each had nine kills to guide East Aurora’s efforts.

“Despite the loss, my girls really showed a lot of character and never gave up in the match,” Jacobs said. “We are a very young team, only losing one senior, so for my young team to come back after losing the first two games says a lot about how much they care and shows their true ability to face challenge on the court.”

East Aurora finished its 2016 campaign with a 16-4 record, one of its best in years.

Three Women's Volleyball Players Earn All-Conference Honors
athletics.dyc.edu
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Buffalo, NY – Three upperclassman of the D'Youville women's volleyball team turned in outstanding seasons and were named to the AMCC All-Conference Team.

Junior Abby Booth (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) and senior Megan McCarthy (Eden, NY/Eden) were named AMCC Second Team All-Conference selections while junior Kendyll Smith (Petrolia, PA/Karns City) was announced as an AMCC Third Team All-Conference selection.

Booth has had a bounce-back season in 2016 after missing a large portion of 2015 with a torn ACL. Booth led the team in assists (422) and service aces (34), was tied for first in matches played (89) and was second in digs (158). She has also contributed 81 kills to go along with 11 total blocks.

She has 11 matches of 20-plus assists, including a season high 30 against Medaille where she also had 27 digs. Booth's assist total ranks ninth in the AMCC and she is tied for sixth in service aces, as well as seventh in assists per set (4.74). She was named AMCC Player of the Week once.

Last season, Abby was second in assists but led the team before her season ending injury. She was still fourth in digs and was fifth in service aces. As a freshman, Abby Booth was third on the team in assists.

McCarthy has one again been one of the best players on D'Youville. Megan led the Spartans in hitting percentage (.257) and total blocks (41) while was second in kills with 143.

Megan has once again been a force in the middle for the Spartans. She has been one of the best middle blockers in the conference this season, but her offense has started to catch up with her defensive play. Her hitting percentage is sixth in the AMCC. Megan was a 2015 AMCC Third Team All-Conference member.

In 2015, Megan led the team in hitting percentage, kills and service aces while was second in total blocks. She was also fourth in total blocks. In her first year of the team, Megan was second on the team in total blocks.

Smith has been the top source of offense for D'Youville this season. Kendyll led the team with 175 kills, adding 112 digs. She is tied for the team lead in sets played at 89 and she has become a reliable all-around player. She sits at third on the team with 25 total blocks. Smith has seven double-digit kill games, including two double-doubles.

As a sophomore, Kendyll was second on the team in kills and third in digs. In her freshman season of 2014, Smith was second in kills on the team as well.

Clarence, Hamburg, Eden win Section VI boys volleyball titles
By MIKE PETRO, Buffalo News
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Clarence celebrates its win over Lockport in the Section VI Division I boys volleyball championships at Lackawanna. (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

Kevin Starr didn’t waste any time finding a way to motivate his Clarence boys volleyball team for the season.

On the first day of practice, the coach pointed to the boys volleyball banner in the gym that read 1999, the last time the Red Devils had won a sectional and divisional title, and told his players this group was destined to put the next banner on the wall at the school.

The third-seeded Red Devils did just that Tuesday night at Lackawanna High School, finishing off a run through Section VI Division I with a three-set sweep of top-seed Lockport, 25-21, 25-13, 28-26.

“Every week, we’d look at the banner determined to put 2016 up there,” Starr said. “We knew we had something this year.”

Earlier, fifth-seeded Hamburg earned the Division II-A title by sweeping No. 3 Sweet Home in three sets, 25-14, 25-21, 25-14. Hamburg had upset top-seeded Williamsville East in four sets Saturday to advance to the finals.

“We caught fire at the right time,” Hamburg coach Brian Carroll said. “We’ve been getting better every day in practice. This has been a real fun team to work with.”

Hamburg will meet Eden in the Division II crossover final Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Lackawanna. Eden, one of Western New York’s most successful volleyball programs, won its 28th sectional title, the first since 2010, by sweeping Maryvale, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18, in the Division II-B championship.

“This one really does feel good,” Eden coach Robert Pierce said. “I’ve had some better teams on paper but this team is just resilient. They deal with adversity and stay pretty calm. They’re showing maturity beyond their years.”

In Division I, Lockport jumped to an opening set 9-4 lead, but from there Clarence took over and dominated the first two sets. The Lions fought hard in the final set and had match point leading by 24-22, but couldn’t extend the match.

“We had talked about what we needed to do to take them out of their game and we had a little bit of hard time getting that going,” Starr said. “They’re a very strong team but we felt like going to our strength would take them out of theirs.”

Going to their strength meant feeding senior 6-foot-4 standout Henry Payne, who finished with 21 kills and 14 digs. The Penn State-commit was dominant, consistently thrashing unreturnable balls over the net.

Starr said whenever the team gets in trouble, he tells his setter Shawn Trznadel (31 assists) to go to Payne. He doesn’t care if the entire gym knows it.

“We knew if we just played our game, we’d be able to win,” Payne said.

Leading NFL-champion Lockport was senior Treston White with nine kills and sophomore Rhees Perry with 13 digs. The Lions knocked off defending champion Orchard Park in five sets to advance to the final.

Hamburg celebrates its sweep of Sweet Home in the Section VI Division II-A final (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

About three weeks ago, Carroll turned to his Hamburg team and told them, “We’re ready.”

The Bulldogs had struggled during the season, to that point, but their coach noticed a maturation in the team’s junior setters Jake Storey and Liam McCormmick. Hamburg picked up some key wins to finish the regular season and continued the momentum into the postseason. Leading the Bulldogs’ offense in the Division II-A match were seniors Jon Gordner, Alex Andrzejewski and Gage Schneider, junior Stefan Marjanovic and sophomore Jake Couzens.

“At the beginning of the season, we weren’t really a team yet but through some big wins over Canisius and Frontier we really started clicking and that’s what got us this far,” Gordner said. “I think we played incredible tonight.”

The Bulldogs won a sectional title for the seventh time in the last 13 years, including three in the last four seasons.

“They know they have a legitimate shot every year,” Carroll said. “They want to carry on the torch that the other guys in the past left for them.”

Sweet Home was led by senior Colin May’s seven kills and the play of junior back row specialist Jack Hiwiller. The Panthers went from a winless season in 2015 to this year’s championship match.

Eden celebrates its sweep of Maryvale with its supporters (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

In Division II-B, top-seed Eden put it all together - big serving, trustworthy passing and crucial contributions from its middle hitters. Senior middles Connor Higgins finished with 13 kills and Jesse Brockman added 12, nicely complimenting the team’s offensive leaders on the outside, juniors Collin Rigley and Drew Hesse.

“It’s nice to have a balanced attack and to not have to rely on my big hitters, Collin and Drew, as much and just let someone else go to work,” Pierce said.

Eden volleyball teams aren’t accustom to going multiple years without a sectional title.

“We’ve had a couple of teams the last few years that have come so close and I think a lot of the guys remember how it feels to get close and not get it,” Rigley said.

Pierce expects Hamburg to present a challenge physically in the crossover final but he thinks his team matches up well.

“It’s going to get harder as we go up,” he said. “We’ll rely on our serve and passing game. I think that will get us in the match and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Thrice as nice: Girls volleyball wins another title
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Senior outside hitter Meghan Neelon, left, powers through a kill past the block attempt of Lancaster’s Alyssa Babinger
during the second set of the Lady Red Devils’ 26-24, 25-18, 25-22 triumph in Friday’s Section VI Class AA final at
Sweet Home. It was Clarence’s third sectional title in as many years. Photo by Nicholas T.
LoVerdePurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Clarence’s girls volleyball team picked up its third Section VI Class AA championship in as many seasons Friday by knocking off Lancaster by 26-24, 25-18, 25-22 scores in a match held at Sweet Home.

The first set, which went back and forth throughout, came down to the wire. With Lancaster serving for game point at 24-23, recent American Volleyball Coaches Association/Under Armour Girls First Team All-American Meghan Neelon came out of Clarence’s timeout and recorded a critical kill. She then served two balls that resulted in free balls, which Melissa Ratzel subsequently converted into kills — including the set clincher.

The next two games saw huge momentum shifts throughout, but Clarence ultimately found a way to win the next two.

The Alabama-bound Neelon led the way for the victors with 18 kills, while Emiley Kuhn had seven kills. Melissa Ratzel chipped in with six kills and six blocks, while Maddie Christopher set up her teammates 20 times.

Lexi MacDonald chipped in with 15 digs, Jaide Cummings had eight digs and Lyndsey Leipold added seven digs.

“Both teams showed up ready to play and the match was played at an extremely high level,” coach Michael Meyer said. “The back row play from Jaide, Lexi and Lyndsey was superb; their serve receive set up our whole offense and their free ball passing led to many point opportunities for us. It seemed they were constantly on the floor saving ball after ball.”

Clarence kicked off its playoff run by defeating Williamsville North on Oct. 28 by 25-23, 25-16, 25-14 scores. Neelon led the way with 19 kills and seven digs, while Cummings and Kuhn added five kills each from the outside. Ratzel chipped in with five kills and seven blocks from the middle as the Lady Red Devils “played great side-out offense behind the steady passing of Jaide Cummings, Lexi MacDonald, and Lyndsey Leipold,” Meyer said.

Clarence moved on to face Niagara Wheatfield in the semifinals on Nov. 1, and left little doubt as to which team would win by coming out strong in what was ultimately a 25-13, 25-13, 25-13 triumph.

Christopher “had one of her best setting performances” that night, Meyer said, finishing with 22 sets. Many of them went to Neelon, who finished the night with 18 kills. Ratzel, Cummings and Kennedy Oleszak each had six kills, while MacDonald had 20 digs and three aces.

The Lady Red Devils now move on to their third straight Far West Regional when they travel to Rochester Saturday to face Penfield at 5:30 p.m.

Clarence Boys volleyball squad defeats Frontier, reaches DI final for first time since ’02
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Henry Payne protects the middle of the court on a serve receive during Clarence’s boys
volleyball team’s 25-14, 25-17, 25-22 triumph over Kenmore West in a Section VI
Division I quarterfinal on Nov. 1. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Clarence’s boys volleyball team won one of the most important rubber matches it has played in in quite some time Friday, defeating Frontier — the team it shared the regular-season ECIC I title with — in a Section VI Division I semifinal by 25-22, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20 scores at Lackawanna.

Frontier cut down Clarence’s effectiveness in blocking for points during the first three sets, holding the Red Devils to just four. Coach Kevin Starr adjusted things in the fourth set, moving Clarence’s blocks more to the outside to take away what the Falcons’ hitters were doing, and that led to five blocks in the fourth set alone — including what Starr labeled “a giant one” by middle hitter Ares Blessios on a critical point late in the game.

Henry Payne had 27 kills to lead the way for Clarence, while his younger brother Teddy had 14 digs from his libero position. Outside hitter Tyler White added nine kills, while Shawn Trznadel had 37 assists.

Devin Dzierba served match point to close the win out for Clarence.

“We had some film and some charts on them, so we knew what their tendencies were and where they had scored points on us in our previous matches,” Starr said. “They came out firing with their backs against the wall and really took it to us in the third set especially.”

Clarence moved on to the semifinals after taking down Kenmore West in the quarterfinal round on Nov. 1 by 25-14, 25-17, 25-22 scores. The Red Devils struggled a little in the third set, trailing 22-20, but sided out. That gave Dzierba the opportunity to enter the game to serve the last four points of the match.

Henry Payne finished with 18 kills, while Shawn Trznadel had 29 assists. JV call-up Aaron Sinica also had the opportunity to serve for Clarence.

“Serving has been a problem for us at times this season, but Aaron has a strong and accurate jump serve that he unleashed 13 times without a miss,” Starr said. “Tyler continues to provide a nice option for us opposite Henry too; teams have to pay attention to him, so this gives us options that we wouldn’t have if Tyler weren’t a threat to put the ball away.”

Clarence’s win over Frontier put the Red Devils in the sectional final for the first time in over a decade, but information about the team’s clash with top-seeded Lockport Tuesday was not available at press time. Whichever team is victorious, however, will advance to Saturday’s Far West Regional at Orchard Park.

“Many of the guys and I stayed to watch Lockport play in the other semifinal, and we now have some good notes on them and a game plan that we think can work,” Starr said.

East girls volleyball three-peats in Class A
Novak breaks single-season kill record in semis
PATRICK NAGY Sports Reporter Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

For the third consecutive year, Williamsville East is the queen of Class A girls volleyball in Section VI.

The second-seeded Lady Flames (18-0) downed top-seeded Grand Island 25-20, 25-22, 25-15 for the title Friday night at Sweet Home.

“It’s unbelievable,”

East coach Scott Wright said. “It’s a testament to how hard they work during the year and during the offseason through travel volleyball, making volleyball their top sport, and it paid off…It’s tough to beat a team laded with seniors. We have six seniors and all have a role on the team. It’s a credit to them to working hard and not wanting to lose.”

“We knew we would have to work even harder after graduating Carly [Shifflet, outside hitter] and Sam [Mendelsohn, defensive specialist] but we put in the work,” junior setter Makayla Greenfield said. “It’s an amazing feeling to win for the third time.”

“We work so hard in practice,” senior outside hitter Lexi Nowak said. “Everyone is going for every ball and our passing… it was a whole atmosphere that I have never seen out of this team. Everyone wanted it so badly.”

East opened the first set on a 5-0 run, including three kills by Novak, and a block and a kill from Orsini, but Grand Island rallied and tied it at 5-5.

East separated itself with the match tied at 7-7 with a three-point rally, led by two kills from sophomore right side/outside hitter Rachel Steffan, and a kill from Novak, and held a three- to four-point lead until Grand Island tied the set at 19-19 when East hit the ball out of bounds.

“We just played our game,” Steffan said. “If we get off game, we have to reset and start over and work our way back.”

A block from Jozwiak swung the set back into East’s advantage, and the Lady Flames closed out the match on a 5-1 run, including an ace by junior middle hitter Allison Jozwiak, and two kills by senior middle hitter Leah Orsini.

The second set was very competitive. East trailed 9-6 and went on a 5-0 run, including two aces by Jozwiak, and never trailed the rest of the match.

Grand Island eventually cut the deficit to 23-22, forcing East to call a timeout. On the next play, a kill by Nowak followed by a kill from Greenfield, closed out the set.

“I told Lexi after the match at 23-22 I thought there would be a gap and she hit it right through the gap,” Nowak said. “Big-time players make big-time shots in big-time situations. I think we kind of broke them a little bit.”

Williamsville East defensive specialist Ann Marie Jones (16) digs a ball as Rachel Steffan (3) looks on during the Lady Flames’
25-20 win over Grand Island in game one of the Section VI Class A final Friday at Sweet Home. East beat Grand Island in three
sets to win its third consecutive section title. Photo by Nicholas T. LoVerdePurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

East jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the third set and led by as many as 12, 22-10. Two kills from Steffan and one from Orsini made the score 24-14. Novak won the match with a kill.

For the match, Nowak and Steffan led the offense with 18 kills and 13 kills, respectively. Novak and Steffan both had 13 digs.

Wright said even though they got 80 percent of our kills, they could not have done that without the consistent passing of Greenfield, who dished out 38 assists. Greenfield has passed 1,000 assists for the season for the second consecutive year. She also contributed 12 digs on defense.

“She betters every ball, is so consistent and executes the game plan,” Wright said.

“A lot of our hitters were on,” Greenfield said. “I knew I could trust anyone that I could get the ball to and they got the kills.”

Orsini added eight kills.

Wright also noted the senior leadership in the back row from Julianna Benz (11 digs), Ann Marie Jones (nine digs) and Jessica Weaver (six digs). Jozwiak added six digs.

East advanced to its fourth straight section final after beating Hamburg 25-10, 25-13, 25-18 at home in the semifinals Nov. 1.East began the match with an eight-point serving run from Steffan, including three kills from Novak, and two aces and blocks from Greenfield and Orsini. An ace from Jozwiak moved East ahead 14-5.

During the first set, Novak registered her 502nd kill of the season, breaking Shifflet’s single-season record of 501 set last year.

Hamburg led 9-7 in the second set, but a block from Greenfield, two aces from Weaver, two kills from Novak, and a kill from Greenfield, put East ahead 13-9.

East won the final six points of the set, including two kills from eighth-grader Summer Clark.

The Lady Flames built a 9-2 lead in the third set behind four kills from Novak and two aces from Steffan.

Hamburg battled back to get the score to 12-10 but East responded by winning five of the next six points, including three kills from Orsini. Two kills from Orsini and Jozwiak clinched the set.

East was led by Novak (21 kills, 19 digs), Greenfield (40 assists, 10 digs), Steffan (six kills, 12 digs, four aces), Orsini (eight kills), Jozwiak (five kills, seven digs), Clark (five kills, three digs), Benz (12 digs), and Weaver (seven digs).

East plays Pittsford-Sutherland of Section V for the third time in the Class A Far West Regional at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Victor High School in Rochester. East lost in four sets two years ago and won in five sets last year to reach the state finals for the first time in program history.

Williamsville South

The fifth-seeded Lady Billies’ saw their season end in the Class A semifinals, losing to top seed Grand Island 18-25, 11-25, 8-25.

“I was actually pleased with how we came out,” said South coach Tom Sproull. “Grand Island has eight seniors and is very good. We had a few chances and a few misplays. We had a hard time when we rallied and Grand Island brought something back pretty decent. Grand Island played very sound defense.”

Grace Stahl led the South offense with six kills.Maddie Popielski and Megan Muelhbauer each added three kills and Amari DeBerry added two kills.

South finished 12-8 overall, including 8-4 in ECIC II. With no seniors on the roster, Sproull said he was pleased that the team reached the semifinals.

“It was one of my most enjoyable teams to coach,” Sproull said. “They wanted to keep getting better. That is exciting moving forward.”

Muelhbauer led the team with 93 kills. Amari DeBerry had a team-high 27 blocks.

Gabby Presutti had a team-high 226 digs. Haley Marchewka handed out a team-high 201 assists. Riley Domin was second with 145 assists.

Sweet Home boys volleyball reaches section final
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Sweet Home’s Dylan Aarum ends a third hit deep down the line during the Panthers’ Section VI Division II-A quarterfinal
25-20, 25-18, 25-19 home win Nov. 1. The Panthers defeated North Tonawanda 26-24, 25-12, 18-25, 25-16 in the
semifinals Saturday at Lackawanna High School. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Sweet Home’s boys volleyball team is one win away from a Section VI title. That is crazy to think considering the Panthers did not win a match last year.

The third-seeded Panthers downed second seeded North Tonawanda, 26-24, 25-12, 18-25, 25-15, in Saturday’s semifinal at Lackawanna, advancing them to face fifth-seeded Hamburg for the Section VI Division II-A final Tuesday at Lackawanna High School. Information about the Hamburg match was unavailable before press time.

It is Sweet Home’s first appearance in a section final since losing to Hamburg in the Class A final in 2009.

“I believed in the kids and knew what kind of athleticism they brought to the table,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “Did I think we would go this far? In mind, I was setting this as one of our goals.”

Cicero said North Tonawanda was a tough opponent, although he said the scores don’t reflect it.

Sweet Home trailed 18-12 and 20-15 in the first set and won 26-24.

“I think that put North Tonawanda on their heels into the second game,” Cicero said.

North Tonawanda won the third set and Sweet Home stayed composed and won the fourth set.

“We kept chipping away and getting a point here or there,” Cicero said.

Cicero noted the defense of Jack Hiwiller and Evan Bezak.

The Panthers opened the postseason with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 home win over Williamsville South in the quarterfinals Nov. 1.

“It’s always tough to beat a team three times,” Cicero said. “We were focused on playing on our side of the court. We went down early but our passing kicked it and we ran our offense against them.”

Cicero noted the play of DJ Genau, setter, and John Miller, back row and right side in front row, for putting the ball in place for hitters to get attack, and for the play of middle hitter Solomon Shabazz and Nate Davis.

Williamsville South’s Le Cao stays focused on a fast dropping serve during the Billies’ three-set loss to
Sweet Home in the Section VI Division II-A quarterfinals Nov. 1. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

South coach Thom Knab said his team led 11-6 in the first game and ran into passing, hitting and defensive miscues.

South’s middle hitters led the offense. Senior Mitchell Binda had four kills, five blocks and an ace, and senior Matt Kennedy added two kills and five blocks.

Binda and Kennedy are two of four seniors on the team. Binda led the team with 149 kills and Kennedy was tops in blocks with 90. Also graduating are right side hitter JF Oliver and libero Scott Jauch.

South finished 7-10 overall. The team returns junior Dan Proch, led team with 22 aces, second in kills with 126, and junior Evan Oliver, team-high 237 assists, and sophomore Nico Zanelotti.

Top seed East boys volleyball falls in semifinals
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

The Williamsville East boys volleyball team’s best season in school history ended with an 8-25, 23-25, 25-15, 20-25 loss to Hamburg in the Section VI Division II-A semifinals Saturday at Lackawanna High School. East was ranked first in II-A and Hamburg was fifth.

East coach Chris Conrad said his team recorded one kill, one dig and no blocks in the first set.

“I think we were a little shell shocked watching Hamburg warm up,” he said. “My kids were not treating it like every other game. Our blocks were not lining up. The timing of all our runs was not on.”

After the rough first set, East rebounded and played well for the rest of the match.

“We did not win the second set although we were up for most of the game,” Conrad said. “Everything came together for us in the third game. The kids played their hearts out. After the first game, the kids battled for every single point.”

East got contributions from Ali Khadra (eight kills, nine blocks); Sam Schatmeyer (kill, four blocks, four digs); Josh Weissert (11 digs); Bryce Stancampiano (kill, four digs); Jason Berkun (kill, four blocks); Drew Elliott (six kills, six blocks, six digs) and Troy Stancampiano (four kills, block, three digs).

East opened the postseason with a 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-18 victory over eighth seed Niagara-Wheatfield in the quarterfinals Nov. 1.

“I think the boys started slow and underestimated Niagara Wheatfield,” Conrad said. “We were more experienced than them.”

Contributing to the win were Elliott (11 kills, two blocks, three digs); Khadra (14 kills, 12 blocks); Drew Schatmeyer (two kills, five blocks, two digs); Troy Stancampiano (three kills, two blocks, dig); Bryce Stancampiano (ace); Weissert (seven digs); Erik Regan (three kills, four blocks); and Berkun (four kills, three blocks, two digs).

The Flames finished 15-3, including the team’s first ECIC Division II in school history. Kadra, Sam Schatmeyer and Regan are the only seniors on the roster.

“The kids gave one hundred percent effort throughout the season,” Conrad said. “It’s great for our program and the school.”

Williamsville North

The Spartans saw their season come to an end with a 23-25, 17-25, 20-25 loss to Lockport in the Class A quarterfinals Nov. 1.

The Spartans led 22-21 in the first set but inconsistency led to the team’s defeat.

“We were not good enough or had enough experience to overcome bad breaks in every game,” North coach Mike Minnuto said.

North started three sophomores, two juniors and a senior, and finished 3-17 overall.

Minnuto said he saw a ton of growth from his players from the beginning of the season.

“I think it was a good year,” he said. “It was a growing year. A lot of young kids played and received experience.”

Sophomore Adam Gulick led the team with 126 kills and sophomore right side hitter Jon Abaya added 52 kills. Sophomore Matt Weipert handed out 210 assists.

Three seniors graduate – Mason O’Neill (middle hitter), Corey Swiech (second outside hitter) and Sean Balcerzak (middle hitter).

MSM volleyball falls to Sacred Heart in playoffs
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI, Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Samantha Hare of Mount St. Mary defends a serve in the Thunder’s semi-final loss to Sacred Heart.
Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The Mount St. Mary volleyball season came to an end Wednesday with a four-set loss to Sacred Heart in the semifinals of the Monsignor Martin playoffs.

The Thunder lost the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-15. They won the third set, 25-21, and lost the fourth and deciding one 25-19.

“I’m very pleased with how things went both offensively and defensively. We took them to four sets and offensively, we were playing very smart,” Mount St. Mary coach Brittany Schukraft said. “We were just putting the ball where they were not at times. We went back and forth exchanging points. Overall, we served very well. That was a huge factor for us. We were just really big at the net and even when there was chaos on our side of the court, we were still able to slow things down. That’s something we were able to take advantage of.”

Emily Trotman had four blocks from the middle hitter position. Caroline Manna had nine kills. Libero Natie Scrivani had a streak of eight consecutive serves in the third set. She pushed for 10 points in that set and contributed 21 digs throughout the match.

Overall, the team has a lot to be proud of this season. The Thunder did not make the championship match, but finished third in a difficult Monsignor Martin division.

“I was very pleased with the growth from the beginning of the season to the end of the season,” Schukraft said. “I appreciate the hard work that the girls gave. We faced a couple injuries early in the season. We had a rough patch there for a little bit, and the girls work together to get through some of those things throughout the season. Our goal entering the season was to get into the finals and we obviously didn’t get there. But we had a third-place finish in our league and I’m pretty proud of that.”

The Thunder had two players make the All-Catholic team. Lily Mueller made the first team at the outside hitter position. Manna made the second team, also from the outside hitter position.

The squad now turns its attention to next season. The Thunder will lose four seniors, but will return many contributors from this year’s team. Many of the girls play other sports in the spring and winter, so the preparation really begins in earnest around May.

“We pretty much gear up right around May,” Schukraft said. “We kinda get workouts going around then and we participate in a team camp in the summer at Buffalo State. There’s a lot of summer work going in. Most of our athletes are three-sport athletes, so there’s nothing too structured until we get into May.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Western New York 2016 Boys Top 10 Poll - 11/8/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Western New York 2016 Girls Top 10 Poll - 11/8/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Eden takes clash of reigning state girls volleyball champions
By Miguel Rodriguez, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Eden captured the overall Section VI Class C title to keep hope alive in its quest to win an eighth straight state championship.

It’s not often that a reigning state champion has to go through another in order to keep its season alive in girls volleyball.

Such was the unique circumstances Monday night when seven-time defending champion Eden squared off with fledging state power Portville. One of their championship reigns had to end in the Section VI overall Class C final.

The Raiders are thankful it’s not theirs.

Eden (39-3, including tournaments) kept hope alive that it will cap the season with its eighth straight title by ending the run of the two-time defending state Class D champion Panthers, 25-15, 26-28, 25-18, 25-19. A charged up crowd of more than 600 watched a match that featured plenty of rallies that included phenomenal defense by both teams.

The difference: Eden’s experience, along with the play of Sam Burgio, Sam Logan and Paiton Basinski. The latter two helped take some of Portville’s defensive focus off Burgio, even though Burgio, the reigning state Gatorade Player of the Year, still provided a steadying presence. That calmness in crunch time enabled the Raiders to advance to Wednesday’s sub-regional round of the New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association Tournament at Chittenango High School in Section III.

“It was really nerve-racking because we didn’t want to be the first (since 1998) not to make states,” said Burgio, the Maryland commit who finished with 21 kills and 15 digs. “They were a tough team to play.”

“When a team has won a state title (like Portville), they know how to handle pressure,” longtime Eden coach Stephen Pierce said. “I knew Portville wouldn’t crumble.”

Neither did the Raiders, who last needed to go more than three sets to win a sectional final three years ago when they were pushed by Southwestern.

Eden and Portville took turns testing each’s resolve in splitting the first two sets. Some service issues by the Raiders coupled by relentless defense opened the door for the Panthers after they lost the first set. Portville gave its vocal fan base more reasons to be excited in third set, taking leads of 10-7 and 14-13.

