2018 Boys Volleyball Honor Roll: Top teams and stars from across WNY
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, December 29, 2018

As selected by Western New York coaches.

ALL-WESTERN NEW YORK

Coach of the Year: Robert Pierce (Eden).
First Team
Name School Cl.
Jake Couzens Hamburg 12
Adam Gulick Will. North 12
Tome’ Filkov Eden 12
Gavin Musielak Eden 12
Sean Denniston Lockport 12
Zach Schneider Lockport 12
Brian Norsen Frontier 12
Brandon Dunz Frontier 12
Second Team
CANISIUS: Ethan Weislo-10. CLARENCE: Teddy Payne-11. FRONTIER: Ben Taylor. GRAND ISLAND: Billy Weiberg-10. LANCASTER: Matt Garry. LOCKPORT: Rhees Perry. SWEET HOME: Kaleb Luton. WEST SENECA WEST: Nate Petrik-11.

All-Catholic
Player of the Year: John Scrocco (Canisius)
First Team
Name School Cl.
Daniel Busha St. Francis 12
Brendan Leong Canisius 12
Michael Mayer St. Joe’s 12
Luke Mistretta St. Joe’s 12
Mario Moretti St. Francis 11
Ethan Weislo Canisius 10
Noah Weislo Canisius 10
Nathan Wojcinski St. Joe’s 11
Second Team
CANISIUS: Connor Booth-10, Christian Cugino-12, Saferino Dour-12. ST. FRANCIS: Thomas Moore-12, Jacob Sacilowski-10. ST. JOE’S: Jacob Balcerzak-12. ST. MARY’S: Sean Brown-10, Jacob Wilk-12.

ECIC I
First Team
Name School Cl. 
Nick Pozzuto WestSeneca West 12
Joe Dreyer Frontier 12
Jackson Wurtz Clarence 12
Joe Nicometo Orchard Park 10
Hudson Harris Orchard Park 10
Nick LaPaglia Frontier 12
Zach Ciraolo Clarence 11
Bo Johnson Hamburg 12
Second Team
CLARENCE: Pat Wiesinger. FRONTIER: Chris Jones. LANCASTER: Damian Bauer, Andrew Reimer. HAMBURG: Jacob Wicher, Connor McDonnell. ORCHARD PARK: Ethan Swaitek-11. WEST SENECA WEST: Noah Petrik-9.

ECIC II
First Team
Name School Cl. 
Dylan Aarum Sweet Home 12
Solomon Shabazz Sweet Home 12
Andrew Thiele Sweet Home 12
Nico Zhilevich Starpoint 12
Zach Evans Lake Shore 11
Cole Wishman Lake Shore 12
Josh Weissert Will. East 11
Jackson Strong West Seneca East 10
Second Team
AMHERST: Marcus Hall-11. LAKE SHORE: Nate Lockwood, Bryan Rechin-11, Tyler Hassell-11. STARPOINT: Owen Jauch. SWEET HOME: Kenny Naples-11. WILLIAMSVILLE EAST: Ryan Parks. WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH: Nico Zanelotti.

ECIC III
First Team 
Name School Cl. 
Jake Basinski Eden 10
John Snyder Eden 12
Alex Overhoff Eden 11
Josh Williams Eden 12
Tom Frain Maryvale 12
Alex Sivcev Iroquois 12
Malachi Jackson Cheektowaga 12
Zaire Rogers Cheektowaga 12
Second Team
EAST AURORA: Henry McLaughlin-11, Caleb Heigl-10, Danny Farrell-10. EDEN: Lucas Schlegel-11. HOLLAND: Alex Wiech-8. IROQUOIS: Austin Grucza-12, Shane Guasteferro-11.

NIAGARA FRONTIER
First Team
Name School Cl. 
Zach Schneider Lockport 12
Sean Denniston Lockport 12
Billy Weiberg Grand Island 10
Josh Roy N. Tonawanda 11
Rheese Perry Lockport 12
Dylan Russo Grand Island 12
Josh Trenchard N. Tonawanda 10
Zach Brydges Niagara Falls 11
Second Team
GRAND ISLAND: Zack Cramer-10, Nick Keller-11, Tom Shenik-11. LOCKPORT: Duane Barrow, Colin Fragale-11. NIAGARA WHEATFIELD: Dylon Klidonas-9. NORTH TONAWANDA: Dylan Suiter, Noah Fox-11.
Third Team
GRAND ISLAND: Chris Ferraro, David Wynne-11. KENMORE EAST: Alex Simmons-11. KENMORE WEST: Ryan Emlar. LOCKPORT: Andrew Mullane-9, Larente Shelton-11. NIAGARA FALLS: Aaron Kifer-10, Michael Uhrich. NIAGARA WHEATFIELD: Evan Rohring.

STATE
Regional N.Y. State/AVCA Player of the Year: Zach Schneider-12 (Lockport)
Class A Sectional All-Star: Sean Denniston-12 (Lockport)
Class B Sectional All-Star: Gavin Musielak-12 (Eden)
New York State Tournament All-Star: Tome’ Filkov-12 (Eden)

2018 Girls Volleyball Honor Roll: Top teams and stars from across WNY
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, December 29, 2018

As selected by Western New York coaches.

ALL-WESTERN NEW YORK
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
MH Beth Miller Portville 12
L Jenna Sonnenberg Niagara Wheatfield 12
L Jasmine Brundage St. Mary’s 11
MB Hannah Mulhern St. Mary’s 12
OH Aspen Moore Roy-Hart 12
OH Jaide Cummings Clarence 12
OH Rachel Steffan Williamsville East 12
OH Sierra Keim Portville 12
S Olivia Alessia East Aurora 11
OH Megan Muehlbauer Williamsville South 12
OH Paiton Basinski Eden 12
OH Shelby Kersten Alden 12
OH Madalyn Bowen Panama 12
Honorable Mention
NIAGARA WHEATFIELD: Danielle Brochey. ORCHARD PARK: Kate Hennessey. PORTVILLE: Syndey Colligan. WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH: Gabby Presutti.

ALL-WESTERN NEW YORK
LARGE SCHOOLS
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.

OH Natalie Turck Grand Island 12
OH Danielle Brochey Niagara Wheatfield 12
OH Jaide Cummings Clarence 12
L Lexi MacDonald Clarence 11
OH Shelby Kersten Alden 12
S Olivia Alessi East Aurora 11
OH Abby Ryan Orchard Park 11
OH Rachel Steffan Williamsville East 12
OH Katie Hennesey Orchard Park 12
OH Megan Muehlbauer Williamsville Soluth 12
L Jenna Sonnnenberg Niagara Wheatfield 12
L Gabby Presutti Williamsville South 12

Second Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
S MacKenzie Franks Niagara Wheatfield 12
S/RS Kourtney Krchniak Lockport 12
S Samantha Veronica Kenmore West 12
OH Allie Macon Williamsville North 12
S Abby Vincent Williamsville North 12
OH Madi Popielski Williamsville South 11
OH Olivia Covington East Aurora 12
L Christy Mack Williamsville East 12
L Brianna Acquard Lancaster 12
S Meadow Wittman Springville 12
L Haley Callahan Orchard Park 11
MB Kyra Wood City Honors 10
Honorable Mention
ALBION: Sierra Newton. GRAND ISLAND: Lindsay Robinson. KENMORE EAST: Jordan Taylor. KENMORE WEST: Chloe Moore. LOCKPORT: Samantha Coakley-11, Jana Fluellen. MEDINA: Maddie Williams. NIAGARA WHEATFIELD: Katelyn Kostin. SPRINGVILLE: Devyn Rowe.

All-WESTERN NEW YORK
SMALL SCHOOLS
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
L Jasmine Brundage St. Mary’s 11
MB Hannah Mulhern St. Mary’s 12
MH Marie Rhodes St. Mary’s 11
OH Aspen Moore Roy-Hart 12
OH Darion Jonathan Akron 12
MH Beth Miller Portville 12
OH Sierra Keim Portville 12
OH Sydney Colligan Portville 12
L Erika Carlson Portville 12
OH Madalyn Bowen Panama 12
OH Paiton Basinski Eden 12
OH Kelly Cleversley St. Mary’s 11
Second Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Danielle Gugino Mt. St. Mary 12
L Hannah Tudor Sacred Heart 11
S Emma Hawkes Nichols 12
S Sara Vicari Mt. St. Mary 12
OH Helena Hill Akron 12
OH Siobhan Ryan Sacred Heart 11
S Jesse Jonathan Akron 10
S Kylie Blessings Portville 9
MH Olivia Anderson Chautauqua Lake 12
OH Deanne Wilson North Collins 10
L Emma Sutfin Eden 12
L Jill Stahley Randolph 11
Honorable Mention
MAPLE GROVE: Maddie Welsh. MOUNT MERCY: Kate Ryan-10.

ALL-CATHOLIC
Player of the Year: Daniella Gugino (Mt. St. Mary).
First Team
Name School Cl.
Daniella Gugino Mt. St. Mary 12
Jasmine Brundage St. Mary’s 11
Kelly Cleversley St. Mary’s 11
Emma Hawkes Nichols 12
Hannah Mulhern St. Mary’s 12
Siobhan Ryan Sacred Heart 11
Hannah Tudor Sacred Heart 11
Sarah Vicari Mt. St. Mary 12
Second Team
MOUNT MERCY: Kate Ryan. MT. ST. MARY: Samantha Hare-11. NARDIN: Amanda Chmiel. NICHOLS: Jenna Hafner-11. SACRED HEART: Gabriella Berardi. ST. MARY’S: Courtney Kurkowiak-9, Marie Rhodes-11.

BUFFALO 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Shian Wright Olmstead 12
S Lauryn Whiteside Olmstead 12
L Bryanna Reuther Olmstead 12
RS Francheska Tejada Olmstead 12
MB Imani Burch Olmstead 12
L Tooly Paw Hutch Tech 11
MB Desha Renshaw Hutch Tech 11
OH Marissa Dusza Hutch Tech 11
RS Lexie Czajkowski Hutch Tech 12
OH Kendyl Kinsey Hutch Tech 12
S Nailyn Sanchez McKinley 12
S Gay Doh McKinley 10
OH Gabriela Ortiz Lafayette 10
S Genesis Olmo MST Prep 12
OH Eh Pho Kaw Nyaw MST Prep 12
Second Team
HUTCH TECH: Taniya Crosby-10, Hannah Abraszek-11. LAFAYETTE: Amy Bonilla-10. McKINLEY: November Paw Thoo, Melverlyn Toe, MST PREP: Johanette Rodriguez, Kasandra Arroyo-11, Gabriella Garcia. OLMSTEAD: Jaiden Fisher, Kayla Norman, Kylie Hilarie, Julianna Leon-11.

ALL-ECIC
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Allie Mason Williamsville North 12
L Lexi MacDonald Clarence 11
OH Jaide Cummings Clarence 12
OH Me. Muehlbauer Williamsville South 12
L Gabby Presutti Williamsville South 12
OH Shelby Kersten Alden 12
OH Paiton Basinski Eden 12
S Olivia Alessi East Aurora 10
L Emma Sutfin Eden 12
OH Rachel Steffan Williamsville East 11
OH Abby Ryan Orchard Park 11
OH Kate Hennesey Orchard Park 12
Second Team
CHEEKTOWAGA: Alisiana Muscoreil-11. EAST AURORA: Olivia Covington. HAMBURG: Emma Moscato. IROQUOIS: Katie Jacobs. LANCASTER: Brianne Acquard. ORCHARD PARK: Haley Callahan-11. SPRINGVILLE: Meadow Wittman, Devyn Rowe. STARPOINT: Haley Lucas. WILLIAMSVILLE EAST: Christy Mack. WILLIAMSVILLE NORTH: Abby Vincent. WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH: Maddy Popielski-11.

ECIC I
Sportsmanship Team: Lancaster
Sportsmanship Award: Brianne Acquard-12 (Lancaster)
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
RS Leah Victor Clarence 11
OH Olivia Walczak Clarence 10
OH Meghan Vona Lancaster 11
MH Maia Reed Williamsville North 11
MH Ashley Dugal Orchard Park 11
OH Kennedy Izzo Frontier 12
OH Summer Harris Orchard Park 10
L Maddie Farber Williamsville North 11
Second Team
CLARENCE: Izzy Kocz-10. FRONTIER: Haley Gerken-9, Jiana Krescoko-11. JAMESTOWN: Karleigh Haines. LANCASTER: Jessica Clark, Vanessa Uhteg-11. WEST SENECA WEST: Samantha Sigler-11. WILLIAMSVILLE NORTH: Bri Brown.

ECIC II
Sportsmanship Team: Amherst
Sportsmanship Award: Erica Norris-12 (Amherst)
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
RS Summer Clarke Williamsville East 10
MH Madelyn Harrison Hamburg 9
MH Amari DeBerry Williamsville South 10
MH Cecilia Brooks Williamsville South 10
RS Katie Putney Starpoint 11
RS Madison Smith Williamsville East 11
MH H. Abramowitz Williamsville South 12
S Lauren Hubert Sweet Home 8
Second Team
AMHERST: Valerie Sullivan-11. HAMBURG: Dana Bacher-11, Georgia Farry-11. STARPOINT: Emily Reed-11. SWEET HOME: Dayna Edholm-11. WEST SENECA EAST: Heather Borodzik. WILLIAMSVILLE EAST: Madeline Reid-12. WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH: Haley Marchewka-10.
Honorable Mention
HAMBURG: Kiana Storey-11. STARPOINT: Claire Koepnick-11. WILLIAMSVILLE SOUTH: Riley Domin-11.

ECIC III
Sportsmanship Team: Pioneer
Sportsmanship Award: Olivia Alessi-11 (East Aurora)
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Julia Peinkofer Iroquois 12
MH Sarah Wittek Iroquois 12
RS/S Kelly Gampietro East Aurora 12
L Hannah Duderwick Lake Shore 12
OH Abbey Hanes Lake Shore 10
MH Christie McGee-Ross Maryvale 11
OH Samantha Kirsch Pioneer 12
L Bella Pezzino Cheektowaga 12
Second Team
CHEEKTOWAGA: Angelina Garcia-10, Aaliyah Jones-10. DEPEW: Briana Lelonek-10. IROQUOIS: Laina Caparaso. LAKE SHORE: Tabitha Allen, Asah White. MARYVALE: Amiah George. PIONEER: Coti Owens-11.
Honorable Mention
MARYVALE: Brianna Schlierf. PIONEER: Tera Tatko-10.

ECIC IV
Sportsmanship Team: Cleveland Hill
Sportsmanship Award: Alison McIntosh-12 (Cleveland Hill)
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
S Kristen Toth Tonawanda 12
OH Lainey Overhoff Eden 11
S Ashley Ballou Eden 7
OH Kaitlyn Schmitz Eden 10
OH Gabby Liberati JFK 12
OH Nicole Wojciechowski JFK 12
S Lydia Catalino Cleveland Hill 12
MH Aqe’lah Douglas Cleveland Hill 11
OH Emma Wlostowski Alden 11
Second Team
ALDEN: Jenna Kersten-9. CLEVELAND HILL: Amanda Duminico-11, Elizabeth LaCourse-10. EDEN: Eve Musielak-10, Brianna Rigley-9, Emalee Ballou-9, Rachel Nordblum-11. HOLLAND: Megan Armbrust-11. JFK: Kaitlyn Gribble, Jenna Urban-11.

NIAGARA FRONTIER
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Danielle Brochey Niagara Wheatfield 12
OH Samantha Coakley Lockport 11
S Mackenzie Franks Niagara Wheatfield 12
S K. Krchniak Lockport 12
L Jenna Sonnenberg Niagara Wheatfield 12
OH Jordan Taylor Kenmore East 12
MB Natalie Turck Grand Island 12
Second Team
GRAND ISLAND: Lindsay Robinson. KENMORE WEST: Chloe Moore, Samantha Veronica. LOCKPORT: Samantha Chilcott, Jada Fluellen. NORTH TONAWANDA: McCartney Geartz-11, Chase Steingasser.
Third Team
GRAND ISLAND: Grace Carey-10, Hannah
Pyc-10. LEW-PORT: Adelaide Buth-10. NIAGARA FALLS: Avianna Peterson. NIAGARA-WHEATFIELD: Emily Brochey-10, Katelyn Kostiw, Kelsey Tylec-9.

NIAGARA-ORLEANS
Player of the Year: Aspen Moore-12 (Roy-Hart)
Sportsmanship Award: Ellie Gross-11 (Medina)
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Aspen Moore Roy-Hart 12
OH Darion Jonathan Akron 12
OH Helena Hill Akron 12
S Maddie Williams Medina 12
S Jessee Jonathan Akron 10
OH Sierra Newton Albion 12
Second Team
MEDINA: Elle Gross-11, Camri King-11. NEWFANE: Faith Morgan. ROY-HART: Paige Dent, WILSON: Jenn Myers, Maddy Seeley-10.
Honorable Mention
AKRON: Aurora Hockwater, Madison Kaczmarek-11. MEDINA: Brandi Guild. NEWFANE: Bailey Boyer, Megan Knoll, Mackensie Perry. ROY-HART: Ella Brown, Kristina Burdick, Alyssa Kubas. WILSON: Brooke Wisor.

CCAA NORTH
Most Valuable Player: Deanne Wilson (North Collins)
Sportsmanship Team: Brocton
Sportsmanship Award: Madison Mott (Silver Creek)
First Team
Name School Cl.
Deanne Wilson North Collins 10
Baylee Romano North Collins 12
Katrinah Bretl Cassadaga Valley 12
Marleah Stevens Gowanda 11
Nagely Vazquez Fredonia 11
Miya Scanlan Gowanda 10
Anna Valone Fredonia 10
Brooke Repine Cassadaga Valley 12
Second Team
BROCTON: Sophia DeMarco. CASSADAGA VALLEY: Heidi Williams-11. GOWANDA: Summer Allen. FORESTVILLE: Rachael Goodrich, Rhianna Nasal. NORTH COLLINS: Makenna Williams. SILVER CREEK: Kierra Brennan, Julia Hill.
Honorable Mention
DUNKIRK: Amari Carter, Nadra O’Dell. FORESTVILLE: Sylvea Cleary.