That’s when Eden surged ahead for good as a kill by Logan (14 kills, three blocks) sparked a 7-1 blitz that enabled the Raiders to take charge.

Each team took turns digging out balls that appeared destined to hit the floor – including Molly Breier, who made a phenomenal save early in the fourth set that led to a the Raiders winning a rally and extending their lead to 5-1. Eden led by as much as 10-3 before Portville pulled within 15-11. Four points was as close as the Panthers got in this one, as as Burgio had three of her eight kills in that set to thwart the comeback bid.

“That’s all you need, just get your hands on a couple balls that would normally fall and frustrate the other team,” Pierce said.

“We’re not used to balls coming over three or four times a point,” Burgio said. “They really got us working and pushed us to play our best.”

Basinski finished with 12 kills and two aces, while Alyssa Durski had 42 assists and three aces.

Beth Miller had 15 kills and eight blocks to lead the Panthers, who lost their first dual-match of the season.

Brooke Decker added nine assists, six kills and six blocks for a Portville crew that beat reigning Section VI champions Clarence (Class AA) and Williamsville East (Class A) during the season and won the Clarence and Williamsville East tournaments.

Pierce said the Panthers deserve to be at states. An enrollment spike led to Portville being bumped in Eden’s class this year, creating the long anticipated clash of champions once the section released the classifications for each team.

“They’re legit,” Pierce said. “When we saw they moved up to Class C (due to a spike in enrollment), we said ‘Oh boy.’ We knew we’d be in for a challenge.”

“The kids did what we asked them to do,” Panthers coach Kelly Unverdorben said. “They had more to lose. … The difference is we’re young. We have the youth. They have a little more experience.”

Alden holds off East Aurora to win overall girls Class B title
By Miguel Rodriguez, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Alden advances to the sub-regional round of the state playoffs on Wednesday after winning the overall Section VI Class B title.

Shelby Kersten has a lot of volleyball ahead of her, considering she’s just a sophomore.

It will still be pretty hard to top this season, as one of the finest years Alden has had just got a little better Monday night.

The Alden Bulldogs followed up their first Section VI girls volleyball title since 1998 by capturing the overall Class B crown at Sweet Home High School. They did it by fending off a young, but determined East Aurora crew, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 26-28, 25-21, before an estimated crowd of more than 500.

A blend of youth and experienced proved to be a winning mixture for the Bulldogs (20-2), who return to action Wednesday night at Chittenango High School outside of Syracuse in a New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association sub-regional match against the Section III champion.

“I’m very proud to be a part of this team,” said Kersten, who recorded 13 kills and eight blocks. “This will be one of my favorite seasons even though I’m just starting my high school career.”

“Last week (winning the Class B-2 title) was definitely a great feeling but that moment doesn’t compare,” said senior Alexandria Alteri, who finished with 17 kills and three blocks. “To be this far with my girls is an incredible feeling.”

It’s a feeling that earned the right to experience by holding it together after Class B-1 champ East Aurora, which graduates just one senior off its 12-athlete roster, rallied from 2-0 deficit and fended off two championship-clinching points during a nerve-racking fourth set.

In that set, an Alteri kill gave the Bulldogs a 25-24 lead but EA tied it when on a service error. After a Blue Devils gaffe gave Alden another chance to close it out, EA scored the final three points with Julia Halsey ending it with one of her nine kills for the match.

The Blue Devils raced to early leads of 5-1 and 7-3 in the final set, but the Bulldogs regained their bearings. Back to back points off blocks by Kersten tied it at 9-9. Anna Dussault followed with a kill to put Alden ahead as it never trailed the rest of the match.

Still, with the final set tied 18-18, a pair of EA hitting errors sparked Alden’s 7-3 closing run.

“This is one of the toughest teams mentally I’ve ever coached,” Bulldogs coach Jeff Steinel said. “I knew that they would rebound. … The true leadership came out that fifth game. We made some big plays at the right moments.”

“That fifth game was a dog fight,” Blue Devils coach Rebecca Jacobs said. “Now that our girls have a taste of sectionals and know what to expect, hopefully we can prepare them to come back.”

Neither team could shake the other in this one, even when it seemed like one was about to go on an extended run. Alden’s came at the right times, though, as it used a 6-0 run to close out the first set behind the service of senior Brooke Strausbaugh. Kersten also had two kills during the blitz.

Another run on Strausbaugh’s serve enabled Alden to stretch a four-point lead to 21-12 but it still took a nice touch kill by Kersten to clinch that set.

The overall Class C final between reigning state champions Eden (Class C) and Portville (Class D) did not end in time for this edition. The winner of that match also advances to sub-regional round of the state tournament against the Section III champion at Chittenango.

Emma Wlostowski added 12 digs on defense for Alden, while Anne Kocher had 10 kills and 10 digs.

“We relied on each other and we really played like a family,” Alteri said. “That’s what won this for us.”

Clarence, Will East girls volleyball moving on
Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 5, 2016

Meghan Neelon remembers her freshman year playing for Clarence varsity girls volleyball when the team won only two games.

As she and her classmates got older and started elevating their own games, they formed a team philosophy of continually pushing themselves forward and never looking back.

Three years later, the commitment of Neelon and her Red Devils teammates has paid off with three straight Section Class AA titles.

Top-seeded Clarence swept No. 2 Lancaster in three sets, 26-24, 25-18, 25-22, on Friday at Sweet Home to again defend its Class AA title.

“Our team has come so far from when I was a freshman,” Neelon said. “We built this program and all of the girls have worked so hard. It just shows all of the hard work we have been through.”

Along with Neelon, seniors Maddie Christopher and Emily Kuhn have been starters on three sectional-winning teams. Coach Michael Meyer said every year they got better individually and the team followed suit.

“I am lucky to have the group of girls that I have,” said Meyer, whose team improved to 29-6.

It was an evening of sweeps and three-peats as No. 2 Williamsville East coasted by top-seeded Grand Island, 25-20, 25-22, 25-15, to win Class A for a third straight season.

Both Section VI champions advance to Saturday’s Far West Regional in the Rochester-area at a site yet to be determined.

“It’s a testament to how hard this team works,” East coach Scott Wright said. “I always say the toughest team to beat is a team laden with seniors. It’s a credit to them for not wanting to lose.”

In Class AA, Neelon, the Alabama-commit, finished with a match-high 18 kills and added 11 assists, three service aces and six digs. Christopher notched 20 assists. Kuhn had seven kills and junior Melissa Ratzel chipped in with six kills and two service aces. Freshman libero Lexi McDonald recorded 15 digs.

Leading the way for the Legends (14-5) were junior Katie Becht with 16 digs, junior Julia Kurowski and senior Kayla Wolinski with six kills each and sophomore Jess Clark with three serving aces.

Clarence reached the state final four last year, after bowing out in the Far West Regionals in 2014.

Williamsville East (30-4) had too much firepower and size up front for Grand Island. All-Western York senior outside hitter Lexi Novak led the team with 23 kills, while sophomore Rachel Steffan added 15 kills.

Novak said the team prepared with urgency and she credited improved passing for guiding the Flames to another title.

“In practice, everyone was going for every ball and working so hard,” Novak said. “It was just a whole atmosphere that I’ve never seen from this team. Everyone just wanted it so badly. It’s really special because it’s my last year here and with all of the girls working so hard, I just wanted to help make it worth it for them.”

Junior setter Makayla Greenfield finished with 40 assists and has now passed 1,000 for the season.

Canisius, St. Mary’s continue MMA dominance
Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 5, 2016

Canisius looked every bit like a team going for its 17th straight championship.

The Crusaders played loose in their Monsignor Martin Association boys volleyball final Friday night at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center – often smiling, laughing and high-fiving even on the rare occasion they made a mistake or found themselves trailing.

Consequently, No. 1 Canisius (31-2) rolled to its 17th straight title in straight sets, defeating No. 7 St. Francis, 25-23, 25-15 and 25-21.

Afterward, on the girls side, St. Mary’s of Lancaster continued its own Monsignor Martin title dominance as it defeated Sacred Heart in straight sets.

Remaining calm, cool and collected even in pressure situations has been a trait of Canisius all season, said head coach Tom Weislo. The pressure to win a 17th straight title wasn’t really pressure at all. It was motivation.

“Each team is a little different, but they all build off the legacy the guys before them created,” Weislo said. “And so our players, they know about that streak, they talk about it and it’s important to them because they want to be a part of that continuing legacy.”

Friday’s victory meant Canisius’ seniors were able to finish out their careers with yet another title. They also led the way for the team on the court once again, as Devin Joslyn and Chas Palka had 14 and 12 kills, respectively, and Griffin Schmit finished with eight kills and five blocks.

“Looking back, playing when we’re younger and finally being the seniors, you kind of want to keep the legacy going,” Joslyn said. “And obviously we did that and 17 straight years is pretty sweet.”

The seniors helped the rest of the team stay relaxed, even as St. Francis rallied back near the end of the first set and tied the third set at 17. In both instances, Canisius’ confidence shined through when other teams might have tensed up or succumbed to the perceived change in momentum.

“A couple balls didn’t fall our way and that’s what happens in volleyball, but we responded pretty well,” Schmit said.

The team’s season is over, but the Monsignor Martin title is enough to keep the players satisfied.

“It’s our Super Bowl,” Schmit said.

St. Mary’s also looked like a team that had been there before, as it defeated Sacred Heart 25-22, 25-15 and 25-14.

St. Mary’s head coach Don Pieczynski said despite the team earning its sixth straight title, winning “never gets old.”

“Each year you put out a new team and it’s always exciting for the girls,” he said. “I’m here for the girls and to see them light up after they win (and) after all the hard work they put in.”

Pieczynski said good ball control and passing were key for the Lancers, who after a contested first set dominated the next two.

Leading the way for St. Mary’s was Summer Slade with 16 kills and Jillian Vitale with 33 assists. Pieczynski was also impressed with freshman Kelly Cleversley, who had five aces, a few of which helped St. Mary’s pull through during the contested first set.

High School Extra (Nov. 4): No. 1 vs. No. 2
Buffalo News
Friday, November 4, 2016

There is lots of volleyball taking place on Friday, both in public and private school competition. The highlight might be the girls Class AA final between No. 1 Clarence and No. 2 Lancaster (6 p.m. at Sweet Home). The two sides split their regular season meetings, and now it’s for a Section VI title. 3. Volleyball - Section VI finals/semifinals and Monsignor Martin finals. Two hours later, Grand Island and Williamsville East clash for the Class A crown in another No. 1 vs. 2 matchup. At Jamestown Community College, North Collins and Panama will play for the Class D title at 6 p.m.

In boys play, the Division I semifinals will take place at Lackawanna. Frontier and Clarence play the rubber match at 5:30 p.m. Then at 7:30 p.m., Lockport, the top seed, takes on Orchard Park. The Quakers beat the Lions in the regular season.

The Monsignor Martin A.A. finals for both boys and girls will be staged at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center in West Seneca. At 6 p.m., Canisius will play St. Francis. The Crusaders have won 16 straight titles. Following that match, the girls will take center stage when St. Mary’s of Lancaster goes up against Sacred Heart.

East Aurora, Alden advance in Class B girls volleyball
Buffalo News
Friday, November 4, 2016

Alden and East Aurora girls volleyball have something in common. They haven’t made it to a sectional final game in a very long time.

The Blue Devils came out of the gates hitting the ball hard and giving Maryvale an extremely difficult time attempting to return any hits. The hard hits enabled East Aurora to defeat the Flyers in straight sets, 25-15, 25-20, 25-14, to punch their ticket into the overall Class B Final.

“These girls have worked so hard all season,” said Rebecca Jacobs, East Aurora’s coach. “Last year we were 5-13, this year we’re 16-3. It’s all their hard work.”

East Aurora’s Julia Halsey led the Blue Devils with eight kills, while adding four blocks. Olivia Covington had six kills, with a pair of blocks and aces in the win.

“It’s incredible,” Halsey stated. “We knew what they were going to do and how to play around them and get them off their game.”

The Alden Bulldogs needed four sets to top City Honors for the Class B-2 title win, 25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 25-9. The Bulldogs and Centaurs kept the game close throughout each set, setting up close finishes.

“This is a first time that Alden has been to the sectional finals in many years,” Bulldogs coach Jeff Steinel said. “In the first couple of games we were just starting to get the flow of the game under our belts. Once we got the team chemistry up and running, you could tell that we played a lot better as a team.”

Alden’s team chemistry was flowing in the final set when the Bulldogs beat City Honors, 25-9. Brooke Strausbaugh was a key component, finishing the match with 14 kills, five aces, and two blocks.

“We are really close as a team, chemistry-wise,” the senior outside hitter said. “We work really well together. We pick each other up when they’re down, that’s what gets us through games like that.”

Shelby Kersten aided the Bulldog offense with seven kills and six blocks. Emma Wlostowski, Alden’s libero, had 23 digs.

Maryvale (18-4) entered the match with a 15-game winning streak. East Aurora had different plans in the fourth match of the season between the two teams.

“We knew what to expect,” Maryvale coach Tina Raczynski said. “We knew their center pushed in the back corners and that was going to be our weak spot. We tried to work on it in practice and she caught us.”

Julia Carter finished the match with 15 kills, while Emily Raczynski had 29 assists and a pair of digs for the Flyers.

City Honors hung with the Bulldogs throughout the game, except for the final set. The youth of the Centaurs really hurt them in the latter stages of the match.

“We are a very young team. We start an eighth grader, three freshman and a sophomore,” said Deborah Matos, the coach from City Honors. “The moment got to the younger players. Our veterans tried to do more than they should, then the wheels kind of fell off when you come out of the system.”

City Honors senior Victoria Guzman had 27 digs, while junior Alena McKelvey had 15 kills and 13 digs.

East Aurora and Alden will play for the overall Class B title on Monday at Sweet Home. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. Winner will then advance to the Subregionals hosted by Section III (Syracuse area) next Saturday.

Eden, Portville triumph to set up heavyweight volleyball clash
By Miguel Rodriguez, Buffalo News
Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Eden girls volleyball team added to its Section VI championship collection Thursday at Jamestown Community College.

JAMESTOWN – This is the time of year in which the Eden girls volleyball powerhouse expects matches to become much more difficult to win for a simple reason.

It’s the postseason, and any team with state championship aspirations should expect to be challenged somewhere along the way because winning is supposed to be hard.

The push back the Raiders received from Gowanda on Thursday night turned out to be a blessing because they will have a much stiffer test awaiting them Monday night at Sweet Home High School in fellow defending state champion Portville.

Eden captured its 18th straight Section VI championship and 21st in 22 years by sweeping the Panthers, 25-8, 25-16, 25-14, in the Class C-1 final at Jamestown Community College. Junior Sam Logan continued her strong play during this playoff run for the Raiders by recording a team-high 10 kills to go along with an ace. Reigning state Gatorade Player of the Year Sam Burgio added nine kills, three aces and played strong all-around for the Raiders, who will play Portville in the overall Section VI Class C final for the right to move on to regionals.

The Panthers of Portville captured the Class C-2 title by beating Cassadaga Valley, 25-15, 25-12, 25-11. The Panthers’ super sophomores led the victory march before a vocal fan base that included several student fans celebrating on the court with the team after the traditional championship photo. Sierra Keim had 12 kills and five aces during the win.

Portville shows off its Section VI Class C-2 championship plaque at Jamestown Community College.

Portville’s victory sets up a rare heavyweight clash between reigning state champions fighting for the right to advance out of the section. Eden has won a state title seven straight years – including the past five in Class C.

The Panthers captured their last two state crowns in Class D before a slight enrollment increase resulted in the program being bumped up a classification this year.

One of these playoff runs will end way sooner than in past seasons.

“They have a little dynasty,” said Portville coach Kelly Unverdorben of the Raiders. “When you come up against them you can either do it or die. … You just go in and play as hard as you can.”

“Portville’s an excellent team and a state championship team,” longtime Eden coach Stephen Pierce said. “We’ll have our work cut out. ... They’re a very well-coached team. It’ll be a good match.”

Eden bolted to an 18-3 lead in the first set as seven kills and two aces along with some Gowanda errors produced a quick start. It seemed like it would be more of the same in the second set with the Raiders up 8-2, but that’s when the Panthers’ spunk, along with some Eden gaffes, started to show up on the scoreboard.

Gowanda reeled off six straight points as Megan Gominiak (six blocks, four kills, three aces) sparked the run with a kill and also recorded an ace. Cheyanne Williams scored off a block before the Panthers tied it on a hitting error.

Logan steadied the Raiders by finding a hole in the defense with a kill that sparked 13-2 run. Burgio recorded two aces, two kills and a block during the blitz.

Alyssa Durski dished out 29 assists and Molly Breier had eight aces for the winners.

“It’s good for us to learn how to battle with ourselves a little bit to right the ship and score points,” Pierce said. “We had a few lapses and multiple errors that we have to clean up. It was a strange atmosphere. … Usually there’s a lot of emotion and energy in a section final. It was hard to get any sense of excitement."

The Class C-2 contest had a larger crowd and featured plenty of energy with Cassadaga Valley trying to win its first sectional title since 1977. The Cougars seemed more than up to the challenge early, trading points with Portville in taking a 10-9 lead in the first set.

The Panthers, which captured in-season tournament titles at Clarence and Williamsville East, proved to be too much even though they were missing starter Beth Miller (ankle) and her average of 18 kills per match. Portville, which has just one senior on its roster, maintained its poise to win several long rallies between the teams.

Besides Keim’s contributions, fellow sophomore Sydney Colligan recorded 14 aces and seven kills. Classmates Brooke Decker and Ericka Carlson each had 10 digs.

“We just needed to relax and get in the swing of things,” Unverdorben said. “Once they got going, they got it going.”

High school roundup (Nov. 3): St.Mary's, Sacred Heart in volleyball final
Buffalo News
Thursday, November 3, 2016

St. Mary's of Lancaster moved a step closer to another Monsignor Martin Association girls volleyball championship with a straight-sets victory over Mount Mercy in a playoff semifinal match at St. Mary's. The scores were 25-8, 25-11 and 25-10.

"We played well," said St. Mary's coach Don Pieczynski. "We got to play all 16 players and there was no dropoff. So, I'm happy."

Caitlyn Meyer led the Lancers with eight kills and four aces and Victoria Jankowski had six kills.

St. Mary's will face Sacred Heart for the Monsignor Martin championship at 8 p.m. on Friday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center in West Seneca.

The winner will move on to the state Catholic High School Athletic Association championships the next weekend at St. Francis Prep in Brooklyn.

St. Francis, which usually is the smallest school competing at the state level, lost to Kellenburg Memorial in the championship match a year ago.

Girls volleyball team falls in quarterfinals
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI, Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Orchard Park girls volleyball team poses for a photo together after winning the Hamburg Tournament
October 22. The team lost to Lockport in the quarter-final round of the Class AA playoffs Friday.

The Orchard Park girls’ volleyball season came to an end Friday with a loss to Lockport in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA sectional playoffs. The Lady Quakers fell in four sets, 24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 17-25.

“Lockport was a great team. It was tough to drive out there for an hour and then have to play a team as tough as them,” Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo said. “I don’t think there was another team that we played against that was as big as they were. We kind of had to adjust on the fly and look at it a different way.”

Youth may have played a role in the loss, as the team had just four seniors, whereas Lockport was a more veteran team.

“We are pretty young. Maybe that was part of it. You’re facing off against a team that has a little bit more experience,” Lardo said. “They have a couple more seniors that don’t want to see their seasons end. They took it to us. Our girls fought to the end. It could have gone either way. You have to be kind of lucky in the playoffs sometimes, and you have to have the ball bounce the right way. It was tied 24-24 in game one and they won 26-24. We won game two. Then we were up 20-15 in the third game and ended up losing. That’s just the way volleyball goes. You have to play good all the way to 25 or you don’t win.”

The loss ended a solid season for the Lady Quakers. The highlight of the year occurred late in the season, when the team won the Hamburg Tournament.

Orchard Park was matched up against West Seneca West and Hamburg in pool play, defeating the latter and losing to the former. The Lady Quakers then won a playoff against Lake Shore, defeated Frontier in two tight games. They then met Hamburg again in the finals. The teams split the first two games before the Lady Quakers took the third set, 15-11. Sadie Joba and Liz Chow were named to the All-Tournament team.

“It was a good tournament win; we haven’t won a tournament in a few years,” Lardo said. “We’ve been close, we’ve been in the finals of a few tournaments, we’ve been in the semis. We’ve gotten out of pool play a lot, but we’ve never really capitalized and won one recently. It was good to see those girls finally get one done. It was nice to get that positive feeling going into playoffs. It really didn’t amount to too much, but it was good.”

The Quakers will now part with four seniors but will return a slew of talented players who gained valuable experience this season. A few of the team’s most important players will be returning next season.

“We used a lot of different players this year. I have four seniors that will be graduating. They’re all important parts of the team. We will have a lot of girls returning next year,” Lardo said. “We have one freshman that’s an outside hitter, we have a sophomore outside hitter, the setter is a junior, the libero is a junior.”

The hope for next season is that the girls who are returning have gained enough experience and confidence to compete for a sectional title. The goal is to finish better than this year’s team.

“Going into next year, Orchard Park should be a tier above the one we were at this year. You’re going to have a lot of girls returning, over three-quarters of the team is returning,” Lardo said. “You hope that this year’s experience will show the girls that it is not easy to win in this league and it’s not easy to win the AA championship. All this experience is great for our girls.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Lady Legends volleyball advances to Championship match
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 3, 2016

There will be a rematch in the Class AA girls volleyball championship. Lancaster will have a chance to avenge last year’s loss Friday night at 6 p.m. when it takes on Clarence at Sweet Home High School.

The Lady Legends know they will have to be at the top of their game to contend with the top-seeded Red Devils.

“We really have to play our top game. Last year, we were in the same situation – in the sectional finals against Clarence,” Lancaster Coach Becky Edwards said. “We kind of closed up and fell apart. From day one of the season, our goal was to make it to sectional finals and to play aggressively.”

The Lady Legends do have some reasons for optimism. While Clarence swept the first meeting between the teams, Lancaster won the second in four sets. The key to beating the defending champions will have to be to play a solid game all the way around. There is not much room for error.

“The way we beat them last time is we had a really strong offense and we were digging them a lot,” Edwards said. “Basically, we’re going to have to play strong all around because they’re just a solid team.”

The Lady Legends advanced to the title game on the strength of wins over Frontier and Lockport. Friday’s win over Frontier was a hard-fought affair, with the sets going 25-17, 25-22, 25-16 in favor of Lancaster. Alyssa Babinger led the team in nine kills. Freshman Meghan Vona stepped in for a sick player and had nine digs at the libero position. Caelie Marcussen had three blocks.

“In the Frontier match, the rallies were a lot longer,” Edwards said. “We had to work hard to get all the points.”

Tuesday, the girls defeated Lockport 25-11, 25-18, 25-17. For it being a semi-final match, things really never got too close. The Legends threw off the opposition with quality serving, making it difficult for them to get offense going. Julia Kurowski had 11 kills and five aces. Kelly Fellner had eight kills and three blocks. Katie Becht had 10 digs while Kara Paradowski had eight. Kayla Wolinski had five kills.

“We definitely served them tough,” Edwards said. “They didn’t really have a chance to run their offense. We did a pretty nice job of blocking; any time they did have a chance of hitting over, we ended up stopping it.”

Lake Shore rematch on tap for Iroquois boys volleyball
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter East Aurora Bee
Thursday, November 3, 2016

Iroquois’ boys volleyball team was awarded a second chance to try and beat Lake Shore in Tuesday’s opening round of the Section VI Division II-B playoffs after the Chiefs were upended by the Eagles in Oct. 21’s regular season finale.

Information about the contest was not available at press time, but coach Mark Schlabach and his players were eagerly anticipating the chance to avenge their earlier loss to the third-seeded Eagles.

“This is the first year in a long time that we haven’t had to play a prequarterfinal-round match, so that’s something we’re hoping to fuel us,” said Schlabach, whose squad was awarded the sixth seed. “When we found out Saturday that we’d play them again at their place, we couldn’t have been more excited for that information because we know they’re beatable.

“We didn’t play our best volleyball in the regular-season finale, and it’s tough to beat the same team three times in a season,” Schlabach continued. “We’re excited with how we match up with them, and our seniors really want to prove what we’re capable of this year.”

The Eagles triumphed in the regular-season finale by 26-24, 17-25, 17-25, 25-22, 11-15 scores.

Whichever team was victorious Tuesday will move on to Saturday’s semifinal round at Lackawanna, where the winner of the quarterfinal between second-seeded Maryvale and seventh-seeded East Aurora awaits.

“The boys’ hard work got us where we are today, not to mention our versatility this year,” Schlabach said. “I can change up lineups and match people up differently depending on what the situation calls for. We’ve got guys who can step in if someone is having an off day. We’re right on the edge of figuring it all out and we’re hoping Tuesday it all happens.

“If we accept our roles — whatever they may be — and believe that winning is possible while not letting errors compile, we should have a good shot at winning.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

South boys volleyball drops non-league matches
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Williamsville South’s boys volleyball team finished the regular season with a 7-9 overall record after dropping matches against St. Mary’s of Lancaster 20-25, 20-25, 25-17, 8-25 at home Oct. 24 and on the road against Clarence 17-265, 13-25, 11-25 Wednesday, Oct. 26.

South coach Thom Knab said his team played well in the first three sets against St. Mary’s and did not pass well in the fourth set.

Dan Proch led the Billies’ offense with seven kills and a block.

Mitchell Binda added four kills and three blocks and JF Oliver added two kills and four blocks.

Knab said the loss to Clarence showed why they are ranked second in Western New York.

“Clarence played a good all-around game from passing to attack to serving and defense,” Knab said. “They do not have a lot of cracks. We struggled with our consistency.”

Binda had three kills and two blocks and Matt Kennedy tallied two kills and three blocks.

South is the sixth seed for the Section VI Division II-A playoffs and traveled to third seed Sweet Home for a quarterfinal game Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before press time. South lost twice to Sweet Home in four sets during the regular season.

“We need to have clean passing, not make many service errors and pressure them with our attack,” Knab said.

South girls volleyball advances to A-1 semifinals
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Williamsville South’s Amari DeBerry jumps to pass the ball over the net during a home game against West Seneca West
in the Section VI Class A prequarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 26. South won 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 and defeated
Hutch-Tech 25-6, 25-19, 25-17 in the quarterfinals Friday. Photo by Daniel RosatiPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Williamsville South’s girls volleyball team moved one match closer to playing for a sectional title after downing fourth seed Hutch-Tech, 25-6, 25-19, 25-17 in the Section VI Class A quarterfinals Friday.

“I think we overpowered them and had balanced hitting,” South coach Tom Sproull said.

Megan Muelhbauer (five kills), Naomi DeBerry (five kills), Hannah Abramowitz (four kills), and Grace Stahl (three kills) contributed to the Lady Billies’ offense.

South also recorded 10 aces, double the usual amount the team records in a three-set match, Sproull said. Gabby Presutti had the most aces on the team with three.

South opened sectional play with a hard fought 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 victory over 12th seed West Seneca West in the prequarterfinals Wednesday.

“It was probably our best match of the season in terms of not making unforced errors in our hitting and blocking,” Sproull said.