CCAA CENTRAL
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Madalyn Bowen Panama 12
MB Olivia Anderson Chaut. Lake 12
MB Maddie Welsh Maple Grove 12
OH Abby Manelick Southwestern 12
OH Natalie Angeletti Panama 11
S Abbie Henry Chaut. Lake 12
S Alyssa Steen Maple Grove 12
MB Kylie Schnars Panama 11
OH Breanna Hill Maple Grove 11
MB Grace Camarata Falconer 12
MH Hannah King Clymer 12
S Angela Lunz Southwestern 12
Second Team
CHAUTAUQUA LAKE: Molly Meadows-11, Jena Waters-8, Sophie Woods-11. MAPLE GROVE: Coutney Hemminger. PANAMA: Maddie Johnson-10. PINE VALLEY: Sadie Fadale. SHERMAN: Teddy Hayes, Rowan Fisher, Amaya Lewzcyk. SOUTHWESTERN: Katie Brinkley.

CCAA EAST
Most Valuable Player: Beth Miller-12 (Portville)
Sportsmanship Award: Ellicottville
First Team
Pos. Name School Cl.
OH Sierra Keim Portville 12
L Destiny Custer Olean 11
L Jill Stahley Randolph 11
OH Brooklyn Hill Cattaraugus/LV 12
L Ericka Carlson Portville 12
S Cameron Riordan Allegany-Limestone 11
MH Ashley Hogan Cattaraugus/LV 11
OH Linnea Jimmerson Ellicottville 12
OH Sydney Colligan Portville 12
RS Alyssa Adams Randolph 10
Second Team
ALLEGANY-LIMESTONE: Alexis Kinney. CATTARAUGUS/LV: Bridget Murphy. ELLICOTTVILLE: Malorie Chamberlain, Cyrene Moore-11, Makenna Smith-11. OLEAN: Adele Dwaillabee-9, Sophia Renaud-11. PORTVILLE: Kylie Blessing-9. RANDOLPH: Joan Adams, Brynn Pagett-11. SALAMANCA: Quiana Stevens.

ALL-STATE
CLASS AA
Fourth Team: Abby Ryan-11 (Orchard Park), Katie Hennesey-12 (Orchard Park), Jaide Cummings-12 (Clarence).
Sixth Team: Lexi MacDonald-11 (Clarence).

CLASS A
First Team: Jenna Sonnenberg-12 (Niagara Wheatfield), Danielle Brochey-12 (Niagara Wheatfield).
Second Team: Rachel Steffan-12 (Williamsville East).
Third Team: Megan Muehlbauer-12 (Williamsville South).
Fourth Team: MacKenzie Franks-12 (Niagara Wheatfield).
Fifth Team: Gabby Presutti-12 (Williamsville South).
Sixth Team: Christy Mack-12 (Williamsville East).

CLASS B
Second Team: Shelby Kersten-12 (Alden).
Third Team: Olivia Alessi-11 (East Aurora).
Fifth Team: Meadow Wittman-12 (Springville).
Sixth Team: Olivia Covington-12 (East Aurora), Devyn Rowe-12 (Springville).

CLASS C
First Team: Beth Miller-12 (Portville), Sierra Keim-12 (Portville), Sydney Colligan-12 (Portville).
Second Team: Paiton Basinski-12 (Eden).
Third Team: Erika Carlson-12 (Portville).
Fourth Team: Emma Sutfin-12 (Eden)
Fifth Team: Aspen Moore-12 (Roy-Hart).

CLASS D
First Team: Madalyn Bowen-12 (Panama), Natalie Angeletti-11 (Panama).
Second Team: Kylie Schnars-11 (Panama).
Third Team: Olivia Anderson-12 (Chautauqua Lake).
Fifth Team: Deanne Wilson-10 (North Collins), Maddie Welsh-12 (Maple Grove).

Former St. Mary's volleyball star Leah Meyer named All-American
By Staff, Buffalo News
Friday, December 14, 2018

Leah Meyer was among the best in the nation in blocks (Photo: Duke University)

Former St. Mary's of Lancaster volleyball star Leah Meyer, a redshirt junior at Duke, was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I All-America team Friday.

Meyer ranked third nationally in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 14th in the nation in blocks per set at 1.44, which is third for single-season average in school history. She became the 10th Duke player to reach 400 career blocks.

"It means to world to receive this award," she said. "It is something that has been a goal of mine my entire career, so to finally achieve it feels absolutely amazing. I obviously couldn’t have done it without my teammates this year. We all worked so hard, day in and day out in practice and this really is an award for all of us."

Leah Meyer, a St. Marys of Lancaster product, has been named an All-American at Duke Photo: Duke University

Meyer said she was fortunate to be with her family when the All-America team was announced.

"I found out about the award through a text from my coach," she said. "I was with my family, so I got to share that moment with them which is really special."

The honor takes on added significance coming after she was limited to just 23 sets in six matches last season because of an injury.

"Obviously not being able to play last year was not ideal, but I was able to see the game from a different perspective, which I would like to think helped me when I returned to the court this past season," she said. "Having a setback like that was also a big motivator for me, it was an opportunity for me to really focus on coming back stronger and better than ever."

Meyer posted a career-best .375 hitting percentage with 271 kills. Duke was 16-12 this season and reached the NCAA Tournament.

She was named to the All-ACC first team for the second time, having been named in 2016.

At St. Mary's, Meyer was a three-time All-Western New York selection and the Gatorade New York State Player of the Year and MaxPreps All-American as a senior.

AVCA DIVISION I-II MEN'S PRESEASON COACHES POLL: DECEMBER 6, 2018
AVCA.org
Thursday, December 6, 2018

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Ball State 19; Penn State 18; George Mason 13; Princeton 13; Southern California 5; Barton 2

Two teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 10 combined points.

Next Poll: January 7

A SOLID YEAR FOR OP BOYS JV VOLLEYBALL
Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, November 29, 2018

Despite losing all of the starters from last year, the Orchard Park JV volleyball team was able to go 14-3 in 2018. The Quakers finished second in the Hamburg Tournament and third in the end-of-season tournament at BNCC in West Seneca. The members of the team are: Kyle Zelasko, Zack Lippitt, Joe McBride, Peter Ballesteri, Jake Schrantz, Brady McGowan, Ayden Herreid, Connor Bowman, Patrick Evans, Ben Rauch, Jake Chader, Dominic Pitt and Ian Rauh. The team was coached by Scott Schreiner.

Peters Earned First Team Honors
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Tirzah Peters, a Sweet Home graduate and sophomore middle hitter for the Daemen College women’s volleyball team, was recently named First Team All-East Coast Conference.

Peters has racked up a team-high 254 kills and is averaging 2.62 kills per set on a .296 hitting percentage.

She ranks eighth in total kills, ninth in kills per set and fourth in hitting percentage among the ECC leaders.

Among the 16 ECC players with more than 200 kills this season, Peters is one of two to do so with above a .290 hitting percentage. She has also contributed a team-high 54 blocks, which ranks 11th in the league.

High schools: Portville No. 1 in state volleyball coaches final poll
By Staff, Buffalo News
Wednesday, November 21, 2018

There should have been no doubt, but undefeated Portville the State Public Schools Class C girls volleyball champion is No. 1 in the state according to the final rankings of the New York Volleyball Coaches Association, released Tuesday.

In Class A, state finalist Niagara Wheatfield was second going into last weekend not ranked in the top five. Wantagh, which defeated N-W in a five-set championship match is the new No. 1. Burnt Hills, which had been ranked No.1 ended up fourth. Cornwall fell from No. 2 to No. 3
In Class D, defending state champion Bainbridge-Guilford remained No. 1 after defeating Panama in the final. Panama moved up from No. 4 to second in the ranking.

Long Beach was ranked No. 1 in Class AA , displacing Shenendehowa. Westhill of Syracuse moved up from third to No. 1 in the final Class B rankings.

High School Extra: Lockport's Schneider signs with NCAA champion
By Staff, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Outside hitter Zach Schneider of Lockport's Section VI boys volleyball champions, made it official last week when he signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Long Beach State, the defending NCAA champion. The 49ers defeated UCLA in Los Angeles for the championship last May.

Schneider is the only one of the six Long Beach recruits from outside the state of California. He was the 2018 Western New York Player of the Year.

"Zach is a solid all-around volleyball player," said Long Beach coach Alan Knipe. He is an equally good hitter from both the right and left side. He has a great arm and is a member of the Youth National Team."

Niagara Wheatfield loses five-set heartbreaker in state final
By Staff, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 18, 2018

By Will Springstead, Special to The News

GLENS FALLS – In the moment, Niagara Wheatfield’s five-set loss to Wantagh for the state title Sunday hurt. But not for long, because the Falcons knew how much they had achieved just to get there.

Wantagh rallied to edge the Falcons, 23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 26-24 and 28-26, in the Class A championship for its first New York State Public High School Athletic Association title since 2001 and just its second overall.

Niagara Wheatfield was trying for its first state title and to become the 15th school from volleyball-rich Section VI to win a state championship.

It was a match where every point was so precious and hard-fought that the Falcons’ third-set win by five points felt as if it were one-sided.

“Twenty-eight to 26,” Niagara Wheatfield coach Brandi Cochran said, repeating the fifth-set score. "You can’t stretch out a game any further than that. I guess you could go to the 40s, but they stretched out their season as long as they could.”