Muelhbauer and Naomi De- Berry both recorded six kills each. Amari DeBerry and Abramowitz both contributed four kills and Maddie Popielski had three kills.

Amari DeBerry also recorded six blocks.

South traveled to top-seeded Grand Island for the semifinals Tuesday but information about the match was unavailable before press time.

Williamsville North

Williamsville North’s Allie Macon connects on a cross during the Lady Spartans’ 23-25, 18-25, 14-25 Section VI
Class AA quarterfinals road loss to Clarence Friday. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The eighth-seeded Lady Spartans saw their season come to an end against top-seeded Clarence in the Class AA quarterfinals Friday night.

North lost 23-25, 18-25, 14-25.

“We were right there with them in the first game but their experience won out,” North coach Keith Hopkins said.

Allie Macon tallied 14 kills and Bri Brown added 10 kills. Abby Vincent handed out 27 assists.

North reached the quarterfinals after beating ninth seed Jamestown 25-15, 25-22, 27-29, 25-13 in the prequarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 26. The teams split matches during the regular season.

Macon tallied 17 kills, Simon recorded 10 kills and Maia Reed had nine kills.

North finished 9-21-2 overall. Simon, a three-year starter at middle hitter, and Chelsea Bangert, a two-year player at middle hitter are the only two seniors on the roster. North started three freshmen and sophomores.

“We saw improvement in everybody’s individual skills,” Hopkins said. “We need to continue working on developing our consistency as a team, and trusting each other and understanding what to do with the ball when it’s not perfect.”

Amherst boys volleyball falls in Division II-B prequarters
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Amherst’s Aidan Keyes tips the ball over the net during the Tigers’ 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 9-25 road loss to East Aurora
in the Section VI Division II-B prequarterfinals Friday. Photo by John NormilePurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Amherst’s boys volleyball team saw its season come to an end on the road against East Aurora in the Section VI Division II-B prequarterfinals Friday.

The Tigers lost 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 9-25. The two sets Amherst won was the first two sets the team won all season.

Amherst coach Paul Wlosinski said in the first set, the team was nervous and struggled to serve receive.

He said after the team won the second set, there was celebration and excitement from the players as it was the first time the team won a set all season.

Wlosinski said the team continued to control the match in the third set with Sam Greco setting the tone with five aces.

He said the team started strong in the fourth set but could not hold on. In the fifth set, the team could not find a way to keep its game in tact.

“We had too many errors and gave the home team the match,” Wlosinski said.

He also said the team brought more defense to the match, and it provided them an opportunity to run an offense.

The offense was led by Aidan Keyes (seven kills), DaVon France (six kills), Tony Pittari (six kills) and Marcus Hall (three kills).

Also contributing were Matt Gramza (26 digs), Sam Greco (20 digs) and Jon LoTempio (16 digs), Colin Blatz (kill, 13 digs) and Alex Rodriquez (three aces, 20 assists, 21 digs).

Amherst finished 0-15. Wlosinski said the season was not about wins but loving the game and growing as a team and as individuals throughout the season.

“After a match, I had coaches ask me if they could speak to my players,” he said. “They went on to tell the team that they’ve seen so much improvement from the beginning of the season and that they should continue to strive forward. The coaches expressed how they’ve been in the same situation before and they’re impressed with what Amherst demonstrated on the court. I even had parents from opposing teams come up and tell me the same thing. These moments are memorable to have and we appreciated them.”

The team graduates Rodriguez, a setter, and Blatz, a veteran player who Wlosinski said played all over the court.

“Alex will be missed as he controlled the game and his presence on the court was known,” he said. “Colin helped teach the new players on the team what the game was all about.”

Wlosinski had eight first-time players out of the 18 on the roster.

“There was much instruction going on at practices each week and I know that next year we’ll be able to fine tune our game as a team,” Wlosinski said. “We have 15 eighth-grade players on modified coming up to the high school, so I’m eager to have a JV team next year.”

Sacred Heart upsets Frontier on senior night
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball team has been Frontier’s go-to team for senior night for the last few years always with the expectation that Sacred Heart would be easy to defeat.

This year, the Sharks did not want to play their designated role and won 27-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-19 Oct. 25.

Facing a team of all seniors, the Sharks were not daunted and played tough, winning the first set.

Frontier did not roll over and came out initially dominating the second set, until Sacred Heart got itself back on track. However, the Sharks’ turnaround was not early enough to pull out the second set.

In the third set, with the starters back on the floor, the Sharks held tough in a back and forth set and again pulled out a close win.

In the fourth set, the Sharks initially took a commanding lead, but Frontier came on strong and forced the Sharks to dig deep, until Sacred Heart pulled out the win.

Junior Micaela Ryan led the offense with five kills, four aces and seven digs.

Junior Lauren Aichinger and freshman Siobhan Ryan each contributed six kills.

Senior captain Mia Wild led the defense with 18 serve receives and seven digs.

Senior captain Emma Rehrauer had 11 digs and seven serve receives, and also an ace and kill, and Siobhan Ryan had nine serve receives and nine digs.

The night before, Sacred Heart celebrated the high school careers of four seniors — captains Wild and Emma Rehrauer as well as Colleen Conway and Skylar Merrell — in the team’s win over Cheektowaga 25-10, 22-25, 25-12, 25-12.

After the ceremony, the Sharks took to the court to show just how valuable the seniors are to the team as all four seniors play an important role on the team —Wild as libero, Rehrauer as outside hitter, and Conway and Merrell as right side hitters.

Rehrauer led the offense with nine kills and two aces. Conway and Micaela Ryan each had seven kills.

Conway also had four digs and one serve receive and Ryan also had one ace and three digs.

Junior Clare Falkowski contributed three aces and six digs.

Wild led the defense with 19 digs and 12 serve receives. Rehrauer had 11 digs and five serve receives and Merrell had eight digs and five serve receives.

Sacred Heart faces Mount Mercy in the semifinals of the Monsignor Martin Association playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Mary’s of Lancaster.

The final is set at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center in West Seneca.

East girls volleyball routs Sweet Home in Class A quarters
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

The Williamsville East and Sweet Home girls volleyball teams are no strangers to each other in the Section VI Class A playoffs.

The last three years both squads have faced each other in the section final with Sweet Home winning in 2013 and East winning in 2014 and 2015.

Second seed East continued its winning ways over Sweet Home, downing the seventh-seeded Lady Panthers 25-9, 25-9, 25-13 at home Friday in the Class A quarterfinals.

East never trailed in any game as the Lady Flames defeated Sweet Home for the third time this season.

“We are trying to set a level of our volleyball and hold it up so we don’t lose focus,” East coach Scott Wright said. “We have a lot of goals as a team that we want to achieve and are doing a great job. The defense did not let up.”

East opened the first set on an 8-0 run thanks to serving from Rachel Steffan, including two aces. It was the first of many times East went on long serving runs in the match.

“It’s easy for this team to get long serving runs because not only do they serve tough but we play defense tough and transition to offense really well,” Wright said. “Almost every single one of our serving rotations is really good. We make sure everyone is involved.”

Two kills from Lexi Novak and one kill from Makayla Greenfield increased the lead to 11-1. A five-point serving run from Allison Jozwiak extended the lead to 21-5. Kills from Novak and Steffan gave East the set.

The second set was tied at 1-1 before a kill by Jozwiak broke the tie. Three kills by Steffan increased the lead to 8-3.

East took a 17-5 lead behind a six-point serving run from Julianna Benz, which included kills from Novak, Greenfield, Leah Orsini, and Steffan.

The third set was the most competitive as the score was tied at 2-2, 4-4, 8-8 and 9-9 before a kill by Steffan broke the tie.

East won 12 of the next 14 points behind serving runs from Jess Weaver and Greenfield.

The Lady Flames extended the lead to 20-11 on an ace from Steffan. A kill by Greenfield extended the advantage to 24-13.

“Makayla does a great job running the offense,” Wright said. “Rachel is rounding into form after suffering an injury in the offseason. We have so many people contributing.”

The Lady Flames were led by Novak (14 kills, 10 digs); Greenfield (31 assists, four kills); Steffan (nine kills, eight digs); Orsini (seven kills); Jozwiak (three kills, 12 digs); and Ann Marie Jones (seven digs).

“We don’t match up well with them,” Sweet Home coach Breean Martin said. “We did not get the touches we needed in order to play. Anytime we got them out of system and we could run our stuff, we were in the game. We could not produce what we normally do because our ball control was not there. We made such progress since the first day we stepped on the court. The score doesn’t reflect how much we’ve grown.”

East opened the playoffs with a convincing win over 15th-seed Amherst 25-9, 25-7, 25-3, in the prequarterfinals

East gradually built a 10-6 lead in the first set. Two kills from Steffan extended the lead to 16-7, a six-point serving run from Benz put East ahead 22-8, and kills from Greenfield and Novak closed out the set.

Weaver started the second set with an eight-point serving run. Kills from Jozwiak, Novak and Summer Clark put East ahead 13-2.

A five-point serving run from Jozwiak pushed the lead to 20-4. An ace from Orsini closed out the set.

Steffan opened the third set on a 21-point serving run, included seven aces.

East was led by Novak (19 kills, nine digs, four assists); Greenfield (32 assists, seven digs, five kills); Steffan (six kills, seven aces); Orsini (three kills, three digs); Jozwiak (three kills, three digs); Benz (six digs, three aces), and Jones (six digs).

East (14-0) finished the regular season undefeated for a second straight year after downing Williamsville North 25-11, 25-13, 25-11 Oct. 25.

In the first set, kills from Novak, Jozwiak and Clark gave East a 10-3 lead.

A Novak/Jozwiak block and an ace from Greenfield extended the lead to 20-9.

East closed the set on an ace from Jozwiak.

North took a 3-1 lead in the second set but East won 12 of the next 14 points, taking a 13-5 lead.

North won the next five points to cut the deficit to 13-10, but East responded by winning the next five points, including three kills from Orsini.

Kills from Novak and Jozwiak gave East the set.

A six-point serving run from Weaver gave East a 6-0 lead in the third set. East extended the lead to 18-6 behind three kills from Novak.

A Greenfield ace and kills from Weaver and Novak gave the Lady Flames the final set.

East’s offense was led by Novak (17 kills), Jozwiak (six kills), and Orsini (five kills).

On defense, the Lady Flames were led by Novak (13 digs), Steffan (nine digs), and Jozwiak (seven digs).

East hosted Hamburg in the semifinals Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before press time.

The winner faces Williamsville South or Grand Island in the Class A final at 8 p.m., Friday at Sweet Home.

Sweet Home

Sweet Home advanced to the quarterfinals after beating 10th seed North Tonawanda 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 in the prequarterfinals Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Tirzah Peters led the offense with 16 kills and three blocks.

Christie Ackendorf added 10 kills, six blocks, an ace and 10 digs.

Camryn McCrossan contributed five aces and 26 assists and Bella Pullara added 16 digs.

“We controlled the momentum the entire time,” Martin said. “We ran a fast, quick offense, served well and our unforced errors were very low. Our net play was much better.”

Sweet Home finished 8-11 overall. Peters, Pullara Lindsey Hornung, Mc- Crossen and Kylie Prizel are senior starters.

(Patrick J. Nagy contributed to the article)

Clarence’s Starr selected for induction to State Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame
Amherst resident began coaching career with Tigers
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Kevin Starr

With his upcoming induction to the New York State Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame right around the corner, Clarence boys varsity coach Kevin Starr was brought back to his own playing career and the associated crossroad that would have major implications on the path his life would take.

As a high school junior, Starr was cut from the varsity squad by his old coach at Kenmore West, Roger Williams. A disappointed Starr “literally begged” Williams for a second chance — and, with years of hindsight at his disposal, admits he realizes “the impossible position I put him in” — and was given the opportunity by Williams to stick with the squad after all.

That act of kindness by Williams helped Starr’s love affair with the sport and put him on a path to become one of the more prolific coaches in Western New York history, a fact solidified by his upcoming induction to the Hall of Fame in Long Island on Friday, Nov. 18.

“My life in volleyball could’ve ended in high school had my coach not given me that second chance as a junior,” said Starr, who went on to be named Kenmore West’s Most Improved Player his senior season. “It truly is humbling to be honored in such a way as this, for lack of a better word. It was special enough when I was inducted into the local Hall of Fame in 2012, but this induction to this hall is stunning. It’s only the second class ever for this Hall, so to be a part of it is incredible.

“This career has been worth it for many reasons, and something like this, being recognized this way, just makes it totally worth it.”

Starr, an Amherst resident who coached at both Amherst and Frontier before beginning at Clarence in 1989, had 434 career coaching wins under his belt heading into Tuesday’s sectional opener against Kenmore West. Length of service — to both their high school teams and beyond — and coaching proficiency are just two of the requirements for a coach’s induction to the Hall, and Starr knows he will be in good company when he joins Western New York coaching legends and first-year inductees Sally Kus from Sweet Home, Gary Tocke from Kenmore East and Joe Gillespie from Eden.

One of Starr’s contemporaries — and long-time friend — Walt Stefani from Orchard Park will join him as a member of the second class, which both say makes their respective inductions even sweeter.

“I’ve been friends — and opponents — with Walt for almost 40 years, and it means a lot to both of us to be going into this hall together,” Starr said. “He’s been one of my coaching inspirations for all of the years of success he’s had at Orchard Park. The Western New York volleyball community is just such a great thing to be a part of.”

One of the other requirements for enshrinement in this specific Hall is having two nominating letters submitted on the coach’s behalf, and Starr was happy to learn that one of his former players — Mark Schlabach, whom Starr will help induct into the Western New York Boys Volleyball Hall of Fame on Thursday, Nov. 10 — was one of the two authors of those letters.

“This is the coolest thing, the fact that we’re both being inducted into a hall of fame in the same year,” Schlabach said. “It’s pretty special in my eyes. I’m not sure how many times it has happened or will happen again. He’s done so much for Clarence and for club volleyball; he goes above and beyond on anything that’s asked of him. He cares about his players, their families and this program at Clarence, so it was without hesitation that I wrote the letter to nominate him. I hope to be there and watch him be inducted and to get the same support he’s given me over the years.”

Starr was quick to give credit to his players — guys like Schlabach, among others — the credit for an honor like this. He also noted that he’s become better at listening to his players over the years in what is another nod to his maturation process as a coach.

“I’ve always been blessed to have good teams, and so many of these guys play year round now,” Starr said. “I used to think I knew best but now I know that’s not the case. I’ve got a player this year in Henry Payne who plays at the national level, and he definitely has a perspective worth listening to. And I study the numbers a lot more than ever too in an attempt to try and analyze the game more. We’re much more prepared program wide for every match because of it.”

Schlabach headed for WNY Volleyball Hall
Iroquois coach still holds three Clarence records
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Mark Schlabach, during his Clarence playing days

When it comes to the volleyball court, there’s not much that Mark Schlabach hasn’t done.

The 2000 Clarence graduate won three Molten National Championships — the precursor to NCAA Division III titles — with Springfield College before beginning a coaching career at Iroquois in 2008, and now will add one more accolade to his collection when he is inducted into the Western New York Boys Volleyball Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Ilio DiPaolo’s on Thursday, Nov. 10.

“I didn’t know how to react when I found out, to be honest,” Schlabach said. “This wasn’t anything I was expecting at this point in my life, but I’m super honored that not only they thought of me as a potential Hall of Fame candidate, but they actually selected me for induction. To actually be inducted is crazy to me.”

Schlabach learned during the summer that he was headed for the hall when his high school coach, Kevin Starr, called to give him the good news. Starr, a member of the Hall of Fame committee, asked for permission to be the one to let Schlabach know of his selection, and will be the one to present him for induction.

“It’s a very big deal, this honor that Mark is receiving,” Starr said. “There aren’t really specific standards you have to meet, per se, but suffice it to say selection to this hall is for people who’ve made a big time difference and commitment to boys volleyball in Western New York. Mark’s done just that boys as a player and as a coach. He’s always been devoted to the sport and the area, which is why he stood out as much as he did this year.

“To induct him is going to be one of the highlights of my professional life.”

Mark Schlabach, left, keeps an eye on his squad during a recent Iroquois boys volleyball match. The Clarence
graduate and three-time national collegiate men’s volleyball champion will be inducted into the Western New York
Boys Volleyball Hall of Fame on Thursday, Nov. 10. Photo by John NormilePurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Starr should know the ways that Schlabach stood out on the court as a player during his stint with the Red Devils during the late 1990s. Schlabach first caught Starr’s eye as a middle schooler accompanying his older brothers to practice, and by the time he was helping lead Clarence’s 1999 team to both ECIC I and Section VI Class A championships, Schlabach was almost an on-the-court extension of Starr.

“Mark had an outstanding ability during his time at Clarence, but more than that he made everyone around him bett er,” Starr said. “Mark was the centerpiece of our sectional team in 1999; he was a very cerebral player who saw things and played like a coach. He saw things on the court that I couldn’t see from the bench and would make suggestions to me. Even before that season started, he came to my house and helped me put together rotations for the year.”

“None of what I did happens without the good group of guys with a common goal of playing top-notch volleyball that I had the opportunity to play with at Clarence,” Schlabach said. “Going on to beat Orchard Park for the section title and going to states as a senior was pretty memorable to me.”

Schlabach’s senior year was memorable to Starr for a couple of additional reasons beyond the on-the-court success: his “honor call” during a match against Frontier and his being presented the award names in his brother’s memory. The honor call — where a player would correct a referee’s incorrect ruling to the detriment of his own team — was nowhere near as prevalent during Schlabach’s playing days as it is now, and though Starr knows his teammates still give him good-natured grief for letting the officials know he touched the ball on a play that was initially ruled a point in Clarence’s favor, he also knows Schlabach — who still holds Clarence career records for serve attempts (1,586), service points (827) and assists (2,172) — would never do things differently if given the chance. It’s one of the things Starr admires most about Schlabach the coach, since Schlabach passed the importance of doing the right thing on to his players.

And as for his being named the 1999 season’s Michael T. Schlabach Award winner, an honor that goes to the player who best displays Michael Schlabach’s leadership, dedication and sportsmanship, Starr called giving Mark Schlabach the award “one of the highest points in my career.”

“Mark got a lot of publicity his senior year for making that honor call, even though nowadays it’s pretty much how things go,” Starr said. “We never really had a player of Mark’s caliber prior to him being on the team, and he helped put Clarence on the volleyball map. Having him play for us quite honestly was the turning point for Clarence volleyball, and we’ve been one of the top programs year in and year out since his time with us.”

“It still gives me goose bumps thinking about getting that award my senior year,” Schlabach said. “One of the things I told coach Starr for the player bio for the Hall was that all I ever cared about doing was playing volleyball. It was a therapeutic thing for me at times. My brother passed away before my varsity career, so having volleyball was one of those things where I could just be out there playing and not have anything else really matter.”

Schlabach’s comfort level on the volleyball court was just as evident at Springfield College, where he wore a lot of different hats during his career. Schlabach called that stage in his life “very special for sure,” since Springfield could have technically qualified to compete in the NCAA Division I tournament — even though it didn’t during his time with the squad — because there weren’t enough schools offering the sport at Springfield’s level for there to be an official NCAA Division III bracket like there is today.

His time at Springfield also helped Schlabach further hone the volleyball knowledge he would bring first to Iroquois’ JV team in 2008, and then to the varsity squad in 2011 upon landing his full-time teaching position at Iroquois. Schlabach walked into the gym for his first day coaching the Chiefs’ JV program to find four players waiting for him, but his resiliency has helped Iroquois persevere through low turnout and years of struggling to finish above the .500 mark when others might simply walk way.

“I think one of Mark’s best attributes might be his patience,” Starr said. “He knew it’d take a while to rebuild the program over there — the last time Iroquois had won a sectional final, ironically, as in 1999 — but, with Mark, they have someone who brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the position. We actually finally played each other this year for the first time in the Sweet Home Tournament and we talked beforehand about how neat it was to get to that moment. It was evident his kids knew what they were doing out there and you could see the growth in their program because of Mark’s influence.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Boys volleyball team wins on Senior Night
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Clarence’s boys volleyball team closed out its regular season in style Wednesday, sending its six healthy seniors off on a positive note — Barton Bookmiller and Danny Janzow were out with injuries — by defeating Williamsville South on Senior Night by 25-17, 25-13, 25-11 scores.

Jake Ireland, Achilles Blessios and Ares Blessios all had good nights as middle hitters, while Nick Ciraolo had five kills from the right side. Henry Payne and Tyler White continued to dominate from the outside, posting 17 and 10 kills, respectively.

The highlight of the night for coach Kevin Starr, however, was when team manager Zach Kilga got into the game and served for a couple points.

“The other guys suggested that Zach be the floor captain when he was out there, and they insisted that he had to be first in line for the post-game handshakes,” Starr said. “We have three sets of brothers on our team — the Blessioses, the Paynes and the Maccallinis — but these guys act like they’re all brothers. This kind of unity is what’s been a big part of our success all season long.”

Clarence came into Wednesday’s finale looking to bounce back after dropping a 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 contest to Canisius, Western New York’s top-ranked squad, a day earlier.

The Red Devils struggled from the service line — missing six in just the first set — and had a tough time passing as well, which Starr said “threw off the rest of our game.”

“To be honest, Canisius showed us why they’re ranked number one and we’re ranked number two,” Starr said. “They pretty much served us off the court. We had our chances in the third set, but even then it was clear that they were the better team.”

Payne led the way on the night with 12 kills, while White added six for Clarence, which finished the regular season 18-4 overall.

Clarence, which earned the third seed for the Division I playoffs, kicked off its postseason run Tuesday by hosting sixth-seeded Kenmore West, but information about that contest was not available at press time. If victorious, the Red Devils will advance to Friday’s semifinal round at Lackawanna to face the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal between second seeded Frontier and seventh seeded Lancaster.

“We haven’t seen West this year, but the last time we played them we beat them in the quarterfinals last year,” Starr said. “They were 4-8 in the Niagara Frontier League, so as long as we play our game, we should be successful. And as for Frontier and Lancaster, we beat both of them during the last week of league play, but they’re both very strong teams who will give us a great match.”

North Tonawanda boys volleyball hoping to start long playoff run
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Ever since posting a 25-11, 25-11, 25-10 conquest of Kenmore East in Oct. 20’s Niagara Frontier League regular season finale, North Tonawanda’s boys volleyball team has been chomping on the bit for the playoffs to begin.

The second-seeded Lumberjacks got their wish Tuesday when they hosted seventh seeded West Seneca West in a Section VI Division II-A quarterfinal, but information about that contest was not available at press time.

Coach Luke Hodgson was optimistic in the days leading up to the Lumberjacks’ playoff opener, however, that it would be North Tonawanda moving on to Saturday’s semifinal round at Lackawanna, where they will face the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal pitting third-seeded Sweet Home and sixth-seeded Williamsville South.

“West Seneca West does play in an excellent division, and they have a lot of tough players who know how to play the game,” Hodgson said. “We want to frustrate them into making mistakes or giving up easy free balls that we can use in our offense, and if we can capitalize on those things there’s no telling how far we can go.

“We’re just itching to start, to get through Tuesday and then just keep moving forward.”

The Lumberjacks are hoping to move forward a few more times this season after coasting past Kenmore East just two days after reaching the semifinals of the Grand Island Tournament — where they lost to the eventual champion Maryvale Flyers in a close 25-23, 18-25, 16-25 contest.

North Tonawanda worked on some different lineups and strategies during the win over East, which gave the Lumberjacks a 10-2 mark in divisional action for the year. Everyone who was dressed for the match made it onto the court that night and contributed in some fashion, Hodgson said.

That strategy worked so well that North Tonawanda continued to tinker with its lineup during the Grand Island Tournament. Hodgson believes that adding those additional wrinkles to the Lumberjacks’ approach should only make them tougher to plan against for Tuesday and, hopefully, beyond.

“We had some opportunities at the end of the regular season to do a lot of different things that should ultimately help us not be surprised by anything we see during our playoff run,” Hodgson said. “We should hopefully be ready for whatever comes our way. We’ve had a lot of practice since the end of the season, so the boys definitely are ready to just get out there and play someone else again.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Sweet Home ends NT’s girls volleyball season
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

North Tonawanda’s girls volleyball team was unable to maintain its strong starts in each of the three played sets in Oct. 26’s Section VI Class A prequarterfinal against Sweet Home, which ultimately led to the Lady Lumberjacks’ exit from the postseason by 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 scores.

Coach Jessica Anderson noted that in all three sets, the 10th-seeded Lady Lumberjacks were able to hold their own against the seventh-seeded Lady Panthers, but from that point on in each set, North Tonawanda was unable to find ways to close out each set.

“All three of the sets were pretty back and forth until about 16 points, but then Sweet Home’s aggressiveness combined with us making some mistakes that ultimately wound up costing us,” Anderson said. “We started the first set in particular pretty strongly, but they just took control down the stretch.”

Chase Steingasser had seven kills for North Tonawanda, while fifth-year senior Julie Milbrand — the squad’s only senior this season — added five kills, two assists and eight digs. Sara Dolan contributed three kills and three assists, while Julia Miskines had six digs and 16 assists.

Grace Proefrock added five digs for the Lady Lumberjacks, who finished the season 6-8 in league play and 6-12 overall.

“Julie will be leaving some big shoes to fill, especially in terms of her leadership on and off the court,” Anderson said. “She did a little bit of everything for us this year.”

For the year, Milbrand led the way with 229 kills, 68 aces, 49 total blocks (23 solo) and 225 digs. Dolan chipped in with 86 kills, 36 aces and 109 digs, while Steingasser contributed 61 kills, 51 aces, 32 total blocks (17 solo) and 24 digs.

“Overall, with just two returning varsity players this year, this was a good season for us,” Anderson said. “The girls learned the pace and tempo of the varsity game to where they played their game, they showed they could play with anyone. We just have to figure out ways to finish out sets moving forward; we have to keep pushing for the full 25 points.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Thunder volleyball rolls to semifinals
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team once again moves onto the semifinal round of the Monsignor Martin playoffs. The Thunder beat Nichols in three sets, 25-14, 25-11, 25-12, in the quarterfinal round to earn the right to move on.

They had very little trouble beating the Vikings and serving was the key to that dominance. Lillian Mueller got the Thunder 14 points off serves, including 10 aces. She also had six kills and six digs in an impressive effort.

“I think our biggest effort was we served well,” Mt. St. Mary Coach Brittany Schukraft said. “That was a focus for us going into the match. We had multiple girls with 10 or eight or six service aces. We just served really well. We wanted to put pressure on them and dig them into a hole. Our serving won the match for us.”

The Thunder will now take on a tough Sacred Heart team. Like Mount St. Mary, the Sharks excel at serving the ball.

“They serve really well,” Schukraft said. “That’s one thing we have to focus on. If we can do that well, that will help us put away strong hitters on their side. They have very good outside hitters. We have to focus on controlling the ball as best as possible.”

The Sharks have defeated the Thunder twice this season, in three and four sets respectively. If Mount St. Mary wants to pull off an upset, they’ll have to do better with ball control than in previous matches.

“The one thing is we have to be really good at ball control,” Schukraft said. “We couldn’t get the ball to our setter the last time we played. They just served really well. We want to be able to be in good position to receive serves and limit unforced errors. If we can do all of that, we can have a good chance to win.”

While the Thunder have fallen twice to Sacred Heart, the team didn’t have a full squad either time. With a team that is now fully healthy, Schukraft is hopeful that there will be a different outcome this time. Regard- less of who wins, the match should be competitive.

“It’s definitely a hard, competitively-fought match,” Schukraft said. “We’ve been down two starters when we played them this year. Our setter and outside hitter were not in the game and we still went to four games. We’re looking forward to playing them with a fully healthy squad. We’re hoping we can get to set five and make it a competitive match. Hopefully, we can pull off a win.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Lady Blue Devils volleyball falls in quarter-finals
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Kenmore West girls volleyball fell to Niagara-Wheatfield in a tightly-contested, five-set match in the quarterfinal round of the Class AA playoffs.

The loss ended a solid season, which saw the team finish 10-4 in league play and 12-5 overall. While the talent was there, the team was not especially healthy heading into the final stretch of the season.

“We had three girls injured going into that sectional game at the end of the season,” Kenmore West Coach Kelly Strong said. “We were kind of plagued by injuries this year.”

The Lady Blue Devils came into the year hoping to compete for an NFL title, but were unable to best a dominant Grand Island team.

“I thought Grand Island had an amazing team this year,” Strong said. “Obviously, they were very deserving of winning the NFL. We couldn’t really compete with their height. They had some really strong hitters, power-wise. We’re a much smaller team. As far as having enough strong hitters, we just couldn’t compete for the NFL Championship this year. I thought we could have had a little better showing at sectionals.”

The team was led by a solid trio of players in Abby Borkowski, Sammy Veronica and Erin Veronica. Borkowski, the outside hitter, led the team in kills and aces. Sammy Veronica played the setter position while her sister Erin was a standout at libero.

The team was senior-heavy, with eight girls graduating this spring. Strong expects the program to go into sort of a rebuilding mode next year, with so many new girls stepping in.

“Next year is going to be a lot different,” Strong said. “Now we have eight girls graduating. So next year’s team is going to be young and have a lot of new girls. It’ll be a little rebuilding I think.”

The seniors that are leaving will be dearly missed by the program. The group was hard-working and coachable. Strong hopes that rubbed off on the girls who will remain with the team.

“This team was super hard-working. They just never let a ball hit the ground without giving the 100 percent effort,” Strong said. “That was in practice and games. Very rarely did I have to talk to them about being lazy or anything like that. The seniors that are graduating have kind of left that for the underclassmen. Next year, hopefully we can just keep going with that.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Western New York 2016 Boys Top 10 Poll - 11/1/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Western New York 2016 Girls Top 10 Poll - 11/1/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Wildcats Run Winning Streak To 11 Straight
daemenwildcats.com
Sunday, October 30, 2016

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. - Fresh off securing their first-ever East Coast Conference Tournament berth, the Daemen College women's volleyball team ran their winning streak to 11 straight with a pair of straight-set wins over N.Y. Institute of Technology (25-22, 25-19, 25-19) and Southern Connecticut State University ( 25-19, 25-23, 25-19) today at NYIT's Recreation Hall.

The wins today run Daemen's record to 19-6 overall and 10-1 in ECC play. The Wildcats' current 11-match win streak is tied for the fifth-longest streak in the country among NCAA Division II teams. It's Daemen's first double-figure win streak since rattling off 15 straight during the 2013 season. Daemen clinched its first-ever ECC Tournament berth with yesterday's thrilling five-set victory at Long Island University Post.

The Wildcats' first win today came in a huge ECC showdown with league favorite NYIT. The Bears, hosts of today's tri-match, fell to 20-4 overall and 7-2 in the league with the loss. The two teams had gone to five sets earlier this season at Lumsden Gymnasium with NYIT, the defending East Region champions, coming out victorious.

Senior Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St Mary's of Lancaster) led a balanced Daemen offense with 14 kills while adding 13 digs. Her sister, sophomore Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) posted 12 kills and 12 digs while freshman Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) chipped in with a dozen kills. 

Freshman setter Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y./Iroquois) doubled up with a 38 assists and 11 digs, while sophomore Kailey Ballou (Eden, N.Y./Eden) registered a team-high 14 digs to pace the Wildcat defense. 

Daemen posted 46 kills in the match to NYIT's 25. The Bears were limited to just a .101 attack percentage as they suffered their second loss in the last four matches.

The win for Daemen snapped a six-match slide in the all-time series with NYIT, and it keeps the Wildcats alone in first place in the ECC standings.

With the big league win under their belt, a letdown was possible with the Wildcats matching up against SCSU to close the weekend. But, coach Stephanie Albano's squad wouldn't let that happen, downing the Owls 3-0 to improve to 5-1 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents this season.

The elder Drzymala posted a match-high 16 kills, while the younger doubled up with 10 kills and 13 digs. With a combined three double-doubles today, the sisters have now combined for 24 this season. 

Dolegowski (20 assists) split time with fellow freshman Sydney MacInnis (Superior, Colo./Fairview) to record 32 of the team's 38 assists in the match. Classmate Jess Kranz (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) chipped in with 13 digs.

SCSU fell to an even 14-14 this season with the loss.

With 30 kills today, Amber Dryzmala inches closer in her quest to become just the third player in team history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter recorded her 1,000th career dig in a 3-1 win over rival Roberts Wesleyan College earlier this season, and she's totaled 961 kills in her career to date.

Daemen returns to league play next Saturday, November 5, playing host to four-time defending ECC champion University of Bridgeport.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

High School Extra (Oct. 29): City Honors girls volleyball advances
Buffalo News
Saturday, October 29, 2016

City Honors earns win

The Section VI playoffs in girls volleyball began in earnest on Friday night with the quarterfinals. That means all of the teams have started their journey toward a regional championship and beyond.

In Class B-2, City Honors – the top seed – advanced with a three-set win over Medina. The Centaurs were led by Alena McKelvey, who had eight kills and 16 digs, and Tori Guzman, who finished with 14 digs and two aces.

City Honors coach Deborah Matos is always happy to get a win at this time of the year.

“We’re excited about moving on,” she said. “We’re young – we put a young team on the floor. There’s some experience out there, though. We’re excited. We just have to keep working hard.”

The Centaurs moved to 11-4 for the season. It’s a little tough to judge how good they can be in the postseason.

“We run an independent schedule,” Matos said. “We did well against the bigger schools, and that helped our seeding. We had a lot of five-set matches – maybe more than usual.

“I thought we’d get a pretty high seed, but it’s not an easy bracket. We’ve got to hang in there.”

Elsewhere, No. 5 Springville advanced past No. 4 I-Prep in three sets. Shelby Kerstin had nine blocks and 15 kills for Alden in a three-setter over Fredonia.

In Class AA, Meghan Neelon had 19 kills and seven digs as No. 1 Clarence took care of Williamsville North in straight sets. Elsewhere, Alyss Babinger had nine kills for

No. 2 Lancaster’s sweep of Frontier. No. 3 Lockport beat Orchard Park in four sets; Kourtney Krchniak had 24 assists and four kills for the Lions. Niagara-Wheatfield rallied from two sets down to beat Kenmore West.

In Class A, No. 1 Grand Island rode Lauren Chadwick’s 19 kills to a win over Kenmore East in three sets. Next up for the Vikings is Williamsville South; the No. 5 seed swept Hutch-Tech.
Maryvale, the top seed in Class B-1, rolled to a sweep of Dunkirk. Jaelah George had seven digs and five kills for the Flyers. Maria Verrastro had 19 assists in Cheektowaga’s three-set win over Lewiston-Porter.

In Class C-1, No. 1 Akron was in good form in a three-set win over Wilson. Sharrah Jonathan had 18 assists and five aces, while Whitley Stafford finished with 21 digs. Sam Burgio had 14 kills for No. 4 Eden in a three-set win over Southwestern.

Beth Miller, a Prep Talk Girls Athlete of the Week this season, had 12 kills and five aces to lead top-seeded Portville to a three-set win over Falconer in C-2 play.

In Class D, No. 1 North Collins had a bye into the semifinals. No. 2 Panama had a three-set win over Pine Valley, as Madaline Bowden had 16 kills and seven digs.

In the Msgr. Martin quarterfinals, Lilly Muller had 10 aces in Mount St. Mary’s three-set win over Nichols.

East Aurora wins opener

The playoffs started on Friday in boys volleyball. There was a limited schedule of prequarterfinal games.

East Aurora moved along with a five-set win over Amherst. Jack Gurbacki had six aces and Nate Mucci had nine kills for the Blue Devils, who moved along to play Maryvale.

Parker Lewis had 15 kills as Niagara-Wheatfield took care of West Seneca East in straight sets. Ian Barker had 13 kills and five aces to pace West Seneca West to a three-set win over Kenmore East.

All teams will play on on Tuesday. The top seeds are Lockport (Division I), Williamsville East (Division II-A), and Eden (Division II-B).

Maryvale boys volleyball wins Grand Island tourney
Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 27, 2016

Everything came together for Maryvale’s boys volleyball team Saturday, which helped the Flyers defeat St. Mary’s of Lancaster in the championship match of Grand Island’s annual tournament, 25-21, 25-22, in what coach Andrew Murtha called “the most proud moment of my time coaching at Maryvale.”

“The team really clicked on all cylinders throughout the day, with everyone playing their role very well,” Murtha said. “It was an amazing feat for our volleyball program and school. We are one of the smallest schools around, so to win a tournament with a bunch of large schools was a great accomplishment. Hopefully we can stay grounded and feed off of that experience for the remainder of the season in our quest for a sectional championship.”

Maryvale went 12-1 over the course of the day en route to claiming the title, included an undefeated romp through pool play. The Flyers ultimately had to rally from a 1-0 deficit to North Tonawanda in the semifinals to earn their spot in the championship match, and they ultimately received contributions from every member of the team to claim the title.

Jordan Nosal, who was named Tournament MVP, “provided a great mix of power and smart, shot-making offense,” Murtha said, while All-Tournament Team member Tom Frain “has become a steady offensive threat for us in addition to his improved passing and blocking.” Nate Zawadzki, meanwhile, “ran a more balanced offensive attack that kept teams’ defenses on their toes, getting everyone involved.”

“Nosal and Zawadzki provided steady leadership throughout the long day, encouraging teammates and helping us get through the rough patches,” Murtha said. “Jason Mc- Carthy was outstanding, dialing up tough serves and stepping in to make key sets and digs. Zach Amato was a reliable presence as usual both offensively and defensively, while Mark Bailey continued to establish himself as one of our vocal leaders and saved his best moments for the big playoff games; he was a blocking force in the finals.

“Deante Mecca, who continues to get better each week and is reading the flow of the game much better, gave us steady passing and defense,” Murtha continued. “Mar’quez Greene worked hard throughout the day to contribute many big kills to help balance our attack, while Kenny Fields made the most of his opportunities and was the consummate teammate, pushing the guys all day long.”

Maryvale entered the tournament flying high after knocking off crosstown rival Cheektowaga the previous night by 25-14, 25-21, 25-23 scores. Frain “was big in the clutch moments,” Murtha said, which included getting the match-ending kill that allowed Maryvale to finished divisional play with a 10-2 record.

The Flyers entered their match with Cheektowaga looking to do well after knocking off Starpoint two days earlier by 25-14, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19. Murtha was pleased with how his team “battled through some lineup adversity to win on the road,” noting how Mecca served well — “one of his best games of the season”— including an ace on match point.

Maryvale was hoping to get back on track against Starpoint after falling to division stalwart Eden on Oct. 14, 19-25, 25-19, 17-25, 19-25. Murtha noted that the Flyers “played some of our most inspired volleyball of the season” against Eden, including some solid blocking and defense.

“We were glad to take a game from Eden,” Murtha said. “It gave us confidence, which we will hopefully carry through playoffs.”

The Flyers returned to action Tuesday against Williamsville East and then hosted Williamsville North Wednesday, but information was not available at press time for either contest. Maryvale will then have a few days off before opening Section VI Division II-B action Tuesday with a quarterfinal-round match against the winner of Friday’s prequarterfinal between East Aurora and Amherst.

Maryvale girls volleyball to enter playoffs with positive momentum
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 27, 2016

Maryvale’s girls volleyball team has a lot to be happy about heading into the postseason.

Not only did the Lady Flyers knock off a larger non-league foe Monday in West Seneca West, but Maryvale — ranked 10th among the area’s large schools — clinched the regular-season ECIC III title Thursday by knocking off crosstown rival Cheektowaga. That victory, which gave the Lady Flyers a 10-2 mark in divisional action, allowed Maryvale to earn both the top seed and a first-round bye for the upcoming Section VI Class B-1 playoffs.

“If we continue to play the way we have played the last three weeks, we are going to be tough to stop,” coach Tin a Raczynski said. “No one expects Maryvale to do well, win the division and go to the sectional finals, but that helps motivate us to want to prove everyone wrong and prove we do belong there. When these girls set their minds and set their goals, they show that they are something special and fun to watch.”

Maryvale proved especially fun to watch in Monday’s regular-season finale with West, as the Lady Flyers showed they weren’t about to be intimidated by an ECIC I squad in dismantling the Lady Indians by 25-15, 25-18, 16-25 and 25-19 scores. Junior captain Julia Carter had 12 kills, six digs and three aces to guide Maryvale’s efforts, while senior captain Jaelah George added three kills and nine digs. Junior Morgan Michalski had 13 assists, four blocks and 23 digs, while senior Alexa Hoiensahl had five kills and four blocks.

Senior captain Emily Raczynski chipped in with 14 assists, two kills, two blocks and five digs for the victors, whom coach Raczynski said “went into this game knowing we had nothing to lose but everything to gain by defeating West.”

“This was a huge win for our program,” coach Raczynski said. “It was a huge team effort and the girls were amazing. They played their offense and defense better than they have all season, which from a coaching aspect is great to see right before the playoffs. I’m just very proud of the girls and the way they performed during this game; they came out strong, set the pace of the game and came out with a big win.”

Maryvale entered Monday’s match feeling good about its chances after knocking off Cheektowaga in straight sets on Thursday, 25-14, 25-23 and 25-19. George had three kills, three aces and two digs, while Emily Raczynski had 11 assists and seven digs. Sophomore Amiah George chipped in with five digs for the victors, who were celebrating Senior Night during their annual “Pink Out Night” breast cancer fundraiser.

“This was a huge game for us because if we won the game we were sole champions of the division — and if we lost we would be co-champions with East Aurora,” coach Raczynski said. “The girls were very excited for this game, but I was a bit nervous because Central is our rival and, with it being Senior Night, you never know how the girls are going to react after the ceremony. But the girls were amazing; our offense and defense were spot on, and we just played our hearts out.

“We wanted the division to ourselves and, for the first time all season after those first two losses, we knew our destiny was in our own hands,” coach Raczynski continued. “We wanted this really bad; we needed to prove that we weren’t just a ‘one and out’ type of team after winning the division last year.”

Maryvale was just as poised one night earlier in taking out another crosstown rival, JFK, by 25-17, 25-15 and 25-10 scores. Carter had 14 kills and five aces to pace Maryvale, while Jaelah George added two kills, four aces and six digs. Seniors Haley Graczyk and Hoai Phan added one kill each for the Lady Flyers.

“Everyone on the team received playing time and was able to participate in the win over JFK,” coach Raczynski said. “It was nice to see people who don’t usually get the opportunity to get a lot of playing time be able to go out there and participate in the win. JFK had a difficult time handling our offense that night and we were just able to play our game the way we play it.”

The Lady Flyers also faced little resistance from Depew on Oct. 17, as they took down the Lady Wildcats by 25-21, 25-16 and 25-19 scores. Jaelah George had eight kills and two digs to guide Maryvale, while Carter added 10 kills, six digs and two aces. Michalski chipped in with six assists, two kills, five aces and 10 digs, while senior Carly Cross had four digs.

“We look forward to it every time we play Depew,” coach Raczynski said. “Both teams get along very well, so they are always fun games to play. Depew had a hard time handling our serves, and Julia Carter and Jaelah George were especially spot-on with their hitting. Emily Raczynski and Morgan Michalski were setting up the hitters perfectly. We couldn’t ask for a better combination of things to happen in this game, which helped us come out with the win.”

Maryvale’s recent run to close out the regular season began Oct. 13 with its 25-19, 25-17 and 25-16 win over Lake Shore. Carter had 13 kills, six aces and three digs to lead the Lady Flyers, while Emily Raczynski added 14 assists, four digs and two aces. Freshman Christie McGee-Ross added three kills and three blocks.

“This was a game that we were anticipating to be a bit of a battle for us, as we played them so hard the first time around,” coach Raczynski said. “We were pleasantly surprised when we were able to control the play and pace of the game. Lake Shore really could not handle us offensively during this game, and they also had some problems receiving our serve.”

The Lady Flyers (15-2 overall) begins their Section VI Class B-1 playoff run at 6 p.m. Friday by hosting the winner of Wednesday’s prequarterfinal match between CSAT and Dunkirk. Information about that match was not available at press time, however.

The winner of Friday’s contest will move on to play in Tuesday’s semifinal round.

“Everyone on the team except our freshmen have experience in the playoffs thanks to our run to the sectional finals last year, so we know what to expect now,” coach Raczynski said. “The top rule of our team is to never look past the current opponent, and that’s Friday’s game.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

High School Extra (Oct. 26): Canisius v-ball tops Clarence
Buffalo News
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Canisius, ranked No. 1 in Western New York, got ready for its final Monsignor Martin regular season volleyball match of the season against St. Francis on Wednesday by sweeping second-ranked Clarence in three sets, 25-17, 25-14 and 25-21, in a nonleague match.

Devin Joslyn had 19 kills, Griffin Schmit 12 kills and three blocks and Chaz Palka eight kills and five aces for the Crusaders. Libero Troy Gooch had a couple of aces in addition to his assists.

"It was one of our better matches," said Canisius coach. "We played really efficiently, got on them pretty quickly and played really well.

"We forced Clarence to send us some balls we could terminate. Our serving made it really hard for Clarence to ahve any kind of offense.

In another match of a team prepping for the postseason, Eden defeated West Seneca West in four sets, 25-21. 25-14, 21-25 and 25-14. Colin Rigley led the Raiders with 18 kills and six aces and Josh Pharr had 19 digs.

South boys volleyball finishes 7-5 in ECIC II
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Evan Oliver connects for a spike attempt during Williamsville South’s pool-play match with North Tonawanda
during Saturday’s Grand Island Tournament. Photo by Jason Nadolinski. Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Williamsville South’s boys volleyball team split its final two ECIC Division II matches of the year, beating West Seneca East 25-8, 25-7, 25-17 at home Oct. 18 and losing on the road against Williamsville East 17-25, 17-25, 21-25 Oct. 21, to finish 7-5.

South coach Thom Knab said his team took advantage of West Seneca East’s inexperience.

Matt Kennedy recorded seven kills and five blocks and Mitchell Binda tallied four kills and four blocks.

Knab said the East match was exciting and competitive, but East had a little more offensive power.

JF Oliver tallied five kills and six blocks. Kennedy added four blocks.

The Billies opened the week with a 21-25, 23-25, 18-25 non-league road loss against Lockport Oct. 17.

Binda led South with seven kills. Dan Proch added five kills.

South closed out the week at the Grand Island Tournament Saturday.

The Billies went 3-3 in pool play, losing to North Tonawanda 18-25, 24-26, 22-25 and defeated Niagara Wheatfield 25-15, 25-15, 25-17, and lost in the playoffs to Maryvale 22-25 and St. Mary’s of Lancaster 18-25.

For the tournament, Binda recorded 15 kills and six blocks; Kennedy recorded 12 kills and 14 blocks; and Oliver had 12 kills and nine blocks.

The Billies travel to Clarence for a non-league match on Wednesday.

South, seeded sixth in the Section VI Division II-A Tournament, travel to third seed Sweet Home for a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 1.

South splits league matches
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Williamsville South’s girls volleyball team earned a split in its ECIC Division II matches last week, losing to Williamsville East 14-25, 9-25, 11-25 Oct. 17 and beating West Seneca East 25-23, 25-22, 25-17 Thursday.

South coach Tom Sproull said his team did not get enough swings against East and when they did, East made a defensive play where it was not hitting the floor.

South’s offense was balanced against West Seneca East. Megan Muelhbauer recorded six kills, Amari De- Berry had five kills and Hannah Abramowitz and Grace Stahl with four kills. Maddie Popielski recorded three aces.

South also dropped a non-league home match against Orchard Park on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 18-25, 12-25, 18-25.

“Orchard Park served tough, played good defense and have some kids that can swing hard,” Sproull said. “It was good to play them. We didn’t make a decent pass and get a hard swing.”

Muelhbauer led South with six kills.

South is the fifth seed for the Section VI Class A Tournament and hosts 12th seed West Seneca West in a prequarterfinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers dropped games last week against Niagara Wheatfield Oct. 17; Williamsville North Oct. 18 and Hamburg Thursday.

Against Niagara-Wheatfield, Tirzah Peters tallied 22 kills, two blocks and one ace; Christie Ackendorf tallied eight kills, three blocks, two aces and six digs; and Bella Pullara recorded an ace and 10 digs.

Versus North, Peters added 13 kills and seven blocks and Camryn McCrossan handed out 15 assists and had one ace.

Peters tallied 20 kills and two blocks against Hamburg. Ackendorf recorded 12 kills, two aces, a block and 15 digs.

McCrossan tallied 26 assists, four digs and an ace; Madison Gerber totaled 10 digs and four aces; and Pullara had 16 digs and an ace.

“We ended the week strong even though we didn’t get the win, we played consistent and tough,” Sweet Home coach Breean Martin said.

Sweet Home is the seventh seed in the Section VI Class A-1 Tournament and hosts 10th seed North Tonawanda in a prequarterfinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

East boys volleyball wins first ECIC II title
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Williamsville East’s Jason Berkun, left, and Bryce Stancampiano team up to try and block a Niagara Falls spike attempt during
pool play in Saturday’s Grand Island Tournament. Photo by Jason NadolinskiPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

It was a historic week for the Williamsville East boys volleyball team.

The Flames won league matches over Iroquois 16-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22 Oct. 18; West Seneca East 25-8, 25-14, 25-16 Thursday and Williamsville South 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 Friday, to finish 11-1 in league matches and earn the program’s first ECIC Division II title.

“We’re proud,” East coach Chris Conrad said. “They have worked three years for this. The team learned how to win and have given me 100 percent.”

East’s victory over South also improved the Flames to 14-1 overall and earned them the top seed for the Section VI Division II-A Tournament. East will host either eighth-seed Niagara-Wheatfield or ninth-seed West Seneca East in a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Conrad said South did not quit and made his team work for every point.

“The intensity was so high for this match compared to anything I have coached with them,” he said.

Drew Elliott (eight kills, five blocks); Ali Khadra (five kills, 14 blocks); Troy Stancampiano (kill, two blocks, two digs); Erik Regan (seven blocks, dig); Sam Schatmeyer (four blocks, two digs); Jason Berkun (three kills, nine blocks, two digs); and Josh Weissert (five digs) contributed to the win.

Weissert set for the first time against West Seneca East and excelled, Conrad said. Weissert also had an ace, a kill and a dig.

Schatmeyer (ace); Berkun (four kills, three blocks); Khadra (nine kills, four blocks); Regan (two kills, dig); Bryce Stancampiano (kill, dig); and Alex Wisniewski (kill) also contributed for East.

Losing the first game on the road against Iroquois was a wake-up call for East.

“They are a veteran team and have a veteran coach,” Conrad said. “They did a good job of revving their team up and played well. My team knew what they had to do. Our passing in the first game was not on the spot. We have done a lot of drills to prepare ourselves mentally when we get back into that predicament. We cleaned up our mistakes in the last three games.”

Khadra (10 kills, 10 blocks); Elliott (10 kills, four blocks, dig, ace); Schatmeyer (five kills, six blocks, two digs); Berkun (eight kills, eight blocks); Bryce Stancampiano (two kills, two digs, ace); and Weissert (eight digs) contributed to the win.

East also earned a five-game win over St. Joe’s at home Wednesday, Oct. 19, winning 25-19, 25-19, 22-25, 13-25, 15-8.

“It was a team we had never seen before,” Conrad said. “In our two losses, our leadership on the court was not executing the plays they needed to execute.”

Elliott (12 kills, eight blocks, four digs); Regan (four kills, three blocks); Schatmeyer (five kills, five blocks, two digs); Khadra (eight kills, seven blocks); Weissert (nine digs); Bryce Stancampiano (four digs, ace); Troy Stancampiano (kill, two blocks, dig) and Berkun (two kills, three blocks, dig) contributed to the victory.

East also competed in the Grand Island Tournament Saturday, beating Niagara Falls, splitting with Kenmore West and losing to Maryvale in pool play. They advanced to the play-ins where they fell to Grand Island, 26-28, and North Tonawanda, 19-25, in the play-in matches.

Conrad noted the play of Schatmeyer for running the offense, Bryce Stancampiano at outside hitter instead of right side hitter and Regan for supplying a lot of kills from the back row.

East played at Maryvale Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before press time.

East girls volleyball clinches fifth consecutive ECIC II title
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Williamsville East girls volleyball clinched its fifth consecutive ECIC Division II title on senior night with a straight set win over Williamsville South 25-14, 25-9, 25-11 Oct. 17.

“We are playing good volleyball and we just want to reflect that and stay as positive as we can,” East coach Scott Wright said.

Prior to the match, East honored its seniors including captain Lexi Novak, Julianna Benz, Ann Marie Jones, Leah Orsini, Jessica Weaver and Megan Wiese.

Wiese got East off to a great start by opening the first set with an eight-point serving run.

South closed the deficit to 14-10 before kills from Novak and Orsini, and an ace from Benz, extended the lead to 20-10. Two kills by Novak gave East the set.

“We had a little bit of a slow start but we tightened up our game and were consistent on offense and defense,” Wright said.

In the second set, an eight-point serving run from Weaver gave East a 9-1 lead, and a six-point serving run from Jones later extended the lead to 20-4. An ace from Makayla Greenfield ended the set.

The third set was tied at 5-5 when Allison Jozwiak went on a five-point serving run to give the Lady Flames a 10-5 lead.

Three kills from Novak and two aces from Steffan extended the lead to 19-9.

East was led by Novak (18 kills, 11 digs); Greenfield (30 assists, seven digs); Rachel Steffan (six kills, eight digs); Orsini (five kills, three blocks); Jozwiak (five kills); Wiese (nine digs) and Benz (seven digs).

For the second straight year, East went undefeated in league play with a 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 win Thursday at Amherst. East finished 12-0 in league matches and did not drop a set.

The first set was tied at 7-7 but an eight-point serving run by Novak, including four aces and two kills from Steffan, gave East a 15-7 lead.

Two kills from Steffan and three aces from Benz closed out the set.

In the second set, a kill from Greenfield and consecutive kills from Orsini gave East a 10-5 lead. Four kills from Novak pushed the lead to 20-7.

In the third set, four kills from Jozwiak gave East an 8-4 lead.

Amherst battled back to tie the set at 8-8. A five-point serving run, including three kills from Steffan, put East back on top 14-8.

Jozwiak recorded 11 kills, two blocks and four digs.

Novak had eight kills and four aces in limited playing time. Novak has 418 kills for the season.

Greenfield recorded 31 assists. She has 782 assists on the year and is averaging 10.7 assists per set.

Also contributing were Steffan (nine kills, nine digs), Orsini (eight kills), Benz (six aces), and Wiese (11 digs).