It was a season in which Cochran felt her team was the underdog when it got deep into the postseason, especially considering the program had never won a Section VI crown.

“I don’t think anyone thought that Niagara Wheatfield was even going to take a Section VI final,” Cochran said. “I think a great Will South team, when we played them everyone thought they were going to roll us, (and we) beat them in five. Irondequoit, a great Section V team, I don’t know if people thought we could do it and we took them. So here it was, ‘Why not? Why can’t it be Niagara Wheatfield?’ ”

And for the first three sets, it was. Behind the play of all-tournament-team selections Danielle Brochey at outside hitter and Jenna Sonnenberg at libero, Niagara Wheatfield put its best foot forward.

Wantagh, however, sensed time was short and didn’t trail in the fourth set.

In the fifth set, the Warriors held a comfortable five- to six-point lead for much of it, with Niagara Wheatfield hurt by several serves that went long or hit the net. It rallied, however, to earn its first tie at 20 and its first lead, 26-25, off Kelsey Tylec’s block.

The Falcons, however, were called for a carry, mishit a return and couldn’t get the ball back over the net on the match’s final three points.

Portville girls volleyball takes home another state championship
By Staff, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 18, 2018

By Will Springstead, Special to The News

GLENS FALLS – Portville’s fifth overall state girls volleyball title Sunday came with both ease and difficulty, probably just to show the Panthers could win both ways.

Portville swept Millbrook in three sets, 25-10, 25-15 and 25-23, in the Class C final of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament, a repeat of the 2017 matchup.

It was the Panthers’ second Class C title, with the other three coming in Class D. Portville has won a state title in four of the last five years.

Coach Kelly Unverdorben said her team has struggled all season with second sets. Not so Sunday. Millbrook closed to within 10-9, but the Panthers turned on the afterburners from that point.

“On the first switch, I was, like, ‘This is the end of the set two thing, let it happen to them.’ And then we just pushed it over to the third,” Unverdorben said.

In the third set, Millbrook rallied from an 8-3 deficit to take a 15-11 lead.

Steady play, however, from Class C tournament MVP Beth Miller and freshman setter Kylie Blessing helped Portville overcome it. Later, tied at 23, Sierra Keim’s kill gave Portville a one-point lead. She then delivered a back-line ace to close it out.

Both Keim (17 digs, six kills) and Blessing (28 assists, six digs) were named to the all-tournament team.

Blessing, in particular, didn’t play like a freshman when the lights were brightest. Unverdorben said that’s because of her work ethic.

“That kid is basically knocking on my door all the time,” she said. “ ‘Hey, can I get some setting reps? Is there a hitter I can set?’ Nonstop all the time.”

The winning easy part in the first two sets was crucial, Unverdorben added.

“We’ve been in that situation where we’ve been down two – St. Mary’s in fact. It’s tough to come back and win three sets against a good team,” she said.

Miller, a senior, had a gem of a game with 21 kills, 16 digs, two blocks and two aces.

“I think it’s really incredible for such a small town like us … to get girls to build up their skill this much,” Miller said. “I think it’s just amazing we pulled this off.”

Other Portville players with solid contributions included Ericka Carlson (18 digs, 16 points, six assists) and Sydney Colligan (15 points, nine digs, three blocks, two aces).

Panama girls volleyball falls in Class D state tournament final
By Staff, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 18, 2018

GLENS FALLS – The Panama girls volleyball team had some eye-catching points off long rallies Sunday but they were too few in a three-set sweep by Bainbridge-Guilford in the Class D final of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament at Cool Insuring Arena.

The Bobcats defended their state title, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19.

“We had our moments but we just could not string it together,” Panama coach Tammy Hosier said.

B-G, from Section V, never trailed the first set. Panama rallied from 15-8 to tie it at 15 on Kylie Schnars’ block but that just stirred the beast in the Bobcats, as they scored the next five points en route to the win.

Panama took its first lead of the day at 16-15 of the second set, and increased it to 18-15 before the Selfridge sisters, senior Abigail and sophomore Erica, helped lead a B-G charge.

Abigail Selfridge (22 assists, nine kills, four aces) was named the Class D tournament MVP, with Erica Selfridge (12 kills, 12 assists) and Zamira Caldwell also making the all-tournament team for B-G.

“When we got our runs, we took them out of their game. Unfortunately, they got it right back. We knew where the ball was going,” Hosier said, referring to the Selfridges.

Senior Alexys Marsh (five kills, three digs, three blocks) and Schnars made the all-tournament team from Panama. Natalie Angeletti added five kills, nine digs, three blocks and 12 points. Madalyn Bowen had six kills, 17 digs, a block and four points.

B-G jumped out to a big lead in the third set before Panama rallied for four consecutive points to make it a 23-19 B-G lead. But a miscommunication and one final block that landed on Panama’s side closed out the match.

“I was proud of them they never quit,” Hosier said. “Our biggest thing is the way we get into the games is having that first pass and then killing it, and we struggled with that first pass today.”

Panama played solid defense throughout the match, and it seemed like the longer points went, the more it played into the Panthers’ hands. The Bobcats made sure that didn’t happen.

Three WNY teams reach state girls volleyball finals
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 17, 2018

Three Western New York teams will play today for State Public Schools girls volleyball championships at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.

Niagara Wheatfield, playing in its first state championship in the sport, will face Wantagh of Section VIII for the Class A championship. The Falcons went 3-3 in pool play on Saturday, defeating IX-Cornwell 25-20, 25-21, splitting with II-Burnt Hills, 22-25, 25-17, and then losing twice to Wantagh, 14-25, 22-25.

The serving of Danielle Brochey, one of the two sister standouts on the team, led the Falcons to their win over Cornwell of Section IX.

Defending Class C champion Portville will be seeking its fifth state title when it goes up against I-Millbrook in the championship match at 2 p.m.

The Panthers won three state titles as a Class D school before last year’s triumph in Class C. Portville was ranked No. 1 among Western New York small schools in the Coaches Poll after going undefeated.

Coach Kelly Unverdorben’s team won all six matches in pool play on Saturday to assure itself of a berth in the finals. The Panthers defeated Mattatuck of Section VIII, 25-10 and 25-22, then triumphed over II-Voorheesville, 25-8 and 25-17 and I-Millbrook, 25-11 and 25-19.

Panama will face last year’s Class D champion, Bainrbridge-Guilford from Section IV for the second year in a row in today’s championship match. Bainbridge-Guilford triumphed in four sets in to win the title in 2017 after Panama had swept two sets between the teams in pool play.

Saturday, the finalists each went 4-2 in pool play, splitting their two sets. B-G won, 25-23, and Panama triumphed 25-16. Panama then won three of its next four, defeating IX-Mount Academy, 25-22, 25-21, and splitting with XII-Mayfield, 29-27, 12-25.

Raiders go 1-3

In the state boys volleyball championships at the Capital Center in Albany, Eden was the odd team out in the three-way competition for the Division II championship.

Bellmore-JFK from Section VIII and Burnt Hills from Section II advanced to the final match where JFK took the title in four sets over Burnt Hills.

JFK and Burnt Hills emerged from pool play as coach Ron Pearce’s Eden Raiders went 1-3 in pool play, splitting with Burnt Hills, 25-19, 18-25, and losing twice to JFK, 20-25, 23-25.

JFK, which lost to Eden in last year’s championship match, won the Division 2 title over Burnt Hills, 25-21, 25-22, 14-25, 25-20. Fairport kept the Division 1 title in the Rochester area by winning in four sets over XI-Sachem North, 25-20, 25-21,17-25, 25-20. Penfield was last year’s champion.

OP Girls volleyball falls in the Far West Regional
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, November 15, 2018

The Orchard Park girls volleyball team started out strong Friday night but ultimately fell to a talented opponent in a four-set loss to Victor in the Far West Regional.

The Lady Quakers came out strong against the top-ranked team in New York State, winning the first set 25-20. The team came out hyped but did not get too out of control as they did early on in the sectional final against Clarence.

“We came out pretty fired up,” Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo said. “That didn’t bode well for us against Clarence, where we tried a little too hard. We talked about just kind of playing our style of volleyball and not getting too amped up and just kind of controlling our emotions.

We played great, we served tough. We played great defense. Victor made a couple errors, that from watching them, they don’t normally make. I was like, ‘oh, maybe they’re a little nervous.’ That was our goal.”

The Lady Quakers were able to take advantage of a young Victor team that may have been nervous to start out. The plan was get out ahead of a team that was among the most talented Orchard Park has played this year.

“The best-case scenario for us was winning game one and putting a little pressure on them,” Lardo said. “They’re a younger team. They only had one senior on the court. We got a little pressure on them; we couldn’t have asked for a better start.”

But the Lady Blue Devils came out strong in the second set and ran away with a 25-14 victory and then came up with a 25-18 win in the third set.

“Games two and three, they started calling the game a little tighter,” Lardo said. “My setter got hit up with a couple carries. We weren’t passing the ball very well, so we were making it kind of hard on her to get the ball in and make a good set.”

In the fourth game, Orchard Park fought tooth and nail, playing to a tie late in the match. But Victor would come away with a 25-21 win to win the match.