Sacred Heart girls volleyball finishes as second seed for playoffs
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball team earned the second seed and a first-round bye for the upcoming Monsignor Martin Association playoffs after they downed Mount St. Mary’s on the road 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 25-9 Oct. 18.

The Sharks will face the winner of one of the quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in the semifinals.

The Sharks started off a little slow, allowing Mount St. Mary to take an early lead in the first set but the team came on strong and finished. The team played even better in the second set.

Every player contributed in the third set but the team came up just short of a win. In the fourth set, Sacred Heart took a quick lead and played extremely well to win the match.

Freshman Siobhan Ryan led the team’s offense with five kills and an ace. Senior Colleen Conway also contributed five kills.

Junior Micaela Ryan added three kills and three aces, and senior captain Emma Rehrauer and junior Lauren Aichinger each had four kills and an ace. Junior Clare Falkowski also had three aces.

Defensively, senior captain Mia Wild had 17 digs and 10 serve receives; Rehrauer had 13 digs and 12 serve receives; and Siobhan Ryan had eight digs and three serve receives.

On Thursday night, Sacred Heart defeated City Honors in a non-league match on the road 25-12, 17-25, 25-15, 25-16.

Micaela Ryan led the offense with 11 kills and three aces.

Rehrauer had five aces and three kills; Aichinger contributed five kills; Conway had three kills, and Falkowski tallied three aces.

Defensively, Wild had 19 serve receives and 15 digs, and three aces. Rehrauer had eight digs and four serve receives, and junior Claire Beecher added six serve receives and four digs.

Victories over Frontier, Lancaster allow boys volleyball team to claim ECIC I title
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Clarence’s boys volleyball team earned its first ECIC I regular-season title since 1999 Friday when it knocked off Lancaster by 25-17, 32-30, 25-23 scores to finish the 2016 campaign 10-2 in divisional action.

“It’s been a long time since that happened, and we’ve had some very good teams here since 1999, but these guys will always be able to come back to Clarence and see 2016 on the league championship banner,” coach Kevin Starr said. “Now we’ll work on adding 2016 to the line that says ‘Section VI champions,’ something else that hasn’t happened since 1999.”

Starr admits that Clarence’s blockers “weren’t matching up with Lancaster’s hitters as well as we usually do,” which forced the Red Devils to play even better defense to pull out the win, which they did. Clarence pulled out nearly five times as many digs than usual for the win, finishing with 33 on the night.

Lancaster had game point several times in the second set but each time, Clarence answered back before finally pulling it out at the end.

“The scores in the second and third sets give a good idea of what the match was like,” Starr said. “Lancaster played inspired volleyball. To be honest, they were quicker than we were for most of the match. We talk about that one step to get to the ball more quickly and how much that can affect a match in the long haul; we’ve been doing it well all season, but it wasn’t at its usual level that night.”

Shawn Trznadel dished out 38 assists, with Henry Payne serving as the target for many — which led to him finishing with 25 kills on the night. Payne was also the calming reassurance during a timeout in the third set, with Clarence up 24-23, giving his teammates a reminder of what was at stake.

“We talk a lot about ‘focus’ — about how important it is to play smart volleyball — and as such we used our timeouts to be sure that everyone knew his assignment and to talk about what plays would work best for us,” Starr said. “At 24-23 in the third set, we took a timeout and Henry reminded the boys that if we scored one more point, we’d be league champs — and then we went out and got it.”

Clarence was able to vie for division title thanks to its 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 win over Frontier on Oct. 18. The Falcons, who entered the match with just one league loss, took down the Red Devils in a four-set match in September, but Trznadel kept the Falcons’ defense off balance by sending his 38 assists to just about every player on the court.

Payne was the recipient on many of them, however, as he had 21 kills in 42 attempts for a .500 kill percentage, which Starr said was “pretty spectacular, considering that every team keys their defense on him.” He also served for six aces in the first set, which helped the Red Devils jump out to an early lead.

Tyler White chipped in with seven kills, while Nick Ciraolo added six. Libero Teddy Payne contributed 10 digs in what Starr called “a typical ECIC Division I match, with both teams playing very well.”

Clarence (17-3 overall) continued to tune up for its sectional debut — the third-seeded Red Devils host sixth-seeded Kenmore West in a Division I quarterfinal on Tuesday — by hosting Canisius Tuesday, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Red Devils will then host Williamsville South tonight in this year’s Senior Night match, where the team’s eight seniors will be honored.

NT girls volleyball wins regular-season finale
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

North Tonawanda’s girls volleyball team put together one of its best performances of the season Wednesday in defeating Lew-Port by 25-11, 25-10, 26-24 scores on the Lady Lumberjacks’ Senior Night.

Coach Jessica Anderson was impressed with her team’s attitude on the night, as all of the underclassmen fought hard to pull out the win for Julie Milbrand, the squad’s only senior. Along the way, North Tonawanda was aggressive and hit its spots with its serving as a unit, which Anderson said “helped us to control the match.”

“Lew-Port was one of the best all-around team efforts we’ve had all year,” Anderson said. “Everything went our way. We served our best of the year, and we also really worked the middle of the court, which opened things up for the outsides and made our offense run more smoothly in general.”

Milbrand led the way for North Tonawanda with 13 kills, 10 digs, six aces and three blocks. Julia Miskines dished out 25 assists, while Annie Williams served up four aces and added six digs. Bailey Crampton had five kills and Yilka Sopi added four blocks for the Lady Lumberjacks, who bounced back nicely from a 10-25, 23-25, 14-25 setback to Kenmore East two days earlier.

North Tonawanda had some players in different spots that match, but despite that the Lady Lumberjacks still played well — it just “wasn’t how we could’ve played,” Anderson said.

Milbrand led the way for North Tonawanda with 10 kills, 10 digs and three aces, while Miskines added six digs and 13 assists. Chase Steingasser chipped in with four kills, while Sopi contributed eight digs. Allison House added six digs for North Tonawanda, which entered the Ken East match looking to do well after knocking off CSAT on Oct. 13 by 25-8, 25-11, 25-13 scores.

CSAT gave a much better effort in the rematch, but North Tonawanda helped its cause by serving for 28 aces. Milbrand (11 kills, three digs) and Steingasser each had seven of those aces to guide the team from the service line.

“We played them a lot tougher this time than we did the first time around,” Anderson said. “We definitely played a lot stronger and were more aggressive. They did a lot of second balls over and we covered that a lot better this time around.”

Sara Dolan (four kills) helped out from the service line with six aces, while Williams added five aces. Crampton chipped in with 14 assists.

The Lady Lumberjacks took a break from match play during their final stretch by hosting their annual tournament on Oct. 15, where they walked away with the Bronze Bracket title after defeating Williamsville North, 27-25, 22-25, 15-10. Milbrand had 10 kills, 11 digs and two aces to guide North Tonawanda’s efforts, while Miskines dished out 14 assists. Sopi and Steingasser (eight digs) each had three blocks.

“The girls just started to relax a little bit as the day progressed,” Anderson said. “We lost to North earlier in the year, but the girls saw they had nothing to lose and were able to just go out and have fun.

“You always want to do well in your own tournament and when we didn’t make the gold bracket there was a small sense of disappointment,” Anderson continued. “That’s why it was big for the girls to come out and win three matches in the playoffs. It was a big confidence booster for them. They realized if they play well they can play with teams, even teams they’ve lost to earlier in the season.”

The Lady Lumberjacks (6-11 overall) will begin their journey through the Class A bracket this evening by traveling to seventh-seeded Sweet Home. If the 10th-seeded Lady Lumberjacks are victorious, they will move on to face either 15th-seeded Amherst or second-seeded Williamsville East in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

“I know Sweet Home is a little down from where they’ve been the last couple of years, but they’re always a scrappy defensive team and it should be a pretty competitive match,” Anderson said. “They keep the ball in play so we have to be prepared for every ball to come back to us. We have to build off what we did in the regular-season finale; the team as a whole needs to have confidence that they can play with anyone and make sure we play up to level of team we playing. We want to have people play up to us at our best.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Lady Warriors’ volleyball enters playoffs winners in four of last five
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Tonawanda’s girls volleyball team will take a good deal of positive momentum into what the Lady Warriors hope will be an extended stay in the postseason thanks to wins in four of their five matches leading up to the playoffs.

“I am overjoyed with how well our regular season has gone,” coach Renee Smith said. “We finished our regular season 6-8 overall, which is the best record this program has seen in at least six years, and a big reason for that is that this team is full of talent and hard workers. Their dedication to our program and their hard work has allowed this program to grow into what it is today.”

Tonawanda’s stretch run began Oct. 11 with a 25-23, 25-11, 25-14 conquest of Holland on Oct. 11. Caitlyn Vishion paced the Lady Warriors with 13 kills, three aces and three digs, while Kristen Toth chipped in with 12 assists.

Tonawanda came back the next afternoon to knock off Lackawanna in straight sets by 25-20, 25-14, 25-15 scores. The Lady Warriors served up a combined 24 aces on the day, with both Toth and Alyssa Prytula collecting five each. Both players also had one kill each for Tonawanda, which secured the home-and-home series sweep against the Lady Steelers on Oct. 17 with their 25-20, 25-12, 25-11 victory.

Tonawanda jumped out to an early lead in the rematch and fought hard to stay out front in each set, with Smith noting that her players’ communication on out-of-system plays “was excellent.” Vishion had nine kills and nine aces, while Maria Garbo chipped in with five aces.

Alden threw a monkey wrench into Tonawanda’s play down the stretch on Oct. 18, however, by taking down the Lady Warriors by 9-25, 20-25, 16-25 scores. Despite the loss, Smith was pleased with her squad’s play, saying that it was the best Tonawanda had battled Alden in her time with the team.

“Our team played a great game against a very talented team,” Smith said. “We got beat, but we did not beat ourselves.”

Vishion had five kills and 10 digs to guide Tonawanda’s efforts, while Prytula chipped in with four blocks.

The Lady Warriors quickly shook that setback off, however, to beat JFK in four in Thursday’s Senior Night match, 25-20, 24-26, 25-16 and 24-23. Vishion, Elisa Heldarskard, Keirsten Stevens and Ariana Metzger started and ended the match as the squad’s senior honorees, with Vishion finishing with 13 kills, seven aces and seven digs. Garbo chipped in with 23 digs, four kills and four aces, while Toth added 13 assists, seven kills, three aces and one block.

“I am so impressed with my girls this year and they have so much to be proud of,” Smith said. “Caitlyn in particular has become one of the best players I have seen go through Tonawanda. Her talent alone makes her a top athlete on our team, but the player she is all around is what makes her as valuable as she is. Our program is going to take a hit when she graduates, but we will continue to push forward.”

Tonawanda (6-8 league) will kick off its postseason run this evening by hosting ninth-seeded Medina in a Section VI Class B-2 prequarterfinal. If the eighth-seeded Lady Warriors are successful, they will move on to face top-seeded City Honors in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

“Our program still has so much more it can achieve and I will do everything I can to keep providing these girls with as many opportunities to become better volleyball players,” Smith said. “We just need to continue to play our game and work hard so that we can earn a win to get us into the next round of playoffs.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

MSM volleyball beats O’Hara
Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 26, 2016

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team came out victorious in its final match of the regular season with a four-set win over Nardin. The Thunder beat the Gators 19-25, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-20.

Emily Trotman had eight kills and four blocks.

Earlier in the week, the team got a three-set win over Cardinal O’Hara.

The Thunder dominated the first set 25-6 before taking the second and third, 25-17 and 25-22.

The team closed the season with an overall record of 10-9 and a league record of 6-4.

The Thunder will open the playoffs vs. Nichols Friday at St. Mary’s.

Western New York 2016 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/25/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Western New York 2016 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/25/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 25, 2016

High School Extra (Oct. 25): Eden tops Quakers in five sets
Buffalo News
Sunday, October 25, 2016

Eden hosted Orchard Park in their annual non-league boys volleyball battle, and the Raiders won in five sets, 25-13, 25-23, 18-25, 24-26 and 15-9.

"It was one of those knock-down, drag-out, momentum-shifting affairs I expected and hoped for," said Eden coach Richard Pierce. "We hadn't played a five-gamer all year so the experience we gained is crucial going into the playoffs."

Collin Rigley had 18 kills for the Raiders and sophomore setter Gavin Musielak had 43 assists and seven digs.

"Gavin is playing outstanding for us," said Pierce. "He's doing a great job of getting us into to position to score. He's our quarterback ... He's a hard-working young kid who's not fazed playing with the seniors."

Lancers win Lancaster showdown

St. Mary's of Lancaster went five sets to defeat Lancaster, 24-26, 25-19, 25-16,22-25 and 25-11 in their town girls volleyball rivalry. Senior Caitlin Meyer had 26 kills and junior Jillian Vitale had 49 assists for the Lancers.

"It was the toughest match we’ve had in a month," said St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski. "It was their Senior Night and they were revved up. They played well and we just eked it out."

St. John Fisher College Announces New Men’s Volleyball Program
sjfc.edu
Monday, October 24, 2016

St. John Fisher College will add a new men’s volleyball program to its athletic offerings in fall 2017.

This much-anticipated program will bring an NCAA Division III men’s team to the roster of sports offered at the College, including a well-established women’s volleyball team. Fisher’s program will join the 77 other NCAA Division III men’s programs nationwide, and will compete in the United Volleyball Conference alongside Bard College, Elmira College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nazareth College, SUNY New Paltz, New York University, Penn State Behrend, The Sage Colleges, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Vassar College.

Fisher’s athletics department is now in the recruiting phase, with plans to celebrate the team’s first serve in early 2018. At the collegiate level, the men’s volleyball season runs from January to April. The men’s team will compete in the Manning & Napier Varsity Gym in the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Athletic Center.

“The popularity of men’s volleyball is growing at both the high school and collegiate level, providing an opportune time to add the sport to our roster,” said Bob Ward, athletics director at Fisher. “We believe that our location, academic offerings, and facilities will allow us to successfully recruit student-athletes to Fisher, and deliver the resources they need to be competitive on the court.”

In recent years, Fisher’s athletics program has seen immense growth. With the addition of men’s volleyball, the College will offer 25 athletic programs, with total team rosters including more than 700 student-athletes. Fisher’s athletic facilities have also seen expansion over the last two decades, including the addition of Growney Stadium, Dugan Yard, and Polisseni Track and Field Complex, and upgrades and enhancements to the Coaches Corridor, locker rooms, and fitness center.

Bailey Salemi named Female Athlete of the Week
medaillesports.com
Monday, October 24, 2016

Junior outside hitter Bailey Salemi (Wheatfield, NY, Niagara Wheatfield) had an impressive week for the Mavericks. She finished second on the team with (26) kills offensively, while also racking up (47) digs on the defensive side of the net. She had double-digit digs in all three matches last week, including a season-high (27) in a win against D'Youville. She also notched her fifth double-double of the season on Saturday against Penn State-Altoona, finishing with (10) kills and (10) digs.

High School Extra (Oct. 23): The best for now
Buffalo News
Sunday, October 23, 2016

The Section VI pairings in volleyball have been announced. In boys play, the top seeds are Lockport (Div. I), Williamsville East (Div. IIA), and Eden (Div. IIB.). Competition begins with some prequarterfinals on Friday. On the girls side, Clarence (Class AA), Grand Island (A), East Aurora (B-1), City Honors (B-2), Akron (C-1), Portville (C-2), and North Collins (D).

In action on Saturday, Maryvale’s boys team took home the championship of the Grand Island Tournament. The Flyers swept St. Mary’s in the title matchup. Maryvale had defeated North Tonawanda in three sets in the semifinals, while St. Mary’s did the same to Grand Island. Jordan Nosal of Maryvale was picked as the most valuable player. Also on the all-tournament team were Thomas Frain (Maryvale), Eric Brown (St. Mary’s of Lancaster), Blake English (St. Mary’s of Lancaster), Ryan Tetreault (Grand Island) and Trevor Book (North Tonawanda).

In the Hamburg Tournament, Griffin Schmit of Canisius was the MVP as the Crusaders took the championship. Canisius downed St. Francis in two straight sets in the final. The All-Tournament

Team consisted of Zach Gerken (Frontier), Alex Andrzejewski (Hamburg), Sean Taggart (St. Francis), Connor Cummings (St. Francis), Chas Palka (Canisius), and Devin Joslyn (Canisius).

Section VI boys volleyball playoff schedule
Buffalo News
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Owen Bean and Frontier earned the No. 2 seed in the Section VI Division I boys volleyball playoffs. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News)

Section VI boys volleyball playoffs
All games at 6 p.m. at higher seed unless noted

DIVISION I
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1
8-Wmsv. North at 1-Lockport
7-Lancaster at 2-Frontier
6-Kenmore West at 3-Clarence, 5 p.m.
5-Niagara Falls at 4-Orchard Park
Semifinals
Friday, Nov. 4 at Lackawanna
2-Front/7-Lanc vs. 3-Clar/6-KW, 5:30 p.m.
1-Lock/8-WN vs. 4-OP/5-NF, 7:30 p.m.
Final
Tuesday, Nov. 8 at Lackawanna, 8:30 p.m.

DIVISION II-A
Prequarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
10-Kenmore East at 7-West Seneca West
9-West Seneca East at 8-Niagara-Wheatfield
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1
9-WSE/8-NW at 1-Wmsv. East
10-KE/7-WSW at 2-North Tonawanda
6-Wmsv. South at 3-Sweet Home
5-Hamburg at 4-Grand Island
Semifinals
Saturday, Nov. 5 at Lackawanna
1-WE/8-NW/9-WSE vs. 4-GI/5-Ham, 4:30 p.m.
2-NT/7-WSW/10-KE vs. 3-SH/6-WS, 8:30 p.m.
Final
Tuesday, Nov. 8 at Lackawanna, 4:30 p.m.

DIVISION II-B
Prequarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
10-Amherst at 7-East Aurora
9-Holland at 8-Depew
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1
9-Hol/8-Dep at 1-Eden
10-Amh/7-EA at 2-Maryvale
6-Iroquois at 3-Lake Shore
5-Cheektowaga at 4-Starpoint
Semifinals
Saturday, Nov. 5 at Lackawanna
2-Mary/7-EA/10-Amh vs. 3-LS/6-Iro, 2:30 p.m.
1-Eden/8-Dep/9-Hol vs. 4-Star/5-Cheek, 6:30 p.m.
Final
Tuesday, Nov. 8 at Lackawanna, 6:30 p.m.

Section VI girls volleyball playoff schedule
Buffalo News
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Julia Carter (13) and Maryvale are the top seed in the Class B-1 girls volleyball playoffs. (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

Section VI girls volleyball playofffs
All games at 6 p.m. at higher seed unless noted

CLASS AA
Prequarterfinals
Wednesday, Oct. 26
9-Jamestown at 8-Wmsv. North
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
9-James/8-WN at 1-Clarence
5-Niagara-Wheatfield at 4-Kenmore West
7-Frontier at 2-Lancaster
6-Orchard Park at 5-Lockport
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1 at higher seeds
Final
Friday, Nov. 4 at Sweet Home, 6 p.m.

CLASS A
Prequarterfinals
Wednesday, Oct. 26
9-Starpoint at 8-Kenmore East
13-McKinley at 4-Hutch-Tech
12-West Seneca West at 5-Wmsv. South
15-Amherst at 2-Wmsv. East
10-North Tonawanda at 7-Sweet Home
14-Iroquois at 3-Hamburg
11-West Seneca East at 6-Lake Shore
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
9-Star/8-KE at 1-Grand Island
12-WSW/5-WS vs. 13-McK/4-HT
10-NT/7-SH vs. 15-Amh/2-WE
11-WSE/6-LS vs. 14-Iro/3-Ham
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1 at higher seeds
Final
Friday, Nov. 4 at Sweet Home, 8 p.m.

CLASS B-1
Prequarterfinals
Wednesday, Oct. 26
9-CSAT at 8-Dunkirk
10-Pioneer at 7-Depew
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
9-CSAT/8-Dun at 1-Maryvale
5-Lew-Port at 4-Cheektowaga
10-Pio/7-Dep at 2-East Aurora
6-Olean at 3-Albion
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1 at higher seeds
Final
Thursday, Nov. 3 at Sweet Home, 6 p.m.

CLASS B-2
Prequarterfinals
Wednesday, Oct. 26
9-Medina at 8-Tonawanda
12-Newfane at 5-Springville
10-MST Seneca at 7-Fredonia
11-Lackawanna at 6-Roy-Hart
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
9-Med/8-Ton at 1-City Honors
12-New/5-Spring at 4-I-Prep/Grover
10-MST/7-Fred at 2-Alden
11-Lack/6-RH at 3-Buffalo Arts
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1 at higher seeds
Final
Thursday, Nov. 3 at Sweet Home, 8 p.m.

CLASS B
Regional Qualifier
Monday, Nov. 7 at Sweet Home
B-1 champion vs. B-2 champion, 6 p.m.

CLASS C-1
Prequarterfinals
Wednesday, Oct. 26
9-JFK at 8-Wilson
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
9-JFK/8-Wil at 1-Akron
5-Southwestern at 4-Eden
7-Cleveland Hill at 2-Olmsted, 5 p.m.
6-Gowanda at 3-Lafayette, 5 p.m.
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1 at higher seeds
Final
Thursday, Nov. 3 at JCC, 6 p.m.

CLASS C-2
Prequarterfinals
Wednesday, Oct. 26
9-Silver Creek at 8-Falconer
10-Holland at 7-Tapestry
11-Salamanca at 6-Cattaraugus/Little Valley, 4:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
9-SC/8-Falc at 1-Portville
5-Allegany-Limestone at 4-Chautauqua Lake
10-Hol/7-Tap at 2-Cassadaga Valley
11-Sal/6-CLV at 3-Randolph
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1 at higher seeds
Final
Thursday, Nov. 3 at JCC, 8 p.m.

CLASS C
Regional Qualifier
Monday, Nov. 7 at Sweet Home
C-1 champion vs. C-2 champion, 8 p.m.

CLASS D
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 28
5-Ellicottville at 4-Forestville
7-Pine Valley at 2-Panama
6-Sherman at 3-Maple Grove
Semifinals
Tuesday, Nov. 1
5-Ell/4-For at 1-North Collins
6-Sher/3-MG vs. 7-PV/2-Pan
Final
Friday, Nov. 4 at JCC, 6 p.m.

Wildcats Win 8th Straight
Daemen sweeps Queens
daemenwildcats.com
Saturday, October 22, 2016

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen College women's volleyball team downed visiting Queen's College in straight sets today at Lumsden Gymnasium. The Wildcats earned their sixth-consecutive ECC win, and eighth straight victory (27-25, 25-19, 25-13). Daemen improved to 16-6 overall and 8-1 in the league with today's success.

The Knights dropped to 5-17 overall and 1-8 in the ECC. Today's match marked the eight times these two teams have faced off, Daemen leads the series 5-3.

The Dryzmala duo continued to lead the Wildcats both offensively and defensively, each posting double-double performances. Amber Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y. / St. Mary's of Lancaster) had a match-high 15 kills and 16 digs, good for her ninth double-double this season. Sister, Ashley Drzymala (West Seneca, N.Y. / St. Mary's of Lancaster) recorded her 10th double-double on the year with 11 kills and 11 digs. Outside hitter Courtney Scanlan (Ellicotville, N.Y. / Stony Brook University) nailed down nine kills, for a team-best .500 hitting percentage.

Freshman Bailey Dolegowski (Marilla, N.Y. / St. Mary's of Lancaster) remained persistent in her successful freshman debut, with 37 assists and 11 digs, for her eighth career double-double. Meghan Ballou (Eden, N.Y. / Eden) and Cristina Apostol (Buchacrest, Romania / Targue Mures) each recorded four blocks in the win.

In the opening set, the Wildcats jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead off the service of Ashley Drzymala, but Queens whittled away at the lead, outscoring Daemen 8-2 to take the 8-5 lead. The Wildcats regained the lead off of kills from Apostol and Amber Drzymala, however the Knights continued to fight, evening the score 12-12. The two teams traded the next six points back-and-forth, until a huge block by Rachel Stephenson (Hamburg, N.Y. / Frontier) and Dolegowski gave Daemen the 19-18 edge. They extended their lead 23-20, but Queens once again tied the game 24-24, off of kills from Lauren Kehoe (Kings Park, N.Y.) and Malaika Hollis (Farmingville, N.Y.). Daemen closed the set off of back-to-back blocks, finishing the game 27-25.

Both teams came out fighting in the second set as the score was even 7-7. The Knights used a Daemen error buoyed by kills from Nicoletta DiCocco (Bayport, N.Y.) and Cassidy Stewart (Keller, Tex.) to break away 10-7. The Wildcats responded with a 7-1 run to go ahead 13-11. Daemen continued to widen the gap, which featured two kills from Ashley Drzymala and several Queens errors. The Wildcats would never relinquish the lead, Scanlan nailed down a kill to close out the set 25-29. 

Daemen continued to dominate Queens in the third and final set, bounding to a 10-3 lead on the serve of Apostol. The Knights fought back, winning four straight points to decrease the deficit 10-7, but Daemen responded with a kill from Meghan Ballou and a service ace by Alicia Contreras (Arcadia, Calif. / Arcadia) for the 15-8 advantage. The Wildcats continued to be too much for the Knights and they pulled away the set and the match, with their biggest margin of win 25-13. 

The Knights were led offensively, by Tori Browser (Pelham, N.Y.), Kehoe, and Stewart who accounted for 25 of the teams 34 total kills. Additionally, Steward added a match-high 5 blocks. Kristen Moore (Medford, N.Y.) dished out 31 assists and Ragina Anthony (Jamaica, N.Y.) tallied 14 digs in the loss.

Up next, the Wildcats travel to Brooklyn and Old Westbury next weekend Oct. 30th and 31st. The Wildcats take on the LIU Post Pioneers in conference action, Friday at 12:00 p.m. The following day, they face the NYIT Bears in a battle of the top-conference teams. The WIldcats conclude the weekend, with a non-conference match against Southern Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's volleyball team, follow@DaemenAthletics and @DaemenVB on Twitter.

High School Extra (Oct. 22): Co-champions crowned
Buffalo News
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Clarence and Frontier finished in a tie at the top of the ECIC I boys volleyball standings. The Red Devils claimed a share of the title with a sweep of Lancaster. It’s Clarence’s first time at the top since 1999. Henry Payne had 25 kills and six aces in the win.

Frontier defeated Orchard Park in four tough sets. Brian Norsen had 11 kills while Zach Gerken had six kills and two aces for the Falcons.

High School Extra (Oct. 21): Lancaster nets title share
Buffalo News
Friday, October 21, 2016

Lancaster earns title share

In ECIC I, Lancaster secured a share of the girls volleyball title for the first time since 2009.

The Legends tied Clarence for the crown by defeating West Seneca West, 25-19, 25-22, 25-11, on Thursday.

Kelly Fellner notched 11 kills for Lancaster, which put itself in position to end its title drought by handing Clarence its first defeat since 2013 last week. Caelie Marcussen added five blocks for the Legends. Clarence secured its share of the division title with Wednesday’s win over Frontier.

Maryvale nets title repeat

Maryvale secured its second straight ECIC III girls volleyball title on Thursday night by defeating rival Cheektowaga 25-14, 25-23, 25-19.

Emily Raczynski had 11 assists and seven digs for the host Flyers (14-2, 10-2), while Jaeleh George had three aces. The title is also the second in a row for seniors George, Emily Raczynski and junior Julia Carter, who has verbally committed to Syracuse.

Illness fails to slow Eden

A sickness bug is going through the Eden boys volleyball team, forcing the Raiders to call up three players from junior varsity heading into their marquee nonleague clash against Hamburg.

Eden overcame the adversity to record a four-set triumph, 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 28-16, over the Bulldogs.

Gavin Musielak led the way with 40 assists for the Raiders.

“When you play against a well-coached team like Hamburg, it’s always going to be a battle,” Eden coach Robert Pierce said. “We’re pretty happy to get a four-set win considering the sickness bug (going through our team).”

High School Extra (Oct. 20): Quaker win sets up showdown
Buffalo News
Thursday, October 20, 2016

Orchard Park boys volleyball took care of business Wednesday night, sweeping three sets at Williamsville North (25-17, 25-11, 25-15) to stay in the picture for the ECIC I division title.

By winning, the Quakers assured that the winner of their match on Friday before what is expected to be a packed house at Frontier will gain a tie for the division title with Clarence, assuming the Red Devils win their match at Lancaster.

"Sixty-four out of the 75 points we scored were from our serve-block attack and that's pretty darn good," Orchard Park coach Matt Lexner said.

Dan Golding led the Quakers with 20 kills. 

"Dan is a first-year starter and tonight his 20 kills were by far the most kills we've had all season," Lexner said. "He's a late bloomer so let's hope he keeps going. He was just dynamite tonight."

Clarence, North Collins girls clinch titles

North Collins completed a 14-0 season in CCAA North girls volleyball, but needed four sets to finish off Gowanda, 25-15, 24-26, 25-17 and 25-15. Angela Filkov led coach Dave Burgstahler's Eagles with 31 assists and 15 digs.

It was the third division title since 2010 in girls volleyball for North Collins.

On Senior Night at Clarence, sophomore Jaide Cummings had seven kills and five aces as the Red Devils clinched at least a tie for the ECIC I girls volleyball championship with a 25-10, 225-16, 25-8 triumph over Frontier. Lancaster can tie Clarence for first by winning its final match Thursday night at West Seneca West.

"We graduate seven seniors but the future still is promising for us," Clarence coach Michael Meyer said.

One of the seniors is Emily Kuhn, who had five kills against Frontier.

"She has continued to improve in her role at outside hitter," Meyer said of Kuhn.

V-ball rivalry match goes to Kenmore West

Kenmore West won its cross-town rivalry match, sweeping Kenmore East for the second time this season.

"They've improved so much through the season," Kenmore West coach Kelly Strong said of the losing Blue Devils.

Senior Alyssa Battaglia led the Bulldogs with eight kills and three aces while Sammy Veronica had 26 assists, 14 digs and eight aces.

"Battaglia was super consistent," Strong said. "She had only four errors the entire match on 40 attempts to play the ball. We could always count on her to pick and choose the spots to get us kills."

A good crowd turned out at Kenmore West for the match and raised around $1,100 for Breast Cancer Awareness for Roswell Park in an event organized by the Booster Club and assisted by the Kenmore West players.

West girls volleyball wins own tourney
JASON NADOLINSKI, Sports Reporter West Seneca Bee
Thursday, October 20, 2016

West Seneca West’s girls volleyball has come into its own recently, reeling off three consecutive match wins before claiming the title at its own annual Invitational Tournament Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center to improve to 5-8 on the year.

“The season started off with some bumps early on — we were playing well but couldn’t finish matches on the scoreboard — but the girls kept their faith in each other and pressed forward,” coach Matt Todaro said. “Everything has been coming together as we enter the final week before sectionals, though. We still haven’t hit our peak but, with some minor adjustments, we will be in a great spot entering the home stretch.”

Winning Saturday’s tournament was certainly a step in the right direction for the Lady Indians. Todaro said that Sami Hildebrand “had the play of the day in set one of the finals,” noting how she had to lay out for the ball and barely got a touch on it. Abby Hoestermann was then somehow able to pop the ball back up towards Hildebrand who, while still lying on the ground, was able to get to her knees and swing at the ball — which was behind her — to hit it back over the net.

In the meantime, Gowanda’s players were already celebrating in the middle of the court as the ball barely crossed over the net and landed within two feet of their sideline, which tied the score at 16-16.

“That play ignited the entire crowd and our team, as we didn’t drop a single point for the remainder of the game,” Todaro said.

West — which beat Albion in the semifinals and Medina in the quarterfinals — found itself trailing 23-18 in the second set before rallying to score seven unanswered points and earn its second straight Invitational Tournament title.

The Lady Indians’ stretch of success began at the expense of crosstown rival West Seneca East in Oct. 7’s Dig Pink match. West came out on top by 25-16, 25-18, 24-26 and 25-20 scores, with Todaro noting that “everybody certainly stepped up in this match.”

“The girls always look forward for a chance to go head-to-head with East and, with it being the annual Dig Pink match, it added a little extra bit of excitement to the night,” Todaro said.

West then took down Frontier on Oct. 11 by 25-23, 25-22, 21-25 and 25-18 scores. Rebekah Patrick paced the Lady Indians with 19 kills, five digs and two blocks, while Sarah Fritschi added eight kills, eight digs and three aces. Julia Lucas chipped in with six aces, five digs and three kills, while Samantha Sigler contributed six blocks and three kills.

Katie Todaro chipped in with nine digs and two aces for the victors, who received solid contributions from multiple sources.

“The Frontier match was in a sense our coming-out part y,” coach Todaro said. “Frontier had just beaten Orchard Park and played well against us. We had to earn every point; nothing came easy. Luckily for us we had five players of our own step up and play their best matches of the season. The focus that we had through out the match was key. Nothing rattled our kids and when we started to get a lead we kept pushing and finished the game. Everybody did their jobs and it showed on the scoreboard.”

West used the momentum of that win to take down Jamestown on Thursday by 25-15, 25-15, 22-25 and 25-22 scores. Patrick finished the match with 20 kills, while Fritschi chipped in with six digs and four kills for West, which — by virtue of the victory — has already accumulated more ECIC I wins this season than during the previous eight seasons combined, coach Todaro said.

Going into the Frontier game, West made some lineup changes, moving Jen Coleman into the middle and Lucas to the right side.

“Getting Jen more involved in the offense and on the serving line has been one of the keys to our recent success,” coach Todaro said. “She is consistent and always does her job. We know we can count on her to make a play when the ball comes her way. I’m also really happy with the depth that we have at outside hitter, with Rebekah Patrick and Sarah Fritschi both playing some great volleyball. While those two have been carrying the bulk of the load this year, Tiffany Major and Miranda Held have done a great job when their numbers have been called.”

West (3-8 ECIC I) closes out league play this evening against Lancaster, and then closes out its busy final stretch of the regular season by playing in Friday’s Hamburg Classic tournament before hosting Maryvale Monday for Senior Night. The Lady Indians will then travel to East Aurora Tuesday for their final playoff tune-up.

“We’re beginning to peak at the perfect time, and as long as we can continue to remain focused everything will continue to come together as we head into sectionals next week,” coach Todaro said. “The girls are setting themselves up for a run in sectionals, something that we have been striving towards since I’ve gotten to West. Much of that success stems from our seniors.

“We had many deserving players for Athlete of the Month in September, so I decided to let the girls vote,” coach Todaro continued. “After the varsity vote we had four players tied at the top so I decided to ask each of the JV kids if anybody on varsity has gone out of their way to help them this season. I wasn’t even shocked when every single senior received a vote from a JV player. When I asked them why they voted the way they had, it was everything from helping them with their serve to saving a seat for them during lunch. When your seniors are taking care of the freshmen like they are this year, you know you have a special group.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Central girls volleyball team wins three straight
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 20, 2016

Cheektowaga’s girls volleyball team hit its stride during a recent run of six matches, posting wins in five of those outings to vault above the .500 mark overall.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Lady Warriors also fared well in a tournament hosted by West Seneca West Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center to solidify their efforts heading into the final stages of the regular season.

“We have had our ups and downs, just like any team does, but I feel like the little things have improved greatly lately,” coach Denee Hickson said. “Our team has learned to work well with each other since, with us only having eight players, we use everyone each match. We are playing well together and fixing the little mistakes one by one.”

Central’s team unity came to a head in Saturday’s tournament, where the Lady Warriors won their pool with an undefeated record. Cheektowaga ultimately lost to Gowanda in the semifinal round, but Hickson was confident that the experience her players gained that day will serve them well going forward.

“We’ve never gone undefeated in pool play, so that was just a really nice way to showcase how well we played that day,” Hickson said. “The hope now is that the effort — and the results — of the work we put in to improve at the tournament carries over for our stretch run.”

Cheektowaga entered the tournament riding a three-match win streak that was capped by its 25-9, 25-15, 26-28, 25-16 conquest of Depew on Thursday. The Lady Warriors played better in the rematch than in their initial five-set victory over the Lady Wildcats, showing improvement in the areas that Hickson had identified as troublesome during the teams’ first meeting earlier this season.

“We had been eliminating our little mistakes in the matches leading up to the Depew rematch and had been trying to play better defense in general, and we were able to fix what needed to be fixed from the last time we played them too,” Hickson said.

Seniors Aliyah Dandy, Maria Verrastro and Jena Ponosny took the center stage during the Lady Warriors’ 25-11, 25-9, 25-14 Senior Night win over Pioneer on Oct. 11. The entire team “came out on fire,” Hickson said, playing solid defense and relentlessly attacking the net.

“It was nice to see the girls play how we know Cheektowaga girls volleyball can play,” Hickson said.

Cheektowaga’s win streak kicked off Oct. 8 with a five-set thriller over West Seneca West. Dandy finished with six blocks despite getting hurt in the fifth set, while Paige Onisk, Jena Ponosny and Torrie Jenkins all attacked the net, whether it was to block or to hit.

“Both teams battled hard the entire match, going back and forth with great offense and solid defense,” Hickson said. “When Aliyah got hurt, I had to move libero Bella Pezzino — our shortest player — to the middle because I didn’t have any other subs. But, despite having a short middle and a taller middle playing the back row, we fought hard, played solid defense and came away with the win.”

The only blemish in Cheektowaga’s run came on Oct. 6, when the Lady Warriors were tripped up by Lake Shore in four, 18-25, 20-25, 25-20 and 17-25. Hickson noted that her team played with the necessary intensity to win and “had bouts of great offense and defense,” but momentary lacks of focus wound up costing them in the long run.

Cheektowaga won a pair of matches heading into the Lake Shore contest, though, defeating Amherst (25-23, 25-17, 25-18) on Oct. 3 after taking down crosstown rival Cleveland Hill (21-25, 25-15, 25-5, 25-14) on Sept. 28. Ponosny had eight kills and five aces to guide the team’s efforts against Amherst, while Dandy added four blocks. Ponosny also had 10 kills and five aces against Cleveland Hill, while Onisk chipped in with seven kills and four aces against the Lady Eagles.

“We came out strong against Amherst and held that level of play for the entire match,” Hickson said. “Everyone played well with solid defense and attacks from many different locations. Maria Verrastro was strategic in her placement of her sets, allowing us to run a successful offense. And though we didn’t start off strong as a team against Cleveland Hill, we bounced back and found a way to win the next three sets. We hadn’t played a game in a while, so it was a nice team win overall.”

Cheektowaga returned to action Monday against East Aurora, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Lady Warriors close out their regular season by traveling to crosstown rival Maryvale this evening, hosting Starpoint Friday and traveling to Sacred Heart on Monday.

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Cleve Hill girls volleyball beats Lackawanna, JFK
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 20, 2016

Cleveland Hill’s girls volleyball team won two of its four most recent matches — including a triumph over crosstown rival JFK to start October — to improve to 7-7 overall with just three contests to go in the regular season.

“The girls have continued to work together to achieve success,” coach Marie Meyer said. “They’ve come to trust each other and pick each other up when they are down.”

The Lady Eagles’ most recent victory came at the expense of Lackawanna on Thursday. Christina Mohney had seven kills and an ace to guide Cleveland Hill in its 25-17, 26-24, 25-16 triumph over Lackawanna, while Alison McIntosh added three kills and two aces. Susie Horton chipped in with five blocks.

Lackawanna proved to be just what Cleveland Hill needed following the Lady Eagles’ 18-25, 15-25, 17-25 loss to Springville on Oct. 11 and their 10-25, 7-25, 8-25 setback at the hands of Eden on Oct. 6. Against Springville, Emily McIntosh had five digs, Alison McIntosh had three kills and Kathryn Skorka dished out three assists. Emily McIntosh also had 11 digs against Eden, while Anna Cervino had five digs and two kills.

Things went much better for the Lady Eagles in their 25-11, 25-20, 18-25, 25-22 triumph over JFK on Oct. 5. Skorka guided the victors with 12 assists and five aces, while Mohney added six aces, three blocks and two kills. Emily McIntosh finished with nine digs and eight aces for the Lady Eagles (7-3 division), who returned to action against Holland Monday in a match that ended too late for this edition.

Cleveland Hill will travel to Alden this evening before hosting East Aurora in Monday’s regular-season finale that will also serve as the Lady Eagles’ Senior Night.

“The girls have continued to work hard, and have focused on increasing their passing and serving abilities,” Meyer said. “They focus on a daily basis on how to continue to work together to be a cohesive unit. They’ve made me proud to be a part of this year with how they have shown growth, strength, work ethic and heart on a daily basis.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

St. Mary’s boys volleyball looking to change culture
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, October 20, 2016

Dan Johnson has learned a valuable lesson in his first season at the helm as St. Mary’s boys volleyball coach: it takes time to change a culture.

Johnson, who previously coached at Eden High School and for the Eden Volleyball Club travel team, took the job the week before practice started in August.

As someone who had spent the past few years coaching at one of Western New York’s premier programs, Johnson wasn’t sure what he was walking into. St. Mary’s has a tradition of success on the girl’s side, but not as much with the boy’s team.

While he’s been impressed with the athleticism of his athletes, he knows there are improvements to be made.

“When I walked in the first day and saw how big and athletic the guys were, I was excited,” Johnson said. “I come from the Eden volleyball system, which produces some of the best players in Western New York. So that’s what I have as a base. Comparatively, they’re pretty much on par athletically. On the volleyball side, they’re far behind. I kind of had to take a step back and reboot the way I coached. We have a lot of athletic guys, but we don’t have a lot of experience. The tricky part is getting them up to speed.”

The team sits at 4-5, excluding tournament play, with a little over a week left in the season. Johnson has begun to focus his players on the technical aspects of the game in hopes of improving at the fundamentals.

“I’m a defense-oriented, technical coach. I’ve gone to the side of being a technical coach over the past few years,” Johnson said. “I think the boys technical part of their game is behind the girls because they start earlier. I also like the fast-paced offensive part of the game. So I want us to defend and then run it fast.”

Thus far, Johnson has been impressed with the play of juniors Christ Szablewski and Eric Brown. Libero Pat Basil has also been majorly important for the Lancers.

“He’s been a heaven send. He transferred in from St. Francis before the year,” Johnson said. “He walked right in and took over the libero position. He’s the quarterback of the defense and he’s been huge for us.”

The team will take on St. Francis and Canisius this week before going to a tournament over the weekend and finishing the season with non-league matches against Williamsville South and West Seneca East. The team is looking to make some adjustments in the coming matches.

“I have changed the offense up a little bit, a couple guys are switching around positions,” Johnson said. “I would like to split this week and get at least one victory. Canisius is a tremendous team and St. Francis just beat us. We just want to get a roll going heading into the playoffs. We’d like to take three of four and have a good showing to end the year.”

Overall, Johnson feels his team is headed in the right direction. The goal is to change the way the program is viewed and perceived of at St. Mary’s.

“The hard part is going to tournaments and seeing what the upper levels are like and then coming back trying to light a fire under these guys. We’re just working on changing the culture,” Johnson said. “That’s the most difficult part. I think we’re going to do it. We’re going to have a JV program for the first time in a while next year. The developmental part is very important and it’s the biggest part that’s missing right now. We just have to develop these younger guys.”

High School Extra (Oct. 19): Clarence win knots ECIC I volleyball race
Buffalo News
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The last time Clarence won a division championship in boys volleyball was 1999. Coach Kevin Starr and his team are eager to finally put up another title banner in their home court and made a big step in that direction by winning a huge ECIC I showdown over Frontier, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-19. It left the teams tied for the division lead 9-2 with each having one division match to play. Orchard Park is next at 8-2.

Orchard Park has a match at Williamsville North on Wednesday then will face Frontier on Friday.

"I'm sure Frontier is disappointed right now," said Clarence coach Kevin Starr. "It was a great match. It's likely we'll be seeing each other down the line in the sectionals."

Henry Payne led Clarence with 21 kills and seven aces in the match. "But," Starr said, "he wasn't our only offense. Frontier was keying on him. Our setter Sean Trznadel moved the ball around just enough to other guys and we were able to get several kills from other players.
Outside hitter Tyler White had nine kills and Nick Ciraolo had four kills and three blocks.

Canisius, ranked No. 1 in Western New York boys volleyball, ran its overall record to 23-2 and its dual match mark to 13-0 with a 25-7, 25-15, 25-14 win over visiting St. Mary's of Lancaster. Chas Palka had 12 kills for the Crusaders. Canisius is 6-0 in Monsignor Martin Association matches.

In girls play, Haley Unverdorben of Portville collected her 1,500th career assist in the Panthers three-set sweep of Ellicottville.

South girls volleyball wins silver bracket
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Williamsville South’s girls volleyball defeated Frontier 24-26, 25-23, 15-13, securing the silver bracket of the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

South coach Tom Sproull said it was the first time his team lost the first set and won a match this season.

“I think it was good for our psyche to get the win,” Sproull said. “The girls did not fold and ended up winning. We needed to win a match like that.”

For the tournament, Megan Muelhbauer tallied 16 kills and six aces; Naomi DeBerry tallied 15 kills; Grace Stahl added 12 kills; Amari DeBerry recorded 11 kills; and Maddie Popielski added eight kills.

Riley Domin tallied six aces and 27 assists. Haley Marchewka also handed out 27 assists.

In pool play, South lost to Kenmore West 22-25, 19-25 and eventual tournament champion Portville 16-25, 21-25; and defeated Amherst 25-11, 25-14, which placed them against Sweet Home in the silver bracket semifinals. South beat Sweet Home 30-21.

The Lady Billies dropped a league match at home against Hamburg 15-25, 18-25, 14-25 Thursday.

Sproull said the team struggled with its serving and had too many hitting errors throughout the match.

Amari DeBerry led the offense with five kills. Muelhbauer and Stahl added four kills each.

South traveled to Williamsville East Monday but information about the match was unavailable before press time. They host Orchard Park Wednesday and West Seneca East Thursday.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers improved to 6-5 in ECIC II after recording wins in four games over West Seneca East 25-8, 20-25, 25-20, 25-15 Oct. 11 and Iroquois 26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 25-12 Thursday.

Sweet Home coach Breean Martin said the team battled through some adversity due to unforced errors to win both matches.

Tirzah Peters tallied 16 kills and six blocks; Bella Pullara had 16 digs and five aces, and Christie Ackendorf tallied 10 kills, five blocks and four aces.

Taylor Gould tallied 10 kills and three aces versus Iroquois.

Sweet Home closed out the week falling to Williamsville South 30-21 in the silver bracket semifinals of the North Tonawanda Tournament.

Sweet Home finished third in pool play, losing to Grand Island and splitting with Randolph and Williamsville North.

Martin noted the play of Peters in the middle, Ackendorf at right side, Gould at outside and Pullar at libero.

Sweet Home hosted Niagara-Wheatfield Monday and traveled to Williamsville North Tuesday but information about the matches were unavailable before press time. Sweet Home hosts Hamburg in its final league match Thursday and hosts Clarence in a non-league match Monday, Oct. 24.

Williamsville North

The Lady Spartans improved to 4-6 in ECIC I with a 25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 21-25, 25-23 road win over Frontier Thursday.

“The kids have more confidence, we blocked well and overcame some adversity in the fifth set,” North coach Keith Hopkins said. “We are getting better.”

Morgan Simon led the North offense with a season high 17 kills. Maia Reed added 15 kills and Maddie Farber recorded 37 digs.

North (10-18-1 overall) hosted Clarence Monday and Sweet Home Tuesday but information about the matches were unavailable before press time. They travel to Orchard Park Thursday.

East boys volleyball inches closer to division title
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The ECIC Division II title is in sight for the Williamsville East boys volleyball team.

The Flames are 8-1 in league play and 10-1 overall. Should East win its final three league matches this week – at Iroquois Tuesday, and home against West Seneca East Thursday and Williamsville South Friday – the Flames will be crowned champions.

East coach Chris Conrad said a different player has stepped up in each game.

In East’s 22-25, 19-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-6 victory over Sweet Home Sept. 27, Erik Regan recorded four blocks in the front row against Sweet Home’s Colin May.

In East’s 25-23, 25-23, 25-20 road win over Lake Shore Thursday, Ali Khadra tallied 13 kills.

“He continually hit it, tipped to the left side and cut to the right side,” Conrad said. “I think it was his best game all year.”

East trailed Lake Shore in the first set 17-21 and 18-22 and the team rallied.

Conrad also said Drew Elliott and Troy Stancampiano have also stepped up on offense.

The Flames also won recent matches over Amherst 25-10, 25-14, 25-14 Sept. 29 and Kenmore West 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 Oct. 7.

East also hosts St. Joe’s Wednesday and competes in the Grand Island Tournament Saturday.

“They are taking it game by game and making sure they don’t take their foot off the gas and fight for every point,” Conrad said.

Sweet Home

The Panthers sit in second place in ECIC II with a 9-2 record.

Recent league wins have come over West Seneca East 25-19, 25-13, 25-22 at home Oct. 11 and Amherst 25-13, 25-13, 25-20 Friday.

Against West Seneca East, Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said Alex Wagner stepped in and played well at back row specialist and Michael Hill played well at middle hitter.

Evan Bezak recorded nine aces and Jon Miller tallied nine kills against Amherst.

Cicero also noted the play of middle blocker Nate Davis and Solomon Shabazz for getting more involved in the attack.

Sweet Home traveled to Kenmore East for a non-league match Tuesday but information about the match was unavailable before press time.

Sweet Home travels to West Seneca East Friday for its final league match.

East girls volleyball takes runner-up at Lady Jacks Tourney
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Williamsville East’s girls volleyball team fell short in its bid to win the North Tonawanda Lady Jacks Tournament, losing to reigning Class D state champion Portville 21-25, 25-15, 9-15, in Saturday’s final.

“Portville can jump and play very aggressive,” East coach Scott Wright said. “They serve well."

Portville opened the first set with a 12-6 lead. A kill from East’s Lexi Novak closed the score to 15-12, but Portville won seven of the next nine points, stretching its lead to 22-14.

Two kills from Novak and single kills from Rachel Steffan and Makyala Greenfield made the score 24-21 but Portville won the final point.

East came out strong in the second set, taking a 9-0 lead on Steffan’s serve. Kills from Leah Orsini and Novak extended the lead to 13-3. A block from Summer Clark extended the lead to 15-6. The Lady Flames were in control for the remainder of the set, winning 25-15.

In the third set, the score was tied at 3-3 before Portville won seven of the next eight points, taking a 10-4 lead.

Kills from Novak and Steffan cut the lead to 12-9 before Portville won the last three points.

Novak led the offense with 10 kills and 10 digs. Steffan (seven kills, four digs); Greenfield (20 assists, eight digs); Orsini (three kills); and Julianna Benz (eight digs) also contributed to the victory.

To reach the finals, East downed Grand Island 30-27 in the semifinals.

East trailed 10-5 before two kills from Novak, a kill from Steffan, and blocks from Steffan and Orsini tied the set at 10-10.

Grand Island retook the lead 13-11, but East responded with an eight-point serving run from Steffan to take a 19-13 lead.

Five kills from Novak helped extend the lead to 28-21.

Grand Island made one final push to close the score to 28-25, but East held off the challenge.

East beat Niagara-Wheatfield 30-20 in the quarterfinals. They also went undefeated in pool play, beating Mount St. Mary’s 21-8, 21-5; Hutch-Tech 21-6, 21-10; and Niagara Wheatfield 21-10, 21-11.

Novak and Greenfield were named to the All-Tournament team. Novak finished the tournament with 54 kills, 40 digs, five blocks and eight aces. Greenfield registered 110 assists, 26 digs, six blocks and five aces.

“They did a great job of leading the team,” Wright said. “Makayla did a great job of distributing the ball and Lexi led our team in kills throughout the tournament.”

Steffan (27 kills, 29 digs, six aces); Orsini (19 kills, eight blocks); Allison Jozwiak (18 kills, seven blocks, five aces); Benz (29 digs); Jessica Weaver (20 digs) and Ann Marie Jones (15 digs) also contributed.

“We had a lot of contributions,” Wright said.

East remained undefeated in ECIC II with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-15 home win over West Seneca East Thursday.

The Lady Flames are 10-0 in league play and 11-0 overall. The Lady Flames were led by Novak (17 kills, nine digs); Greenfield (35 assists, nine digs, five aces); Jozwiak (10 kills, eight digs); Orsini (nine kills); Steffan (six kills, 17 digs); Megan Wiese (three kills, four digs); Benz (seven digs); Weaver (six digs); Gracie Wendell (six digs) and Jones (five digs).

Sacred Heart girls volleyball plays well in road loss against St. Mary’s
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Sacred Heart’s Siobhan Ryan sets up a play during the Sharks’ road loss to St. Mary’s of Lancaster 
21-25, 12-25, 22-25 Thursday. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball team traveled to St. Mary’s of Lancaster Thursday night hoping to avenge an earlier home loss but the Sharks were not able to counter St. Mary’s strong play, losing 21-25, 12-25, 22-25.

Sacred Heart fell to 6-2 in league play.

Junior Micaela Ryan led the offense with six kills.

Senior captain Emma Rehrauer contributed five kills and junior Lauren Aichinger had three kills.

Defensively, senior captain Mia Wild had a strong night with 12 serve receives and 12 digs, and three aces.

Freshman Siobhan Ryan had 10 digs, four serve receives, and two kills. Rehrauer had seven serve receives and five digs.

On Saturday, Sacred Heart participated in the Lady Jacks Tournament.

The Sharks defeated Chautauqua Lake 25-12, 25-19; Lewiston Porter 25-21, 25-19, and then split with Lockport 25-9, 22-25, seeding them in first place and fifth overall.

After receiving a bye in the gold bracket playoff round, the Sharks faced Grand Island in the quarter finals for a single game to 30.

The Sharks started off strong but Grand Island’s great defense countered the Sharks’ offensive challenge and Sacred Heart fell 20-30.

For the tournament, Micaela Ryan led the offense with 13 kills and four aces. She also had six digs.

Siobhan Ryan contributed 10 kills and Rehrauer added eight kills.

Wild had a great day on defense with 22 serve receives and 20 digs.

Sophomore Gabriella Berardi had 13 digs; Rehrauer had nine serve receives and seven digs; junior Claire Beecher had eight serve receives and six digs; and Siobhan

Ryan had seven serve receives and six digs.

The Sharks played well in the Frontier High School Volleyball Tournament Oct. 8 at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center.

The Sharks started the day strong, defeating Sweet Home, 25-21, 25-23 and Gowanda 25-20, 25-11.