“Then game four, we fought at the end,” Lardo said. “We knew we weren’t going to roll over and quit and give up on the season. We played tough, it was 19-19, it was 20-20. We just made a couple extra errors at the end of the game. We had a service error. We had a couple plays that if it went our way, then we probably would have been going five.”

Despite the loss, it was an impressive effort from the Lady Quakers. They got a set win over a team that had only lost five sets over the course of the entire season. They fought to the end and made sure it wasn’t a blowout.

“It was a very good team that we played,” Lardo said. “I think they lost five sets all year before our match. That was only the sixth set they had lost all season. Winning game one was really ideal for us. I just like the way our girls fought to the end. They didn’t give up. Sometimes in that situation, the seniors break down before the game is even over. That was never a thought in our mind. It was a great season. Any loss at the end of a year is tough.”

Overall, the 2018 season was a success for the Lady Quakers. They were ECIC I division champions at 11-1 and defeated four-time defending champions Clarence to win the Class AA sectional title. Plus, they only have three seniors, so they’ll have a lot of girls back for next year.

“If you told me at the beginning of the year, I would already say it is a success. We’re in a tough division, so to go 11-1 and to have that one loss be a hiccup where we didn’t play our best, that is tough to do,” Lardo said. “It still hurts a little bit, and I told the girls, ‘you can’t make the pain go away.’ You want to have that magical season that goes all the way until the end. I always tell them that they’re still sectional champions; they’re still one of the better teams in Western New York. By no means is it a failure. It was a great year. We had a lot of great players that wanted to keep working and I had a lot of fun coaching them. It was probably one of my most enjoyable seasons as a coach. It’s good to get to these losses that really hurt and keep you up at night a little bit. You don’t have to throw them aside and not have to worry about them too much. It was a great year.”

email: tnigrelli@beenews.com

Lady Lancers volleyball drops heartbreaker in state final
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 15, 2018

The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team came so close to winning a third consecutive NYSCHSAA Championship, but just missed out.

The Lady Lancers were leading the final match against Sacred Heart (Long Island) two sets to one and then the fifth set 23-18, before falling 27-25. They had some chances to put them away, but were just unable to finish.

“It was a very competitive match,” St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski said. “Both teams were capable of going on runs. They had their run at the worst possible time for us. We had a couple opportunities to put it away and they made some very good plays against us.”

The Lady Lancers split with Sacred Heart in pool play while doing the same with Mary Louis Aquinas and beating Kennedy Catholic. That matched them up with Mary Louis Aquinas in the semifinal, who they were able to beat. However, they faced a tougher draw than Sacred Heart in that round, meaning they were more tired by the time the finals rolled around.

But it was still an impressive effort from the girls. Kelly Cleversley had 17 kills, while Marie Rhodes had nine blocks and Jasmine Brundage had 29 digs.

“We played them very well,” Pieczynski said. “We had a tougher draw after pool play than Sacred Heart. We had to play eight tough matches, where they only had to play five. They had a pretty easy draw in the semifinals. They made hay and we didn’t, basically. It was a great match. It was a tug of war and they made a few better plays at the end.”

Senior Hannah Mulhern played well overall on the day, racking up 44 kills. It was a fitting culmination of what has been a turbulent year for the veteran player. After having a tumor removed from the base of her brain, she was back on the court within a few months. She had a strong senior year and finished the season as a league champion.

“She played awesome,” Pieczynski said. “She gave it all she had. The story is well-documented. At the end of the tournament, she was spent. She left it out on the floor. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win it for her.”

In all, it was an impressive season for the Lady Lancers. They won their eighth straight league title and were undefeated in league play. That was despite the fact that they were a young team and had a freshman setter.

“I’m tremendously proud of the team,” Pieczynski said. “We went into the season with a freshman setter in Courtney Kurkowiak. If I had to write the script from the start of the season, and say we were going to lose in the finals in five sets, I’d take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Our freshman setter was phenomenal throughout the year. We overcame Hannah’s medical issues and things. I couldn’t be happier with the performance of our girls. They gutted it out, we had a few ups and downs. Like I told the girls at our banquet, the story of our demise was greatly exaggerated. We were right there with the top teams in the area.”

The team should continue to be strong as it featured just two seniors in Mulhern and Bridget Vogl. Most of the players will be back for next season, ready to avenge their state final loss.

“We’re pretty well loaded for next year,” Pieczynski said. “We’ll definitely keep the memory of this close loss in our minds. That will be our motivational inspiration for this coming year. I’m proud of the team. It’s hard going year in, year out with a target on your back. I’m proud of the girls that went on to create their own memories.”

Sweet Home Modified Girls: Undefeated
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 14, 2018

St. Mary's comes up just short in girls volleyball state final
By Staff, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 11, 2018

After ending the third set on a 17-5 run, it seemed as if St. Mary’s had the Catholic state girls volleyball championship locked up. The Lancers were playing at home and had a 2-1 set lead.

Sacred Heart, from Hempstead on Long Island, had other ideas.

Sacred Heart got out to a quick start in the fourth set and built a 15-11 lead before St. Mary’s had to call timeout. The Spartans would answer with 10 of the final 15 points to even things at two sets apiece.

In the decisive set, St. Mary's went on a three-point run to take a 19-16 lead. Sacred Heart called timeout. The Lancers kept after it, building a 23-18 advantage.

Sacred Heart rallied and won the championship with a 27-25 victory in the final set.

“I’m proud of our results,” St. Mary’s coach Donald Pieczynski. “We made it to the finals and sometimes you can’t win it all. We came a couple points short.”

Hannah Mulhern had 44 kills for the tournament. Kelly Cleverley finished with 17 kills, Marie Rhodes had 16 blocks and Jasmine Brundage had 65 digs in the championship.

The Lancers finish their season with a record of 36-7-6.

Panama, Portville to states

Panama and Portville are returning to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships in girls volleyball. Each won in three sets Saturday in the Far West Regionals at LeRoy High.

In Class C, Portville beat Penn-Yan from Section V, 25-5, 25-9, 25-11.

In Class D, Panama downed Cuba Rushford, 25-15, 25-19 and 25-10. Panama needed to rally from down 0-2 to win the Section VI overall Class D title last week just to get to this point.

The state tournament begins next Saturday at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.

Boys Section VI Playoff Brackets
Section VI
Thursday, November 8, 2018

2018 Section VI Boys Volleyball Sectionals

Girls Section VI Playoff Brackets
Section VI
Thursday, November 8, 2018

2018 Section VI Girls Volleyball Sectionals

Portville girls volleyball cruises past Skaneateles in Class C subregional
By Dave Ricci, Buffalo News
Thursday, November 8, 2018

Beth Miller didn't just talk about getting better, she did something about it. And the impact was felt.

Miller had 17 kills and 13 aces as Section VI Portville beat Section III Skaneateles 25-8, 25-18, 25-13 to win its NYSPHSAA Class C subregional game at Daemen College on Wednesday.

It was part of a doubleheader in which Section III Westhill beat Section VI Alden in straight sets.

Portville and Westhill advanced to the Far West Regionals that will be played Saturday at LeRoy High School. Portville will play at 3 p.m.

Miller, who is No.1 in the state in aces (164) and kills (481), was a force on the court as her series of thunderous serves closed out set two.

"I think it has," Miller said of her improved serving. "I put a lot of time and effort into it."

"A serve like that, you have to," Portville coach Kelly Unverdorben said of the extra work put in by Miller. "You're not gonna pull that off with a preseason of a couple weeks and a little bit of practice. You have to work on it all year during beach volleyball. She did it all through nationals at beach. All club season, so a lot of time."

The power of Miller's serves and kills were evident in the reaction of the Lakers, who had no answer for what Miller delivered.

The Panthers were in control the majority of the contest.

Setter Kylie Blessing (28 assists, eight digs, five aces) flawlessly ran the offense. Ericka Carlson (six aces and nine digs) and Sierra Keim (11 digs, six kills) also made important contributions.

The Panthers stayed disciplined throughout. With three state titles since 2014, they have learned how to stay composed in big-game situations.

"We definitely have the experience since we have been to state before," Miller said. "A lot of our players who are on the court now have been on the court in high-stress situations. So we all know we have the confidence and we don't get nervous."

Unverdorben agreed. Her players have national club experience and a strong non-league schedule has Portville primed for another run at the title.

"So many people ask me why would you want to play St. Mary's and ruin your record?" the coach said. "It's not about a record to me. It's about getting my kids prepared for the best competition. And if you want to be one of the best, you need to play some of the best."

Class B

Alden players did one last team circle. The game and the season were over, but nobody wanted to break the huddle and say goodbye.

"We did. I'm proud of us," Bulldogs senior Emma Diebel said. "Senior year. It was a good run."

Westhill of Syracuse swept, Alden 25-20, 25-21, 25-17, to advance to the Far West Regionals for the first time since 2015. The Warriors had a strong offensive attack led by setters Sarah Schwartz and Mackenzie Martin.

Diebel said that while virtually every girl will see each other in other sports, the reason for the long goodbye and tears was that they cared so much about each other.

"Just the bond that we have together," she said.

First-year coach Amanda Breyer said that when her girls decompress from the emotion of the season ending, she hopes they take pride in knowing they went farther than any team in school history.

"Absolutely, and even during that game, I've never been so proud of them," Breyer said. "They played an amazing game."