The Sharks then faced Eden, the eventual tournament champion in their last pool play match.

The Sharks struggled against several strong future Division I college players, falling 11-15, 11-25.

The loss placed the Sharks in second place in their pool but qualified them for the championship bracket.

In the quarterfinal round, the Sharks defeated Frontier 30-25, and then lost to Williamsville East in the semifinals, 15-25, 21-25.

Micaela Ryan led the team with 20 kills for the entire tournament.

Aichinger contributed 13 kills and four aces; senior Colleen Conway tallied nine kills; Berardi posted seven aces and junior Clare Falkowski recorded six aces.

Junior libero Clare Beecher had 21 serve receives and 16 digs. Wild had 22 serve receives and 14 digs.

Outside hitters, Siobhan Ryan had 17 digs, 13 serve receives and five kills, and Rehrauer had 13 serve receives, 11 digs, five kills and two aces.

The Sharks downed Nardin, 25-13, 25-12, 25-18 at home Oct. 6 in the team’s “Pink the Court” night where the team raised money to benefit breast cancer awareness.

The gym was decorated in pink and the team wore warm-ups created by Wild.

The team opened up the first game strong.

After a slight falter where Nardin took the lead, the Sharks rallied and never looked back, defeating Nardin for a second time this season.

Micaela Ryan led the team offense with nine kills and two aces.

Conway contributed with six kills; Aichinger added four kills; and Falkowski and Berardi had two aces each.

Wild led the defense with 16 digs, three serve receives and also two aces.

Siobhan Ryan tallied nine digs and seven serve receives. Rehrauer contributed six digs and two serve receives.

Sacred Heart traveled to Mount St. Mary Tuesday but information about the match was unavailable before press time.

The Sharks travel to City Honors for a varsity only match at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Mt. St. Mary volleyball tops Wilson
Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team moved to 8-6 on the season with a three-game win over Wilson Wednesday.

The Thunder took the first set 25-12, the second 25-13 and the third 25-11 to get the dominant win.

Lillian Mueller recorded five aces while Sarah Vicari had 19 assists.

The Thunder have four more matches left in the regular season.

St. Joe’s volleyball team attempting to finish strong
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

This season has been a tad more difficult than expected for the St. Joe’s volleyball team. The Marauders have been dealing with the loss of Matthew Mayer, who separated his shoulder at the beginning of the season. The team is 4-8 overall and 2-5 in league play with wins over Cardinal O’Hara and St. Mary’s.

“We had a major injury at the onset of the season which really threw us for a loop,” St. Joe’s Coach Mark Anzalone said “We lost our best returning player to a separated shoulder early on. In the first week of the season Matthew Mayer went down with a separated shoulder. We’ve been working on rebounding from that injury all year.”

In Mayer’s absence a few players have stepped up to fill the void. Outside hitter Matthew Duke has been an important player all season for the Marauders.

“He leads the team in kills, he has more than twice as many more than any other player,” Anzalone said. “He’s stepped up and done a great job to carry the load. He does the heavy lifting and puts the team on his back on offense.”

On the defensive end, senior co-captain Mike Rizzo has taken the reigns to lead that effort.

“Defensively, he does a great job,” Anzalone said. “He’s been steady serving for us. Him and Matthew have paced us throughout the season.”

While things haven’t gone the team’s way much of the time, the Marauders have not quit or packed it in. The team is still very much committed to winning every match they play in.

“We’re a very resilient team. We never give up, we play hard regardless of what happens,” Anzalone said. “We come in and play 100 percent on every ball. We’re able to bounce back from losses and have a good effort every night.”

The team has just a few matches left in the season before the playoffs begin. While the Monsignor Martin League is always as competitive as a division can be, the Marauders have not changed their goal.

“Obviously, our goal is to win a championship,” Anzalone said. “Outside of that, we want to get better every time out. We want to improve our skills and grow as a team.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Boys volleyball team wins OP tourney
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Clarence’s boys volleyball team persevered in the face of adversity during Saturday’s Orchard Park Tournament, advancing out of a relatively tough pool draw without top middle hitter Jake Ireland en route to ultimately winning the championship for the first time since 2010.

The victory — which came via the Red Devils’ 25-8, 25-18 win over St. Francis in the final — gave Clarence its second tournament title of the season; the Red Devils also won the Sweet Home Tournament for Clarence the titles for both in the same season for the first time since 2010.

“It was great to see the guys battle back from a slow start to beat teams that had given us problems earlier in the day,” coach Kevin Starr said. “We really weren’t on our game early in the day.”

Clarence, started the tournament by splitting pool play matches with St. Francis, losing to Orchard Park and beating Lake Shore. That led to the need for a one-game quarterfinal with Grand Island — which Clarence won, 30-22 — in order for the Red Devils to earn a semifinal-round rematch with the hosts.

Clarence’s passing and defense “were as good as they’ve been all year” in the rematch, Starr said, which allowed the other elements of Clarence’s game to click. Freshman libero Teddy Payne dug up several tough Orchard Park swings to keep Clarence’s offense in sync in what was ultimately a 25-22, 25-19 conquest.

The Red Devils “came out on fire” against St. Francis in the first game in a bid to prevent another Red Raiders upset — St. Francis defeated Eden in the other semifinal — and persevered in a closer second set to secure the win. Junior Shawn Trznadel “was getting great passes from his teammates, which enabled him to distribute the ball better than he was able to do earlier in the day,” Starr said said.

Senior tournament MVP Henry Payne still got the majority of Clarence’s sets on the day — he had 87 kills on the day and finished with a .560 hitting percentage — but Trznadel also gave the ball to senior Nick Ciraolo on the right side and to senior Tyler White, who plays opposite Henry Payne on the outside, and to their middles just often enough to stop St. Francis’s from keying on Henry completely.

Trznadel had 112 assists and earned his second tournament all-star selection, while White was also voted to the all-star team with 22 kills on the day and “was very solid passing and defensive play,” Starr said.

Clarence tuned up for the tournament by defeating Hamburg on Wednesday by 25-17, 25-22, 26-24 scores. Hamburg handed Frontier its only ECIC I loss, so the Red Devils knew that they’d have their hands full even with a 3-1 win over them and a victory over the Bulldogs in the finals of the Sweet Home Tournament. In the end, Henry Payne had 27 kills, White added seven kills and seven digs, and Trznadel had 37 assists. “It’s at the point now where we’ve already faced just about everyone we play, so we can set up our game plan based on what we know about them,” Starr said. “We were able to control their best player very well, and even though Hamburg played solid ball in the second and third sets, we were able to come out on top.”

Clarence (15-3, 8-2 league) returned to action Tuesday against Frontier, but information about that match was not available at press time. The Red Devils close out what Starr is calling “the biggest week for our program since 1999, the last time that we won the league title and the sectional championship,” by traveling to Lancaster on Friday. If Clarence is able to win both matches, it will earn at least a share of the ECIC I regular-season title.

Girls volleyball reaches semis in Horseheads Tournament
JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Clarence’s girls volleyball team shook off its first ECIC I loss since October 2013 to turn in a solid showing at Saturday’s annual Horseheads Tournament, reaching the semifinals in a setting coach Mike Meyer said “has always been an elite tournament that attracts many of the top teams in the state.”

This year’s tournament boasted a lineup including multiple sectional, regional and state champions, but that did little to intimidate the Lady Red Devils, who went on to finish first in their pool. Clarence was able to excel in pool play against the likes of Francis Lewis, Cazenovia and host Horseheads thanks to some solid team passing that was led by Jaide Cummings, Lexi MacDonald, and Lindsey Leipold.

Maddie Christopher and Meghan Neelon spread the ball around for Clarence, leading to kills being registered by nine different Lady Red Devil players. One of those players, JV call-up Miranda Edmondson, registered three kills — including the game winner — against Horseheads.

Clarence then defeated Long Island’s highly regarded John Glen in two very competitive games in the quarterfinals.

Cummings had six kills and passed extremely well in that match, while Neelon had nine kills. Melissa Ratzel, whom Meyer called “a huge weapon for us all day,” had six kills and two blocks.

Leipold, meanwhile, strung together several serving streaks for Clarence, which then lost to Penfield in two games in the semifinals.

“The team exhibited good energy and effort while putting Clarence volleyball — tough serving, strong serve receive, tenacious defense and ‘bombs away’ offense — on display,” Meyer said. “Melissa Ratzel continues to grow as a weapon in the middle, while Meghan Neelon and Emiley Kuhn remain go to options from both pins. Gretchen Weiss has also grown into her role as a fixer; whenever we run into trouble on the court, whether it be serving, passing, or defense, we know that we can put Gretchen in to fix the problem and bring energy and enthusiasm to the court. And freshman Leah Victor also continues to shine when she is put on the court with her athleticism and aggressiveness.”

The tournament effort was just what Clarence needed after falling in divisional action two days earlier for the first time in three years when it dropped a 22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-25 loss to Lancaster. Kuhn (5 blocks), Neelon (13 kills, 5 blocks) and Ratzel (12 kills) carried much of the offensive load, while Mary Owen also had five blocks.

With the loss, Clarence needs to win out in its remaining two league games to claim at least a share of the regular-season title with Lancaster, as both teams currently have just one loss in ECIC competition.

The Lady Red Devils entered the Lancaster match flying high after taking down Jamestown by 25-12, 25-9, 25-19 marks on Oct. 6. Nine different players claimed at least one kill, including Christopher and Neelon (11 kills). Seniors Emily Perna and Hannah Marlowe contributed key kills at the end of the third game to help Clarence finish off the match.

Clarence kicked off its recent stretch of action by knocking off West Seneca West by 25-13, 25-13, 25-14 scores on Oct. 4. Neelon finished with 10 kills, while Kennedy Oleszak chipped in with a season-high eight. Leipold and MacDonald spearheaded the Lady Red Devils’ serve receive and defensive efforts.

Clarence (14-6, 9-1 ECIC I) returned to action Monday at Williamsville North, but information about that contest was not available at press time.

The Lady Red Devils will host Frontier this evening for this season’s Senior Game — where the most seniors Meyer has coached in one year, including Christopher, Kuhn, Marlowe, Neelon, Owen, Perna and Weiss, — will be honored. Clarence will then play in a tournament at Williamsville East on Friday before wrapping up the regular season Monday at Sweet Home.

“The team took some big steps forward this weekend with their level of play, as well as their court energy and enthusiasm, and we’ll just continue to look for ways to get better,” Meyer said.

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Western New York 2016 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/18/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Western New York 2016 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/18/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 18, 2016

High School Extra (Oct. 18): Lancaster, Clarence tied for girls ECIC I V-ball lead
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Lancaster went on the road and scored a huge ECIC I girls volleyball victory at Orchard Park, overcoming the Quakers in a difficult match, 29-27, 25-21, 17-25 and 25-20, to go to 10-1 in the division and hang onto a share of first with Clarence.

Kara Paradowski ahd seven kills and 13 digs for the Legends while Kelly Feller contributed eight kills.

Clarence, also 10-1 and ranked No. 3 in the latest WNY poll, kept its share of first place by sweeping Williamsville North, 25-11, 25-10 and 25-16, with one game left. The Red Devils are 15-6 overall.

Meghan Neelon led Clarence with nine kills and six digs while Jaide Cummings had seven kills and six digs.

"Meghan has been a go-to player for us for five years," said Clarence coach Mike Meyer. " Cummings is a sophomore. ... She had a great night as an outside hitter and she served great."

Flames clinch ECIC II on Senior Night

Williamsville East clinched another ECIC II girls volleyball title, defeating division rival Williamsville South, 25-14, 25-9 and 25-13. Senior Lexi Novak had 15 kills and five aces on a night she and five of her classmates on the team were honored. Other seniors are: Leah Orsini, Julianna Benz, Megan Wiese, Ann Marie Jones and Jessica Weaver.

"They've all been part of four league championship and two sectionals," said coach Scott Wright, whose team climbed to the top of the WNY large school polls for the first time this season. They were third last week.

Hamburg wins 100th for Crangle

No. 5 ranked Hamburg improved to 9-2 in ECIC II with a sweep of Amherst, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19, to give coach John Crangle his 100th career match win. In his seventh season, Crangle is the winningest coach in Hamburg girls volleyball history and has led the Bulldogs to four sectional finals, winning three. Alexa Pace led Hamburg in the victory with 14 kills.

High School Extra (Oct. 16): Clarence rebounds to win Orchard Park volleyball
Buffalo News
Sunday, October 16, 2016

Clarence rebounds to win Orchard Park volleyball

After losing to ECIC I rival Orchard Park in pool play, Clarence came back to eliminate the Quakers and go on to win the Orchard Park boys volleyball tournament on Saturday.

Clarence defeated St. Francis, 25-8 and 25-16 in the final match after two victories over Orchard park, 25-22 and 25-20 in the semis. St. Francis advanced to the final with an impressive triumph over Eden, 30-28 and 25-21.

Tournament MVP Henry Payne led Clarence to the title.

Others on the all-tournament team were: Paul Hackford (Orchard Park), Drew Hesse (Eden), Sean Taggert (St. Francis), Tom Hayes (St. Francis), Sean Trznadel (Clarence and Tyler White (Clarence).

"We got better as the day went on," said Clarence coach Kevin Starr, whose team also split with St. Francis in pool play.

Clarence and Orchard Park split their ECIC I regular season matches, with each winning on the other's court. Each has a match against first-place Frontier coming up this week.

Henry Payne had 87 kills on the day and a .560 hitting percentage.

"That hitting percentage is pretty extraordinary considering he gets the majority of our swings," Starr said.

Trznadel had 112 assists.

"Sean got the ball to Henry a lot but he also move it around to other guys including Tyler White," Starr added.

White, who is only 5-foot-9, had 22 kills for the day.

Teddy Payne, a freshman and Henry's younger brother, had 25 digs.

"He's our most solid defensive player," Starr said.

Crusaders win on the road

Canisius made it a clean sweep of its two-day visit to the Syracuse area with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-15 victory at Cicero-North Syracuse after winning at Baldwinsville on Friday.

Chas Palka had 15 kills and Griffin Schmit 12 kills and three blocks for the Crusaders (23-2).

Portville wins NT title

Portville, ranked No. 3 among Western New York small schools in the latest coaches' poll, showed it could play with the big schools, too. winning the North Tonawanda girls volleyball tournament.

The Panthers swept through Kenmore West, Amherst and Williamsville South in pool play then won elimination matches from Lockport, Hamburg and finally Williamsville East to win the Gold Bracket.

Portville defeated East in a three-set final,25-21, 16-25 and 25-9. The Panthers put two players on the all-tournament team -- Sierra Kein and Haley Unverdorben.

Others on all-tournament were: Jenna Sonnenberg (Niagara-Wheatfield), Haley Hettenbaugh (Randolph), Lindsey Proctor (Grand Island), Micaela Ryan (Sacred Heart), Meg Seider (Hamburg), Kathryn Krchniak (Lockport), Abby Borkowski (Kenmore West), Bea Bacon (Roy-Hart), Lexi Novak (Wmsv. East) and Makayla Greenfield (Wmsv. East).

High school extra (Oct. 15): Eden wins in four
Buffalo News
Saturday, October 15, 2016

Perennial power Eden needed four sets but defeated rival Maryvale in an ECIC III boys volleyball matchup.

Gavin Musielak had 38 assists and Colin Rigley 20 kills as the Raiders improved to 10-0.

Eden took the first set, 25-19, but Maryvale came back for a 25-19 win in set two to even the match. The Raiders went on for wins of 25-17 and 25-19 to remain undefeated. It's the second time this season Eden has defeated the Flyers. They won in straight sets on Sept. 14.

High School Extra (Oct. 14): Lancaster girls volleyball stuns Clarence
Buffalo News
Friday, October 14, 2016

Lancaster stuns Clarence

The Lancaster girls volleyball team on Thursday night did something no ECIC I team has been able to do in more than two seasons.

The Legends knocked off reigning Section VI champion and two-time defending division titlist Clarence. Lancaster’s short trip home proved to be that much sweeter as it defeated the Red Devils, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 25-15. It’s the first time in at least four years the Legends have defeated Clarence.

The last time the Red Devils lost in ECIC I play is believed to be Oct. 2, 2013, to Frontier.

Both teams have one loss in division play, which means if they both win out they would share the division crown.

“First three sets, it could’ve been anybody’s game,” Lancaster coach Becky Edwards said. “It was great rallies by both teams.”

Legends star player Julia Kurowski shined during the win, recording 24 kills, just two errors and four aces. Jenna Patterson added 12 digs and three kills, while Katie Becht recorded 12 digs as Edwards said the Legends played great defense and prevented Clarence star Meghan Neelon from notching “the normal kills that she” usually records. “We were just playing with good intensity,” Edwards said.

St. Mary’s nets 13th league title in row

Meanwhile, the St. Mary’s girls volleyball team extended its regular-season championship string by securing its 13th straight Monsignor Martin Association title during a 25-21, 25-12 and 25-22 win over second-place Sacred Heart.

“Each team wants to build its own legacy and not let the previous teams down,” Lancers coach Don Pieczynski said. “That’s always our goal, keep up with the past and do it one better.”

St. Mary’s Caitlyn Meyer, one of four seniors in the lineup on Senior Night, led the way with 19 kills. The other three seniors are Victoria Jankowski, Kathryn Vogl and Gina Appenheimer.

Hannah Mulhern recorded 12 kills for St. Mary’s (29-8-2, 9-0 in league), and Jillian Vitale added 32 assists.

The only disappointing news for the Lancers is that Summer Slade will be out an undisclosed amount of time with a wrist injury suffered last weekend during the team’s appearance at the Garden State Classic in New Jersey, according to the coach.

Lancaster girls volleyball ready to take on Clarence
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, October 13, 2016

A tough test awaits the Lancaster girls’ volleyball team. The Lady Legends will take on Clarence on the road Thursday before playing Orchard Park Monday.

The Red Devils handed Lancaster (10-2, 9-1) its only league loss of the season in three games earlier in the season.

“We’ve been playing pretty steady and consistent,” Lancaster Coach Becky Edwards said. “Our tougher matches are toward the end of the season, so we still have Orchard Park and Clarence. Our one league loss so far is to Clarence. They beat us pretty solidly in three the first time we saw them so we’re hoping to fight them a little harder this time.”

The match could be an opportunity for the Lady Legends to show off the improvements they’ve made over the past couple weeks. The team will definitely be more prepared now that it has seen Clarence once.

“We’re definitely going to be watching some film of when we played them the first time around,” Edwards said. “I think one thing we weren’t expecting with Clarence the first time is they are not a dominant force with one specific player. We were kind of thrown off by how everyone on their team was just strong all around. They rarely mis-served, they didn’t hit the ball in the net and they played great defense. That’s something we need to be prepared for. We were sitting back waiting for them to make some errors and they really didn’t at all.”

The team is led by a solid corps of veterans, including junior Julia Kurowsky, who leads the team with 103 kills and 135 assists. Katie Becht leads the defense with 105 digs. Kara Paradowski is second at 75. Kelly Fellner tops the squad with 24 blocks while Alyssa Babinger has a team-high 52 kills.

The Lady Legends come into the difficult stretch after a solid week of action. They defeated Frontier Thursday in three sets. However, the win was more hard-earned than the scores would indicate.

“Frontier has gotten a lot better. That’s probably the best that we have played yet this season,” Edwards said. “Even though the scores show that the games were around 25-15, 25-17, each point was hard to earn. The scores really didn’t show how tough Frontier played that day. On our end, we were playing with minimal errors and I think that helped with our confidence to be able to push through that game.”

The team then played in the Frontier Tournament Saturday, winning five of six games in pool play. The lone loss was a close one as the Lady Legends fell 25-23 to Niagara Wheatfield. Lancaster then took on Orchard Park in the quarterfinals and fell behind early. The Quakers led 25-21 before the Lady Legends made a furious comeback, nabbing a 30-28 victory. They then lost to Eden in the quarterfinals.

“They’re just a powerhouse,” Edwards said. “They have star plays in the middle and on the outside, their libero is awesome. It was just tough to stay ahead with that team. On our side, we were making a lot of errors and you can’t do that against a team as powerful as Eden.”

St. Mary’s volleyball gearing up for playoff run
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, October 13, 2016

Sufficient rest and avoiding injuries can be overlooked keys to postseason success. The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team is trying to make sure everyone is healthy and ready to go, heading into the postseason later this month.

The Lady Lancers are coming off a grueling stretch, which saw them take two long trips to out-of-state tournaments. One of the team’s top players, Summer Slade, is out for two to three weeks with an arm injury. Recuperation is a focus in the coming week.

“Staying healthy is at a premium at this stage of the game,” St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski said. “The schedule eases up for us a little bit now. We’re not traveling as much, so we’ll be able to get some more practice in. We’ll be able to work on some things that will help us finish the season strong.”

The team is once again enjoying a highly successful season, sporting a 27-8-1 overall record and a spotless 8-0 mark in league play.

Many of those non-league losses have come against stiff competition. The Lady Lancers traveled to Phoenix two weekends ago to compete in the Nike Invitational. The team dropped all three games the first day and committed to playing as many girls as possible from then on.

“It was pretty tough for us. The first day we went 3-0. The way the tournament works, things don’t get any easier for you if you lose the first day,” Pieczynski said. “You still have to play tough teams. So we ended up not winning any matches. After the first day, we played all the kids that went on the trip. We could have just stuck with the starters and got a win or two, but we decided to play everybody. That was more important at that point.”

The tournament featured some of the best girl’s volleyball squads in the country, making it a valuable learning experience for the girls.

“There were numerous top 100 teams in the country there,” Pieczynski said. “It gives you a sense of what everyone else is doing. There are bigger, stronger kids at some other places.”

The team then beat Nardin and Section V power Our Lady of Mercy in three games each during the week before embarking on a trip to New Jersey for the Garden City Invitational. The Lady Lancers ended up finishing third, winning five matches on the day.

“We played some of our best volleyball there. We had been on the road for seven of 11 days,” Pieczynski said. “Being on the road that much, there’s not a lot of practice time. And we have some kids hurt so we had to roll with the punches. So, the effort was tremendous in Jersey. The matches were very competitive.”

With all the matches in such a short time period and some injuries, multiple non-starters are getting a chance to shine. Ideally, this will give the team flexibility come playoff time.

“We have to recoup a bit. One of our top players is in a cast, we have to step up. The next person in line has to fill in the gaps,” Pieczynski said. “Caitlin Meyer continues to light it up. Hannah Mulhern is coming on well. Gina Appenheimer has been great for us on defense. Summer Slade was hitting the heck out of the ball, but now she hurt her arm. Some kids are getting experience, which will give us options going forward.”

Quakers move to 4-2 with low-scoring win over Bennett
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, October 13, 2016

CHOW DOWN - Elizabeth Chow of Orchard Park sets up a spike play during the Quakers’ three-set
sweep of West Seneca West. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Orchard Park got back on the winning track with a 14-8 non-league win over Bennett Friday night. The win moved the Quakers to 4-2 on the season.

The game was a defensive struggle throughout with only three total scoring plays on the evening. The Tigers took the lead early on a 61-yard run by Isaiah McDuffie. Kendrick Benson punched in the two-point conversion. From then on, the Quakers held McDuffie and the Bennett offense in check.

“I thought our kids played awesome. Bennett’s a very talented team. They have a Division I running back,” Orchard Park coach Gene Tundo said. “He’s very good; he’s going to Boston College. They had a couple other players that were very similar to him.”

The Tigers averaged fewer than 6 yards per play and completed just one pass on the evening. The run game accounted for more than 200 yards, but Orchard Park did not allow Bennett back into the end zone. The Quaker defense used a total team effort to grind out the win.

“They got off to an early lead on a 60-yard run. But we held them after that. Defensively, our line played great,” Tundo said. “Our linebackers played awesome. Pat Sullivan had an interception late in the game on a fourth-and-1. Solomon Brown had 12 tackles. He had an outstanding game. Our whole defense played lights out. They did a great job.”

The Orchard park offense got on the board in the second quarter with a 6-yard pass from Dillon Janca to Nic Bruce. Josh Dahl pounded in the two-point conversion to tie the game at eight, where it remained until halftime.

In the second half, Dahl capped off a drive with a 1-yard score to put the Quakers up for good, 14-8. In all, Dahl ran for 170 yards on 30 attempts. He put the Quaker offense on his back in what turned out to be a difficult night for throwing the ball.

“I thought it was kind of a statement for us because we had been throwing the ball a lot. For us to be able to play a game like that against a team like that and to control the clock was huge,” Tundo said. “We ran the last six or seven minutes of the game out. Josh played awesome. He had maybe 60 yards called back on penalties. When you carry the ball that many times, it’s hard to do. He had no turnovers. He closed out the game at the end. He came up big.”

The Quakers will take on Niagara Falls in the regular season finale Saturday on the road at 2 p.m. The game won’t mean anything in regard to the Class AA South Title, which Lancaster has already clinched, but it gives Orchard Park a chance to finish strong.

The Wolverines are 5-1 on the season and finished 4-1 in league play. The Quakers are expecting to see a tough team with plenty of good athletes. The game will certainly be a challenge.

“They’re just like Bennett. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re fast,” Tundo said. “They’re always very talented. They’re tough if they don’t turn the ball over. But they’ve been turning the ball over three or four times a game. I’ll be interested to see them. I haven’t really watched them too much.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Maryvale’s girls volleyball team avenges earlier losses to East Aurora, Starpoint
JASON NADOLINSKI, Sports Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 13, 2016

Maryvale’s girls volleyball team, after dropping its second match of the season to East Aurora, circled Thursday’s rematch on the calendar long ago.

The Lady Flyers were eager to show the Lady Blue Devils — and the rest of the division — that they had improved a great deal since early September, and that’s exactly what they did in defeating East Aurora by 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 23-25, and 25-20 scores to move into a tie for first place with the Lady Blue Devils.

“Thursday was the biggest match of the year for us because we knew going into it that if we lost we would pretty much lose any chance at winning the division,” coach Tina Raczynski said. “These were the most intense games we have played so far this season and the girls were great under pressure. They held it together, pushed hard and finished the match strong to get the win. They really showed what they are made of against East Aurora.”

Junior captain Julia Carter had 23 kills and eight digs to lead the way for the Lady Flyers, while sophomore Amiah George had nine digs. Senior captain Emily Raczynski had 27 assists and two digs, while senior Carly Cross had five digs.

“We came on very strong in the first two games, playing our offense and defense very well,” coach Raczynski said. “We knew East Aurora has a very strong freshman setter and very strong outside hitters, so we were prepared for them and we knew what to expect from them. We let games three and four slip away from us, though, but it was good to see we have the ability to fight back by winning game five.”

Maryvale’s most recent stretch of games began with its 25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 25-13 win over West Seneca East on September 28. It was the first time the Lady Flyers had played East — a bigger non-league opponent from ECIC II — during a regular season match, so coach Raczynski and her players were pleased with how they rose to the occasion to earn the win.

“We’ve scrimmaged them before, but never played them in an actual match, so it was a big win for us,” coach Raczynski said.

Carter had 21 kills, 12 aces and four digs to guide Maryvale’s efforts, while freshman Christie McGee-Ross had four kills and three blocks. Cross chipped in with two digs, an ace and a kill for the Lady Flyers, who went on to top Starpoint in three sets on September 30, 25-12, 25-14 and 25-15.