Alden was led by Shelby Kersten's 13 kills and two blocks. Kersten will play at Daemen next season.

Lady Lancers cruise to eighth-straight volleyball title
Mulhern caps comeback with clinching kill
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team won countless Monsignor Martin and New York State titles over the past two-plus decades. But this one was a little more special, considering the circumstances.

When Hannah Mulhern got the championship-clinching kill in the third game, dispatching Sacred Heart in a sweep at Cardinal O’Hara Thursday, she wasn’t just closing out another championship for her team. She was completing what has been an incredible and unlikely comeback.

The senior spend much of the spring in doctor’s offices and hospitals while dealing with a tumor that had wrapped itself around her brainstem. The rare malady could have been life-threatening, but instead Mulhern quickly resolved to get back on the court, missing no time and still playing well.

“It’s amazing,” St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski said. “She’s still not 100 percent. She still has to take a lot of medication and she’s still in a lot of pain. You can only imagine her at 100 percent. We didn’t expect to have her at all this year. For her to go through our grueling practices and our grueling schedule, this is probably our 38th match this year. The kid just don’t quit. She struggles at times; no question about it. But she just keeps going at it. It’s a great example for the rest of the team.”

“It’s amazing. I’ve thought about this moment since I was in surgery,” Mulhern said. “It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of and I’m so proud of my team.”

Watching Mulhern come back was inspirational for her teammates, who wanted to make sure she finished out her high school career with another championship.

“Hannah means the absolute world to me,” Jasmine Brundage said. “You can’t imagine how much I’ve done and how much I wanted her to have this moment. I can’t wait to do the same thing at states.”

Mulhern and the Lady Lancers rolled through the first two sets Thursday, winning 25-10 and 25-12, after an undefeated regular season in league play. Sacred Heart put up a bit more of a fight in the third set. The Sharks tied things up at seven at one point and trailed just 15-12 later in the match. But the Lady Lancers took a seven point lead soon after and never looked back. St. Mary’s took the final set, 25-17.

“We followed the game plan,” Pieczynski said. “We wanted to serve tough. We switched up our defenses numerous times to keep them unbalanced. They followed the game plan and played with a purpose.”

“We could actually pass the ball in the third set,” Sacred Heart coach J.T. Ripper said. “In the first two, they were just serving and we couldn’t put the ball inside the 10-foot line to save our lives. That’s all this game comes down to, is serving and passing. Everything else is just playing the game. But your first contact of the ball decides how things are going to go. If you can’t get a good pass, you can’t do anything. If you serve them tough, like we did for a little while, then they have a tough time passing and they have to run something else.”

The St. Mary’s defense was a major key to the victory, as the team got dig after dig on what seemed to be sure points for Sacred Heart. Brundage, a libero, was all over the ground saving points for her team all match.

“I think defense is kind of the base for the game,” Brundage said. “Defense plays an entire role in it. Wearing this (libero) jersey is special to me, especially for St. Mary’s.”

“Defense was the key today,” Brundage said. “That and our serve-receive game were the keys today. We worked on it, we played a couple different defenses today against their strong hitters and they followed the game plan to a T. Our serving was tremendous.”

That impressive St. Mary’s defense frustrated Sacred Heart’s attack, which eventually led to breakdowns on offense.

“It’s frustrating,” Ripper said. “It’s very frustrating. I’ve told these kids a couple times during the season. A good-to-great defense will frustrate an offense no matter how high-powered you are or how many stars you have. If you dig up every ball, the other team is just going to get frustrated and you’ll just be done at that point in time. Then you can just put it wherever you want to. In the first set, we were one and done too many times. We would serve and they would get the ball back.”

The Lancers have now won eight consecutive league titles and have been the team to beat in Monsignor Martin for more than a decade now. It takes a certain mental toughness to be able to overcome that history.

“It’s been eight years since we’ve won a playoff championship, and it’s been longer since we’ve actually won a league championship,” Ripper said. “There is a mental aspect to it, but you have to have the mental toughness to roll through it. If you don’t, c’est la vie.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Lancers will next play in the CHSAA State Championship Tournament Saturday at St. Mary’s High School, looking to win their 17th state title. Regardless of how this weekend turns out, the team has created its own legacy for a program that has so many stories of success.

“We know each year is a new year, and every year you have to prove again that we’re one of the best, so it starts in practice,” Mulhern said. “We start at the very beginning of the season working hard.”

“We talk about it all the time; we are a family,” Pieczynski said. “But each team has to create their own legacy. It’s been carried on for decades now and the kids believe in it and they buy into it. That’s the key to our success.”

JFK girls volleyball tops Tapestry
Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

John F. Kennedy’s girls volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Tapestry Charter in a Section VI Class Class C-2 quarterfinal and begin its postseason run in style on Oct. 26.

Sabrina Soler paced the Lady Bears to their 25-17, 21-25 20-25, 25-20, 25-14 victory by doing what coach Amanda Moran called “a wonderful job” as a fill-in setter for the Lady Bears. The team’s run came to an end three days later against Portville, however, as JFK found itself on the wrong side of a 25-8, 25-11, 25-12 decision in the semifinal round.

“Before every game I provide a quote for my team, and the quote of the game for Portville was, ‘There may be people that have more talent than you, but there is no excuse for anyone to work harder than you,’” Moran said. “We knew going in what a strong team they were and expected the game to be difficult, but my girls still tried their hardest, so I can’t complain.”

The loss dropped JFK to 8-12 overall on the season, a mark that included a 5-9 run through ECIC IV competition. The Lady Bears are also losing 11 of their 16 players on this year’s squad to graduation, so there will undoubtedly be a new look to JFK’s team next fall.

“Overall I feel that we were capable of winning a few more games than we did, though we did reach our ultimate goal in getting into the semifinals in the playoffs,” Moran said. “It has been quite a few years since our program has done that. Everyone tried their hardest the last game and, as a coach, you can’t be upset about a loss knowing that your players did that, especially against a team that is as talented as Portville. But now that the season is over, as I do every year I will be looking for the juniors to step up next year and help out the upcoming sophomores. They now have a year of experience playing at the varsity level, and seeing how much they have developed this year I have no doubt we will have a successful season next year.”

(Reporter Jason Nadolinski contributed to this article.)

Maryvale boys volleyball ends Central’s playoff run
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

If ever there was a team for first-year Maryvale boys volleyball coach Daniel Schwagler to record his first postseason coaching victory over, it was Maryvale.

As fortune would have it, that’s just who the Flyers lined up against on Oct. 30 in the Section VI Division II-B quarterfinal round, and in the end Maryvale and Schwagler persevered by 25-22, 25-11 25-22 marks.

Thomas Frain was Maryvale’s leader on the match – as he usually was this year, Schwagler said – with the Flyers relying on him in key moments as he recorded 20 kills, several aces and a key block. Kyle Kosmack had 10 kills out of the middle in “a great performance for him,” Schwagler said, while Ryan Zawadski “set an amazing game, showing more maturity for his age in his decisions.”

“Thomas was nearly flawless in his hitting and basically couldn’t be stopped in the outside,” Schwagler said. “The first and last game were nailbiters, but our boys stayed the course and got us points when we needed them most in what was an all-around team effort.”

Things didn’t go quite as well in Saturday’s semifinal round, when Maryvale faced Lake Shore at Lackawanna, as the Flyers saw their season come to an end by 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 marks. Frain “was again the best player on the court,” Schwagler said, posting 13 kills and three blocks despite being under the weather. Brendan Spahr also had a solid effort, collecting three key blocks.

“Lake Shore played a great game and we came up just short of reaching the sectional finals for a second year in a row,” Schwagler said. “Our younger players stepped up to make this game close, though, showing that the Flyers will be a major threat in the years to come. But Lake Shore did a great job this year being consistent and scrappy, and that was the key in the end in this close loss.

“I couldn’t be more honored to have coached such a great group of kids,” Schwagler continued. “The work effort, dedication and the comradery of this crew of young athletes will inspire me as I go forward coaching. I am sure many coaches talk up their team but I cannot overstate how impressed I was with them and the support of their parents. I will truly miss our seniors and cannot wait to see how far we can go with our upcoming teams.”

Maryvale, which finished the season 10-2 in division play, loses seven seniors to graduation in Frain, Kosmack, Spahr, Josiah Petz, Eric Burt, Jason McCarthy and Chris Jankowski. Schwagler, who has advanced through the coaching ranks at the lower levels at Maryvale before ultimately ascending to the varsity level this fall, had coached several of seniors at the modified and JV levels, making this year’s run bittersweet now that it’s over.

“I knew all of these boys for years, which made the transition very easy for me,” Schwagler said. “With the support of our athletic director Tim Klimtzak and former coach Jon Bednasz, I was able to take the reigns feeling very confident. We worked hard this year and truthfully we exceeded my expectations. Several of our athletes made great progress this year and it was particularly special to me as I have worked with them for years and saw first hand the culmination of their years of hard work. This team will hold a special place for me and will stick with me forever. I couldn’t have asked for more as a first-time varsity coach. In the years to come I hope to further build up this program into a powerhouse ourselves.

“We will be doing more recruiting and we will be holding a series of offseason workouts and open gyms in a bid to improve for next year,” Schwagler continued. “Being a great athlete takes year-round work and we will do our best to meet that challenge. Several of our players are also on travel club teams, which will help them progress in their volleyball skills.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Boys volleyball team falls in quarterfinals
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI, Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

The Orchard Park boys volleyball season came to an end last Tuesday when the Quakers lost to Clarence in five sets in the quarterfinal round of the Division I playoffs.

The Quakers opened the match strong with a 26-24 victory in the first set. But Clarence came back strong with 25-21 and 25-20 victories in the next two sets. The Quakers fought back hard with a 25-23 win in the fourth set to even things up. That sent the match to a fifth set, where Clarence won 15-10.

The win was symbolic of the season Orchard Park had. The team was always close and was able to play with everyone, but ultimately couldn’t close out sets much of the time.

“We played teams tough all year,” Orchard Park coach Ricky Albano said. “We just really hadn’t been able to put it together. We finally took the first game and we go down 2-1 and we won the fourth. We’re right there with them at 5-5 in the fifth. From there, we kind of just fell apart a little bit. It was probably our first complete game. We tried hard and we tried to be the best that we could in October and November.”

The match between the teams was the fifth meeting between the two that season. They were very familiar with each other’s tendencies and that’s what made it such a close match.

“We had a game plan, we played them five times already this year, so we kind of had an idea of what they were going to do, where they were going to go, how they were going to serve,” Albano said. “We just kind of prepared for that. Then we just played and executed really well. When we did those things, we won and we were successful. When we didn’t, we lost.”

The team finished the season 4-8 in league play and 6-11 overall. They played in three tournaments and were in the championship bracket in all three.

“We played a tough, aggressive schedule,” Albano said. “We have a huge contingent of guys coming back, so we will only lose two starters and we’ll go from there.”

While the season is over, the team will return almost all of the contributors from this year’s team. The Quakers had just two senior starters and were missing a top player all year due to injury.

“We only had two senior starters, and arguably our best player was out all year with an ACL tear,” Albano said. “We seem to be in pretty good shape for the next season.”

email: tnigrelli @beenews.com

Girls volleyball team defeats Clarence in epic sectional title comeback
TAYLOR NIGRELLI, Sports Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

The Orchard Park girls volleyball team was on the brink of being swept. The Lady Quakers were down 21-16 in the third set of the Section VI Class AA Championship Saturday at Daemen College after losing the first two sets. Clarence was on the verge of winning its fifth-straight sectional title. It was all but over.

The Lady Quakers started serving strong and racked up seven straight points to take a 23-21 lead. Clarence would make it 23-22, then 24-23 before Orchard Park clinched the set to cut the deficit to 2-1. Less than an hour later, Orchard Park was a sectional champion after cruising through the final two sets.

“I guess we were a little too jacked up to start the match,” Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo said. “Clarence is the four-time defending sectional champion, so a lot of the girls have been in that situation. My girls had not yet. I’m sure the moment was a little too much for them in the beginning. Even in game three, we didn’t play our best.”

“It’s amazing,” Kate Hennessy said. “After the first two games, I was done. I was like ‘oh God. This is not going to end well. A sweep to end my senior season would not be good.’ We wanted it really bad. We were having inspirational talks and watching all these videos. We really wanted it so bad. It was amazing to finally get there.”

Clarence took the first set 25-13, barely breaking a sweat, and had little trouble in closing out the second set by a 25-18 score. After the big comeback in the third set, Orchard Park won the fourth set 25-18 and opened up a nice early lead in set five.

“We put a little doubt in Clarence that it’s not going to be easy and you win two in a row,” Lardo said. “I’m sure they thought they had us in game three, but really we just patch-worked our way through it and got it done with everyone contributing. It was a nice team win; we haven’t had many of those this year. We rely a lot on our big outside hitters and they definitely made them normal outside tonight.”

The Lady Quakers seemed like they were going to run away with the fifth set a couple times, but the Lady Red Devils would not allow that to happen. At one point, Orchard

Park scored four straight points to make it 20-14. But Clarence fought back to make it 23-20. The Lady Quakers then took control to score the final two points and won 25-20.

“It would have been nice to win 25-15 and not have any of the stress, but when you’re up in volleyball, it usually doesn’t end with a big blowout,” Lardo said. “Teams come back, but Clarence battled back and they served tough. I don’t think we had any aces, maybe a couple. We just tried to work on getting them on a system and serving them tough. We were trying to get those easier shots.”

“I think we just all played as a team,” Hennessy said. “In the first two games, we all just wanted to be that player that wins it for everyone, but then we figured out that we have to play together like we always do. We got it together in the next three to work together and rely on each other and not just play for ourselves.”

One of the keys to the team’s turnaround was the blocking of Orchard Park. The frontline made it difficult for Clarence to get anything over the net.

“We were saying that we needed to start blocking and we started to touch balls,” Lardo said. “Then our defense found a way, then our blocking would show up and our defense would go away. It was never a smooth run that we got on. It was just patchwork, trying to make it work. We just stuck with it and kept trying to adjust. In the end, we did enough to come out on top.”

Ashley Dogal led the team in blocks with seven and also added six kills. Kate Hennessy had 10 kills, 10 digs, three blocks and two aces. Sarah Lucas had 32 assists. Abby Ryan had 21 kills, nine digs and a block.

“We’ve had big games in the past and Abby tries to hit the ball through the floor, and I think she tries too hard sometimes,” Lardo said. “We gave them a lot of points even after they missed four serves in the beginning of the game. But she settled down and played really well at the end of the match. She plays better as the matches go on. She takes care of the ball. She ran off with a three- or four-point run, which really put them behind. We talked a lot about controlling our emotions. She could have easily just gone in the tank and hurt us more than help us, but she really came through for us.”

Meanwhile, it was a difficult loss for the Lady Red Devils, who were just a few points away from clinching a fifth-straight title. They struggled to serve and to get kills against Orchard Park in the final two sets.

“OP dug in a little bit, and I think we let them off the hook with some stretches of poor serving,” Clarence coach Michael Meyer said. “They could have quit and they did not quit. My girls could have quit in the fifth game and we didn’t either. When you have the one and two team, this is probably what you’re going to get: five sets. Obviously, we would have liked to have come out on the other side of it, but it was really some volleyball that got played.

“These girls play a lot of volleyball. They’ve been up and they’ve been down. They’ve had tough matches before. I think we were OK. We definitely had some passing lapses in that fourth set. We were duking it out at the end for every point. That fifth set could have gone either way. I think that’s the bottom line.”

The title was Orchard Park’s first since 2012, a culmination of years of building up to the point where they are now. They will now move on to the Far West Regional round, where they will take on Victor at Webster-Thomas High School Friday night at 8 p.m.

“It’s crazy because I’ve never even been to a sectional game,” Hennessy said. “In the first game, we were just nervous because this atmosphere is just crazy. They’ve been here four years in a row so they know what it’s like, but we stepped it up and figured out how to play at the end there.”

Lake Shore ends EA boys volleyball’s playoff run
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter, East Aurora Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

The inability to put together a complete effort prevented East Aurora’s boys volleyball team from picking up a second postseason win on Oct. 30, as the Blue Devils had their Section VI Division II-B run ended by Lake Shore, 25-17, 25-10, 25-15, in the quarterfinal round.

Caleb Heigl led the Blue Devils with four kills and Danny Farrell chipped in with five service points, but first-year coach Brian Lombardo noted that passing breakdowns “hindered our side-out ability” despite East Aurora’s overall solid defensive play and blocking scheme.

“I thought we were able to force Lake Shore into some things they maybe would not have chosen to do, but it came down to simple passing and our own offense, which gave up big runs throughout the night and allowed them to put a safe distance between us,” Lombardo said. “Even when we got them in a difficult rotation or match-up, they still had enough of a cushion that it really put our backs against the wall. We emphasized from day one that we needed to have a complete-team effort to be successful, and that lack of completeness was where we broke down throughout the match. I never felt that we had our own rhythm that night.”

East Aurora won three of its final four matches down the stretch to help itself finish

6-11 overall on the year, and with just three seniors – Jack Gurbacki, John Clugh and Jake Czelusta – departing this year’s squad, Lombardo is optimistic that having more than a short amount of time to work with the group ahead of the season will make a difference in that vital team cohesion in 2019.

“It’s tough in two months to develop the consistency we needed to have for a deep playoff run,” Lombardo said. “Very rarely this year did our setting, passing and attacking all come together for extended periods of time this season, but that just comes down to consistency. Many of the guys on the team this year were making the jump from modified to varsity, and that’s a whole different world. But, with that said, I think we were playing our best volleyball of the season down the stretch, so I’m looking forward to beginning the real work now and seeing who really wants to develop in this sport. I think we have the enthusiasm within the program to make a big jump as we head toward next year if we put in the appropriate amount of work well ahead of next August.