That win was equally important to the Lady Flyers as the East Aurora conquest was, as the Lady Spartans were the only other team to beat the Lady Blue Devils in league play this season. This time around, Carter had eight kills, seven digs and three aces, while Emily Raczynski had 18 assists and three digs. Junior Morgan Michalski chipped in with 12 assists, eight digs, seven kills and seven aces.

“Starpoint was one of our two losses early in the season, so we have been anticipating this game since then,” coach Raczynski said. “The girls wanted to redeem themselves from the loss the first day of school and they did in a big way. This was a great game for the girls; they served well and played great defense, and Starpoint had a hard time handling our serves and our offense.”

Maryvale continued to roll through the competition on October 3 when it topped Depew by 25-6, 15-25, 25-10 and 25-13 scores in the first meeting of the season between the schools. Carter had 13 kills and four aces to lead the charge, while senior captain Jaelah George had six kills and five digs.

Emily Raczynski chipped in with 18 assists and five digs, while senior Alexa Hoiensahl had three blocks and two aces. McGee-Ross had six kills, five blocks, four aces, and a dig for the victors.

“We always look forward to playing Depew, and we served very strongly and hit very well against them,” coach Raczynski said. “It was just an all-around solid team effort. Everyone participated in this win and I was very proud of all of them and how well they played.”

Maryvale’s strong carried over to its 25-7, 25-13, 25-14 win over Pioneer the next evening. Carter had seven kills and five assists, while Michalski had 15 assists and five aces. Emily Raczynski had 12 assists, six aces and one kill, while Amiah George had four digs.

“The girls played really well against Pioneer,” coach Raczynski said. “Our serving and offense were spot on that night; Pioneer had a hard time receiving our serves so they had a hard time getting their offense.”

Maryvale (10-2 overall) returns to action this evening by hosting Lake Shore and then begins the regular season’s final four-match stretch on the road Monday against Depew.

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Central boys volleyball eyeing strong finish
JASON NADOLINSKI, Sports Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 13, 2016

Cheektowaga boys volleyball coach Jon Marcussen and his players are turning their focus towards completing the season with an 8-4 record in ECIC III play after earning three divisional wins during the Warriors’ recent six-match stretch.

“The team is getting better and better with each game,” said Marcussen, whose squad is currently 5-3 in league play. “Statistics do not always show the growth of the team or the individuals, and the boys are playing better volleyball and minimizing their mistakes. That’s nothing but a positive sign as they get ready for sectionals.”

Cheektowaga began its two-week stretch of contests on September 26 by defeating league foe Starpoint by 25-18, 25-23, 21-25 and 25-19 scores.

Ervin Harrell and Jacob Warden both dominated the service line for the Warriors, with Warden also providing a solid offensive threat at the net. Andrew Reichert, meanwhile, chipped in with timely blocks and high energy which, according to Marcussen, “kept the team focused on the win.”

“We needed a divisional win to help our seeding for sectionals, and with Starpoint being one of the top three teams in the division — and having lost to them earlier in the season — we were really pleased to come out of the match victoriously,” Marcussen said.

The Warriors then hosted non-league foe Kenmore East two days later and pulled out a straight-sets win by 25-10, 25-23 and 25-21 marks. Darion Knighter had four kills while controlling the middle of the court, while Matt Carney added four kills and two aces to the victors’ cause.

“Matt provided solid leadership on and off the court,” Marcussen said. “Even at the times when he was not on the court, his teammates clearly heard him encouraging them.”

Cheektowaga stayed in the non-league realm Sept. 29 for its match against former divisional rival Eden, but the Warriors were tripped up in straight sets, 9-25, 9-25 and 20-25.

Things didn’t get any better — though they did get closer — against fellow non-league foe Iroquois on Oct. 3, as the Warriors were upended in a five-set marathon by 25-23, 25-16, 22-25, 18-25 and 10-15 scores.

Harrell paced Cheektowaga with 16 kills, three aces and a block, while Matt Burke passed the ball well from his libero position in the back row.

Gianni Hudson provided solid hitting and defense for the Warriors.

“Ervin was clearly the most dominant player on the court that night,” Marcussen said. “Unfortunately, we let the win slip away after winning the first two games. Iroquois is a hard working, scrappy team that never quits on a play, and they used that to push for the victory.”

The Warriors returned to divisional action on Oct. 5 and cruised to a 25-10, 25-12 and 25-15 win over East Aurora. Harrell had 11 kills and set a strong game for the winners, while Carney added five kills and three aces. Hudson chipped in with six kills.

“The boys dominated the game from the start, but what was even better to see was that our reserves came in and contributed to the win,” Marcussen said. “They will push the starters to work hard or lose their spot, which will only make the team better in the long run.”

Cheektowaga then made it two league wins in a row Friday by taking down Depew in straight sets, 25-14, 27-25 and 25-13. Zach Reinhardt, the team’s second setter, “ran a very good offense, as well as earned three kills and three aces,” Marcussen said. Alonzo Rodriguez-Spencer, a first-year senior, “played great defense and served well,” while Knighter was solid in the middle once again, picking up three kills.

Cheektowaga (6-7 overall) returned to action Tuesday at Kenmore East, but information about that match was not available at press time.

The Warriors close out their week by traveling to Holland Friday, but then won’t play again until they travel to Depew on Thursday, Oct. 20.

“We’ve gone through some close losses this season, but they have shown the boys how to compete in tight matches and that will help them in the future for sure,” Marcussen said. “Every player has had an opportunity to contribute to the team’s success this season, and we’re looking forward to achieving even more success once the playoffs begin.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Maryvale boys volleyball rolls to divisional victories
Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 13, 2016

Maryvale’s boys volleyball team continued to show why it should be one of the contenders for a deep playoff run in a few weeks by cruising to lopsided victories over Holland, Iroquois, East Aurora and Depew during a nine-day stretch that also saw the Flyers take part in Williamsville South’s tournament.

Maryvale moved to 8-1 in divisional play thanks to those triumphs – minus non-league Iroquois – partly because of the growth coach Andrew Murtha said has been taking place from this year’s group both on and off the court.

Captains Nate Zawadzki and Jordan Nosal “have done a nice job of providing leadership to our young squad,” Murtha said, adding that Thomas Frain “continues to improve and is becoming more aggressive with his serving and attacking.” Zach Amato, Mar’quez Greene and Mark Bailey are contributing more each time out as well, and are working hard in the gym to get better, according to Murtha.

“Zach, Mar’quez and Mark’s progression will be very important to our continued success in the second half of the season,” Murtha said. “Jason McCarthy has raised his game with solid serving and improved defense, while Deante Mecca’s confidence has grown in the passing game and he is going after more balls on defense. Kenny Fields and Shanto Anderson have also contributed off the bench and are both working hard to improve.”

Maryvale advanced to the semifinal of South’s tournament, losing in the bronze medal match to St. Francis in a three-set match. Nosal and Zawadzki were both selected to the All-Tournament Team for their play.

“I’m glad we pushed it to a third game [against St. Francis] after dropping the first set, especially considering we hadn’t had much rest between the end of pool play and the playoffs, because it showed a lot about our pride and determination” Murtha said. “We ended up playing 12 games on the day and gained some valuable experience against some of Western New York’s top teams, as well as the top team from Syracuse, Cicero North.”

Maryvale (10-1 overall) returned to action Tuesday at St. Joe’s, but information about that non-league match was not available at press time.

The Flyers close out their week by hosting Eden Friday and then have a few days off before traveling to Starpoint on Wednesday.

Ohio State legend, US Olympian Berzins named head coach at Stevenson
Vinnielopes, OffTheBlock.com
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

An Ohio State All-American who helped lead the United States to an Olympic gold medal will become the new coach for a NCAA Division III men’s volleyball team.

Stevenson announced last week that it hired Aldis Berzins to be the team’s head coach for the upcoming season.

Berzins was a member of the 1984 U.S. Men’s National Team that won the country’s first Olympic medal in men’s volleyball.

While in college, Berzins led the Buckeyes to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. In addition, the outside attacker was a two-time All-American selection and was named to the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.

“I would like to thank President Dr. Kevin Manning, Executive Vice President Tim Campbell and in particular Director of Athletics Brett Adams for seeking me out and entrusting me to coach the young men on the Stevenson men’s volleyball team,” Berzins said in a statement. “I look forward to building on the success that the program has already had, and to share my lifelong experiences in playing and coaching volleyball to continue to grow the program.”

Stevenson advanced to the Division III NCAA Tournament semifinals last season. The Mustangs in 2016 also won the Continental Volleyball Conference for the first time in their program history and finished the seaosn 26-8.

“With the success that our men’s volleyball program has enjoyed recently, it was important to us to select a coach that would keep the positive momentum going,” Adams said in a statement. “In Aldis Berzins, we have someone who has played, won and coached at the highest level, and his experience and connections in the volleyball community will make him an asset to Stevenson University and our men’s volleyball program.”

Along with his playing experience, Berzins was an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 1996 Olympics. He also currently is a member of the USA Volleyball Men’s Collegiate Volleyball Commission.

Berzins spent 2001 to 2015 serving as the Senior Director of Sports Development and Coaching Education for Special Olympics International.

High School Extra (Oct. 13): ECIC I volleyball headed for big finish
Buffalo News
Thursday, October 13, 2016

ECIC I volleyball headed for big finish

Orchard Park celebrated Senior Night in boys volleyball by sweeping West Seneca West by the same 25-16 score for all three sets. Liberto Alex Alessi, one of the 11 seniors on coach Matt Lexner's roster had five aces in the victory.

"Alex really hit his service hard tonight," Lexner said.

Orchard Park and Clarence, both 8-2, are tied for second place in ECIC I behind Frontier (8-1). Clarence will face Frontier next Tuesday and Orchard Park will challenge the Falcons on Oct. 21 in an exciting finish to the division race. First, though, Orchard Park will host its own tournament starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The field includes Eden, Hamburg and Clarence.

"We are one of the oldest tournaments going. It started like in 1981," Lexner said.

Canisius spikers sweep St. Joe's

Canisius (20-2) finished a six-set season sweep of rival St. Joe's in Monsignor Martin boys volleyball with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-20 win on the Marauders' home court.

"Our guys are always paying attention to this one," said Canisius coach Tom Weislo. "It doesn't take a whole lot to get them fired up."

Senior Chas Palka led the Crusaders, ranked No. 1 in Western New York, with 11 kills.

Canisius will be on the road in the Syracuse area this weekend for a match at Baldwinsville on Friday and Cicero North on Saturday.

Served with a smile

A strong service game helped Tonawanda sweep three sets from Lackawanna in ECIC IV girls volleyball, 25-20, 25-14, 25-15. Alyssa Prytula and Kristen Toth each had five aces and Caitlyn Vishion had four for the Warriors. Toth had three kills and four assists while Vishion contributed four kills and two digs.

South volleyball team splits league matches
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Williamsville South’s boys volleyball team split its ECIC Division II road matches last week, improving to 6-4 in league play.

The Billies lost against Sweet Home 25-20, 13-25, 24-26, 22-25 Wednesday, Oct. 5, and defeated Amherst 25-15, 25-9, 25-14 Friday.

South coach Thom Knab said the Sweet Home match was evenly fought, but his team struggled at times with its passing, which made it hard to get points.

JF Oliver led the Billies with 10 kills and four blocks. Matt Kennedy posted eight blocks.

Le Cao added eight kills and two blocks. Against Amherst, Dan Proch had five kills, Kennedy and Mitchell Binda both had four kills, and Cao posted three blocks.

South does not return to action until they travel to Lockport Monday, Oct. 17, host West Seneca East Tuesday, Oct. 18, go to Williamsville East Friday and competes in the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

Young South squad maturing
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Williamsville South girls volleyball coach Tom Sproull found out if his young squad can overcome adversity in ECIC Division II wins last week.

The Lady Billies traveled to Sweet Home and won in five sets, 25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 19-25, 25-22, Oct. 4, and downed Iroquois in four sets, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23 at home Thursday.

South has no seniors and starts several young players.

“Both of these matches were a good test to see how we could handle some adversity,” Sproull said.

Sproull said his team played OK against Sweet Home. He said unforced errors cost his team the third set.

“Sweet Home got more confidence and we made more errors because of it,” Sproull said.

South recorded 17 aces as a team.

Eighth-grader Amari De- Berry recorded a season-high 15 kills. Junior Naomi DeBerry added 12 kills. Eighth-grader Haley Marchewka recorded 26 assists.

Sproull said his team sided out below 50 percent in the first two sets against Iroquois, giving away many points with unforced errors.

They sided out at 60 percent in set three and 57 percent in set four.

“Usually if a team sides out at 60 percent, you’re going to win,” Sproull said.

Sophomore Megan Muehlbauer registered seven kills. Amari and Naomi De- Berry both recorded four kills. Amari DeBerry also posted eight blocks. Sophomore Gabby Presutti recorded 26 digs.

South hosts Hamburg Thursday and competes in the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

East girls volleyball earns runner-up at Frontier Tourney
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

The Williamsville East girls volleyball team’s bid to defend its title at the Frontier Tournament fell short, losing to Eden, 25-20, 17-25, 8-15, in Saturday’s final.

Three kills from Lexi Novak, a kill from Allison Jozwiak and an ace from Makayla Greenfield gave East an 8-2 lead.

Eden came back to make the score 12-7.

The Lady Flames won five of the next six points behind two kills from Novak, a kill from Leah Orsini and a block from Rachel Steffan.

Eden closed the gap to 20-18 before a solo block from East’s Summer Clark slowed Eden’s momentum.

Kills from Steffan, Orsini and Novak extended the lead to 24-20, and Steffan closed out the set with an ace.

“We played exceptional in the first game,” East coach Scott Wright said.

East led 6-3 in the second set on two kills from Novak and an ace from Orsini.

Eden tied the set at 6-6 before the Lady Flames went on a four-point run to take a 10-6 lead on kills from Novak and Orsini, a block from Steffan, and an ace from Jozwiak.

Eden responded with a 14-point serving run to take a 21-11 lead and went on to win the set.

Eden was ahead 6-4 in the final set before they went on a five-point run, extending the lead to 11-4.

Two kills by Novak closed the gap to 13-8, but Eden won the final two points.

Novak led East’s offense with 18 kills and 11 digs. Greenfield tallied 24 assists; Orsini had five kills; and Steffan tallied two kills and nine digs.

East advanced to the finals with a 25-15, 25-21 win over Sacred Heart.

East was led by Novak (17 kills), Greenfield (29 assists), Jozwiak (six kills) and Steffan (four kills, 11 digs).

East routed Niagara Wheatfield 30-9 in the quarterfinals, led by 11 kills from Novak and 13 assists from Greenfield.

East beat Nardin 25-14, 25-12; Mount St. Mary 25-12, 25-10, and Orchard Park 25-19, 25-23 in pool play to advance to the championship bracket.

East improved to 9-0 in ECIC II, and 10-0 overall, with victories on the road against Iroquois, 25-10, 25-9, 25-15 Oct. 4, and Hamburg 25-6, 25-15, 25-13 Friday.

Iroquois started the first set ahead 7-5, but Jozwiak went on an 18-point serving run to give East a 23-7 lead.

“She’s become our most effective player in our serving rotation,” Wright said.

The second set started with an eight-point serving run from Steffan, including two aces.

A seven-point serving run from Greenfield extended the lead to 16-3. Five kills from Steffan helped East close out the set.

Iroquois built a 6-4 lead to start the third set. Trailing 11-10, East won 11 of the next 14 points, including five kills from Novak.

Leading the way against Iroquois were Novak (12 kills, 10 digs); Orsini (nine kills, five digs); Steffan (eight kills); Greenfield (28 assists, 12 digs); Jozwiak (10 digs, five aces); and Ann Marie Jones (eight digs).

Hamburg’s only league loss came against East Sept. 16.

Wright called his team’s first-set 25-6 triumph as maybe the team’s best “game of the year.”

“We dug everything,” he said. “We blocked a few balls and transitioned them to hits. It was a great display of volleyball.”

Wright was also pleased with the team’s overall defense in the match, led by Jones, Benz and Jessie Weaver.

Novak recorded 27 kills (.462 hitting percentage), 18 digs and two aces. Greenfield tallied 45 assists and 13 digs. Steffan also had her best match of the season with 13 kills (.364 hitting percentage) and 13 digs. Also contributing were Orsini (five kills, four blocks); Jozwiak (four kills, nine digs); Benz (12 digs); and Weaver (nine digs).

Sweet Home girls volleyball improving on court
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Sweet Home’s girls volleyball team has made great strides this season, and no where was that more evident than in its ECIC Division II matches last week.

Sweet Home lost in five games to Williamsville South Oct. 4 23-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-19, 22-25 and beat Amherst 25-21, 25-13, 25-11 Thursday. The first time they faced both opponents Sweet Home lost in three to South and beat Amherst in five games.

Lady Panthers coach Breean Martin said the South match was a hard-fought contest.

“We had some unforced errors that towards the end of the match we could not afford to do,” Martin said. “The kids were disappointed that they could not get the win but we played so much better. It was a positive night.”

Tirzah Peters led Sweet Home with 16 kills and five blocks.

Christie Ackendorf tallied 12 kills, five aces, four blocks and eight digs. Bella Pullara added 18 digs.

Peters led the way against Amherst with 15 kills and a block.

“Once we got warmed up, our confidence grew and served tough,” Martin said. “I think every one of my players at least got one or more aces. We beat them in five games the first time we played them so it shows how much we have grown as a team.”

Sweet Home was shorthanded at Saturday’s Frontier Tournament but still played well, losing to City Honors 23-25, 27-25, 15-9 in the gold bracket semifinals.

In pool play, Sweet Home lost to Sacred Heart 21-25, 23-25; and Eden 16-25, 10-25; and beat Gowanda 25-17, 25-17.

Coming out of pool play, they routed Mount Mercy 30-13 in the quarterfinals.

Sweet Home was without starting middle hitter Brittany Banks and defensive specialist Madison Gerber, but Martin was pleased with the players who stepped in, including Ackendorf, who moved from right side to middle hitter in limited action; Dana Edholm on the right side and outside hitter; and Kathryn Ellsworth at outside/ right side.

Sweet Home traveled to West Seneca East Tuesday but information about the match was unavailable before press time.

Sweet Home hosts Iroquois Thursday and competes in the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

Boys volleyball rallies to beat Quakers in five
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Clarence’s boys volleyball team was looking forward to Wednesday’s rematch with Orchard Park ever since its three-set loss to the Quakers on Sept. 13. And though it wasn’t looking too good for the Red Devils through the first two sets, they refused to give up and ultimately persevered in a five-set slugfest, 23-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19, 15-11.

Orchard Park employed a strategy of serving to Henry Payne as early as possible with the thinking that, coach Kevin Starr said, “made it more difficult for him to transition to where he needed to be to take his spike approach, even when he passed well.” But, in the pre-game huddle after the second set, the Red Devils talked about how the team had won three straight sets “lots of time this season” and how they “should just go and do that now.”

That thought process led to some strategy adjustments — including moving Payne around in the rotation “so that he wouldn’t have to pass as often” and finding other guys to pass the ball to — and, as Starr said, “the kids responded to these changes beautifully.”

“It’s hard to avoid sports clichés after a match like this one, but the boys never quit, they showed character, and they did what it took to win,” Starr said. “If we end up going as far as I think we can this season, this is a match we’ll look back on as one of the critical times we responded to a challenge from another great team.”

Payne ended up with 43 kills for the night, one short of his personal best of 44, while Sean Trznadel had 62 assists. Teddy Payne added 16 digs and Tyler White had 12 kills, “including a bomb from the right side to close out the match,” Starr said.

Clarence returns to action this evening by hosting Hamburg before taking part in the Orchard Park Tournament on Saturday. The Red Devils defeated Hamburg in league play and in the finals of the Sweet Home Tournament, and Hamburg went on to beat Frontier for the Falcons’ only league loss of the season — so if Clarence can beat the Bulldogs this week, and then Frontier and Lancaster next week, the Red Devils will win their first league championship since 1999.

“I have the boys look at the championship banner in the gym regularly to refocus them on what it’s going to take to get 2016 added to it,” Starr said. “They’re as determined as any team I’ve ever coached, and they’re confident that they can make it happen.”

NT boys volleyball moves closer to 10 NFL victories
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

North Tonawanda’s boys volleyball team continued to take down virtually every Niagara Frontier League opponent standing in its way this season by beating three of its divisional rivals in a recent four-match stretch.

The Lumberjacks, who moved to 8-2 in league play with their recent run, faced little resistance in taking down Niagara Wheatfield (25-23, 25-12, 23-25, 25-23) on Sept. 27, Kenmore West (19-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-21) on Sept. 29, and Niagara Falls (25-13, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19) on Oct. 4. Coach Luke Hodgson noted that in each contest, he felt as if the Lumberjacks controlled the tempo most of the way.

“We definitely dictated what we wanted to do with our offense,” Hodgson said. “Having four sets in each of those matches let us get a bunch of guys into the matches, which gave some of our kids the chance to learn the ropes a bit. What’s really nice is that everyone did well with the time they played.”

Brandon Casterline had 11 kills in the match against Wheatfield, while Collin Rambler had 29 digs against Kenmore West. Rory Farkes had 15 kills and Casterline had 12 against Niagara Falls, with Jordan Fox dishing out 40 assists. Rambler dug out 44 balls against the Wolverines to help contribute to what Hodgson called “a nice overall team effort” in which “everyone just shined on the court.”

The only blemish in the Lumberjacks’ recent run was their 16-25, 18-25, 10-25 setback to Lockport on Wednesday. Rambler had 18 digs against the Lions, but without using it as an excuse, Hodgson believes that not having an extra day between matches to talk about and otherwise prepare for their upcoming opponent “was big.”

“We just hit a nice big brick wall against Lockport,” Hodgson said. “There was just a series of errors that did us in that night. But, with the losses we’ve had to Lockport, along with the hard matches against Kenmore West and Grand Island, we’ve learned a ton. We want to be ready to go as far as we can against some great teams come sectional time, and I think we’re ready to shift our focus now. The seniors who’ve been playing club ball and who’ve been with me for three or four years, they’ve worked so hard and that ultimate payoff of their hard work is really important to them.

“We feel we’re coming together and really focused on team success,” Hodgson continued. “When we play Grand Island next week, we’ll remember how we played against Lockport and be better for it. We won’t wait on any plays, just go out and do what we need to do.”

North Tonawanda returned to action Tuesday by hosting Grand Island, but information about that match was not available at press time.

The Lumberjacks round out their week by traveling to Starpoint Thursday for a non-league contest. League play will conclude for North Tonawanda at Kenmore East on Thursday, Oct. 20.

“Our last three matches of the year will be good warm-ups for sectionals,” Hodgson said. “Our non-starters are pushing and hoping to make a mark. Any chance they have to stand out is great; they’re giving the starters a run for their money in some situations. Everybody wantstoshineintourneys;they want to make their time matter. Everyone’s going as hard as they absolutely can in practice, and things are getting to be as close to game situations as possible just about every day.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Tocke exuded class during his storied career
Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

If there was a Hall of Fame classification of Founder, Coach Gary Tocke would fit the criteria. But you could say the same for longevity, success, class, professionalism and championships. You can check the box in every category for Coach Tocke. He is the gentleman’s gentleman. He has exuded class, dignity, respect and sportsmanship throughout his career.

The Kenmore West graduate of 1961, recently completed a coaching career that spanned 48 years. He started his career in 1965 at Alden Central coaching freshmen football, track and field and swimming. The bulk of his career, however, was spent teaching physical education and coaching in the Kenmore Town of Tonawanda School District of the Niagara Frontier League (NFL).

The Indiana State University graduate, coached with passion, professionalism, ethics, and character and used those attributes to mold countless student-athletes. He worked the sidelines of outdoor track and field, indoor track and field and girls’ volleyball. However, it was in the sport of boys’ volleyball that propelled Tocke into an icon.

From 1968-2008, Gary led the volleyball Bulldogs of Kenmore East High School to 500 wins, five NFL titles and seven Section VI Championships. Coach was a member of the inaugural class of the WNY Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame, received the New York State Coaches Award in 1971, has been named Kenmore East Coach of the Year three times and earned the highly regarded Cornerstone Award once.

How good were his track teams? As head coach from 1974-91 and again from 2004-06 his teams amassed 89 dual meet wins and five NFL titles.

MSM volleyball looking to finish season strong after rough patch
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI, Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Lillian Mueller of Mt. St. Mary hits a sweet spot on her serve in the Clarence
Tournament last weekend. The Thunder are looking to finish strong after a rough patch
in the middle of the season. Photo by Jake FrenchPurchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team is certainly happy to welcome Sarah Vicari back. The sophomore setter went on the shelf with an injury after the Thunder’s 6-0 start. The team stumbled a bit in her absence but seem to have found their footing since her recent return.

“We started off 6-0 in September. Then we had an injury to our setter (Sarah Vicari),” Mount St. Mary Coach Brittany Schukraft said. “That kind of turned things around on us. Our back-up setter did a phenomenal job, but we hit some bumps in the road just like any team that loses someone important. It hurt but we were fighting through it.”

The Thunder took on Kenmore East last week and fell in four games. The team actually won the first set 25-19, but lost the second by a close 28-26 margin. They then dropped the third and fourth.

“The effort was great. We played them very well in the first two sets, but we had too many unforced errors,” Schukraft said. “The girls re- ally gave it their all, but it wasn’t our night, unfortunately. We had pulled off a 25-19 win in the first game and lost 28-26 in the second one. That kind of turned around our mentality. The game didn’t end the way we wanted it to and we were upset. We lost, but it was a good match. We had good ball control, but made too many unforced errors.”

The Thunder then took on Section V power Our Lady of Mercy and fell in three games.

“We played really well and had great ball control, but they just had some solid girls,” Schukraft said. “We were pleased with the effort and the competitiveness. The first and third sets were close, we just had some mistakes. Emily Trotman had four kills in that third game. Our setter had six aces. We served well behind the line, but they were a tough team to score on.”

Saturday, the Thunder played in the Frontier Tournament. They started the day with losses to Orchard Park and Williamsville East, but played well against Nardin, getting a two-set win. Mount St. Mary then advanced to the Gold Bracket, where they defeated Nichols, 30-9, and City Honors in two sets.

“It was awesome to see. We needed that win,” Schukraft said. “Our confidence was down a little with the way we had given up some matches. We really relied on Sarah and counted on her.”

With only a few weeks left in the season, the Thunder are working on their strategy in pressure situations. With the postseason looming, these types of situations will become increasingly prevalent.

“We’re kind of trying to work on pressure situations,” Schukraft said. “We’ve had a lot of close sets the last couple weeks. We want to try to put the pressure on the other team with our serving. That’s a focus right now. We want to play our system as much as possible.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

High School Extra (Oct. 12): OP tops Lockport on the court
Buffalo News
Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Lockport, missing two injured starters, was no match for Orchard Park in a battle of ranked boys volleyball teams Tuesday on the Quakers' home court. OP triumphed 25-18, 225-22 and 25-22.

"Two players is a lot in high school volleyball," said Orchard Park coach Matt Lexner. "We were a little flat coming off the holiday.

"We're 9-4 with two division losses but we're progressing," Lexner said of his team, the defending sectional Class A champions. "I think we're going to be in the final four for sure."

Western New York 2016 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/11/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Western New York 2016 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/11/16
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 11, 2016