“These guys saw what they could become as they played a few of the perennial powerhouses tough this year, and with the young lineup we started for our two playoff matches, I think it speaks well – if they decide to push each other – to the ability of this team to accomplish more than any other boys volleyball team in East Aurora history,” Lombardo continued. “I think they saw the difference in how they played, saw the improvements that they made, and saw what the future could hold. I like the energy not only around our team, but also the energy and the support around the school for all the sports programs; it’s unlike anything I have previously been a part of. That makes me believe that the better we play and the more we improve, the more we’ll make our home matches even tougher for opposing teams.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Iroquois boys volleyball takes Starpoint to limit in playoff opener
by JASON NADOLINSKI, Reporter, East Aurora Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

Iroquois’ boys volleyball team “played as well as we could have” during its Section VI Division II-B quarterfinal round clash with Starpoint on Oct. 30, coach Mark Schlabach said, as the Chiefs pushed the Spartans to the brink of elimination before ultimately falling by 23-25, 27-25, 17-25, 25-21, 9-15 marks.

“I really wanted my guys to just go out and enjoy themselves that night,” Schlabach said. “I reminded them that it could be those seniors’ last high school match and for them to leave everything on the floor, and for the underclassman not to be the reason the seniors’ season ended tonight because you didn’t go for a ball. Everyone responded well and they played good, clean volleyball that night. In the end it was a really good matchup and that’s all you can ask for as a coach, that your guys are playing their best volleyball at the end of the season. We passed the ball really well and made good decisions throughout the match, but we just didn’t get the end result we were hoping for.”

Serbian foreign-exchange student Alex Sivcev once again stood out on an individual level during the match, Schlabach noted, continuing to be the consistent passer that he was all season. Schlabach gave credit to Sivcev for being “a large part of our success this year, as he made everyone around him a better player.”

“On top of his passing, Alex was a guy who could bail us out of any situation this year,” Schlabach said.

Sivcev will be one of eight players from this year’s 6-9 squad who won’t be back next season, but with two juniors and a sophomore coming back who had varsity experience, as well as a number of sophomores moving up from the JV squad, Schlabach is optimistic about the Chiefs’ chances at building off what they did this fall.

“The seniors this year were a great group of kids and really were a good example for the younger guys in the program. They were as hard working off the court with their classes as they were on the court with volleyball,” Schlabach said. “They’re a big reason why the season went really well for us. Sure, there were some league and even some non-league matches that we could have or should have won but didn’t, but overall I was happy with how my guys progressed and ultimately finished their season. They came in every day and worked hard. It was a tight crew.

“Now, for the ones who will be coming back, the plan is to get them touching a ball as much as possible before August,” Schlabach continued. “I have had many years that boys step in the gym in August not having touched a ball since November. These guys need to continue to get touches and improve in the offseason, and I think the groups coming up really want to do that. They enjoy playing and have seen some success, and want to continue to improve.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Olean ends EA girls volleyball’s title reign
JASON NADOLINSKI, Sports Reporter, East Aurora Bee
Thursday, November 8, 2018

East Aurora’s girls volleyball team saw its two-year run as sectional champions come to an end Thursday at Daemen College, as seventh-seeded Olean surprised the top-seeded Lady Blue Devils by 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 23-25 marks in the Section VI Class B-1 final.

East Aurora had won the overall Class B title in 2017 and was the Class B-1 champion in 2016. The Lady Blue Devils’ run to the Far West Regionals last fall – their first trip to the state tournament since 2007 — included a five-set win over the Lady Huskies, so it really wasn’t a surprise to coach Rebecca Jacobs when Olean was waiting for her squad in this year’s title match.

“Olean is a very strong and competitive team that took us to five games when we played them in the semifinals last year, so seeing them in the finals this year wasn’t a surprise,” Jacobs said. “Both teams played to win Thursday night, but Olean just had a few more kills from their front row and we didn’t defend them well enough, even though it honestly was the best volleyball game that we had played all season.”

Olivia Alessi (14 kills, 3 aces) made a few good connections with Olivia Covington (11 kills) in the third game, which helped East Aurora take a 2-1 lead at the time. Covington also played the best defensive game of her career, Jacobs said, as she “kept digging their outsides and middle all night. Unfortunately, our offensive attack made a few errors, which put us behind.”

“Olean had stronger servers, which also made it difficult for our serve receive passers,” Jacobs added.

To reach the finals, East Aurora had to beat both Maryvale – last year’s fellow B-1 finalist – and City Honors along the way, which the Lady Blue Devils did in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively.

Maryvale came into Oct. 26’s contest with a few new wrinkles to its approach, but the Lady Blue Devils quickly adjusted and managed to post a straight-sets 25-22, 25-12, 25-16 win. Alessi (16 assists, 1 ace) and Covington (3 blocks) each had nine kills, while Izzy Sell had five kills and a block for the victors as well.

“Maryvale had changed a few things in their lineup from when we played them the week before, making the first set very close, but our girls served tough and defended their middle attacker,” Jacobs said. “The team adjusted to how Maryvale changed their offense and it showed in the second game. I was proud of the younger players on the team because this was their first playoff match on varsity and they stayed focused from start to finish.”

East Aurora’s focus when it took on City Honors three days later in the semifinal round, as the Lady Eagles had never faced the Lady Centaurs before. City Honors’ middles gave East Aurora the most trouble in the second set, but with Alessi’s serving “we were able to fight back and stay in the game,” Jacobs said.

“Olivia did a great job of scanning the court and seeing what spots were open,” Jacobs said. “This game really displayed her court awareness and we were able to score some big points that way. The team knew that we had to beat City Honors to make it to the B1 Championship match for the third year in a year, which is something our seniors and underclassmen were working for. Both teams had a lot of energy on the court, which helped make it a very exciting match.”

Alessi finished the match with 16 kills and four aces for the Lady Blue Devils, who prevailed by 25-12, 26-24, 25-20 marks.

East Aurora loses four seniors — Covington, Kelly Gampietro, Taylor McClure and Astrid Larson – to graduation off a squad that finished 14-3 overall this season. Covington was a four-year member of the varsity squad, while Gampietro was a three-year varsity player.

“It’s always sad to lose seniors that you have worked with for so long and have watched progress over their high school career, but I am really proud of these four girls and grateful for their hard work that they have put into our volleyball program,” Jacobs said. “Their level of commitment and dedication to the program has helped us get to where we are today. Three out of the last four years we had made it to the sectional finals, including last year’s trip to the regionals, and we were also regular season champs the last two years too. It’s something they can all be proud of.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Volleyball officials awards set
Buffalo News
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Robert Pierce of Eden is Coach of the year and Dave Grabowski of Clarence is JV Coach of the Year. The Joe Gillespie Award for Service goes to Brett Widman of West Seneca West, as voted by the coaches.

The ninth annual Men’s Hall of Fame induction also took play. To be honored: Christopher Luksch for playing (Cleveland Hill), coaching (Frontier), Michael Schwob, former player at Kenmore East, head women’s coach at Navy and now an assistant coach at George Mason, and Alan V. Syracuse, who played at Cleve Hill.

Frank Cwiklinski and Steve Tuhovak will be honored with the John Java Memorial Award for service to high school volleyball officiating at the annual banquet of the WNY Boys High School Volleyball Officials and Coaches tonight at Ilio DiPaolo's in Blasdell.

The Sportsmanship Team of the Year Award will go to Lancaster as voted by the officials.

Portville sweeps Eden in Class C; Panama rallies in Class D
By Miguel Rodriguez, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 6, 2018

JAMESTOWN – While it may not be fair to the competition, the simple fact is that the overall Section VI Class C girls final the last two years could have been considered an unofficial state title match.

That’s because the survivor of the Eden-versus-Portville clash has gone on to crush the rest of the playoff field at the New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association Tournament.

Will the trend continue this year? Who knows? One thing is certain. Defending state champion Portville still looks the part of scary good.

For the second straight season, the Panthers got the better of Eden in a win-or-go-home postseason meeting between the heavyweights. After being pushed in the first set, Portville raised its game to another level and cruised to a 26-24, 25-13, 25-15 triumph at Jamestown Community College on Tuesday night.

In this match between schools that have won a combined 18 state championships, senior Beth Miller recorded 15 kills and eight digs for the Panthers (37-3), while freshman teammate Kylie Blessing finished with 29 assists, nine service points, three aces and four kills.

Last season, Portville ended Eden’s eight-year as a state champion in the overall Class C final with a 25-21, 25-18, 25-21 victory. Two years ago, the Raiders defeated Portville in four sets to prevent the Panthers from advancing after they had won back-to-back state titles in Class D.

“If you can get by Eden, which is a power, you think you can almost do anything,” said winning coach Kelly Unverdorben of a Raiders program that has won 14 state titles in its history.

Portville tries to win on back-to-back nights as it returns to action at 7 p.m. today at Daemen College in a sub-regional match against Section III champion Skaneateles. The winner advances to Saturday’s state quarterfinals.

In the second match of the championship twin bill, last year's state runner-up Panama rallied from a two-set-to-none deficit to advance to its third straight state tournament. The D-2 champion Panthers defeated Class D-1 champ Chautauqua Lake, 21-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-20, 25-20.

Portville advanced by riding the momentum garnered from winning a wildly entertaining first set. Neither team led by more than four points with Eden rallying from 24-22 down to extend the set on kills by Paiton Basinski and Kaitlin Schmitz. Miller followed that with a kill to give the Panthers a set point. They cashed in on that when Blessing, who looked like she was going to pass it to a teammate, deftly tapped the ball over the net into an open spot.

“I think in the first set we were just trying to fight super hard and make a statement every play,” said Miller, who has been on Portville teams that have won state titles thrice (2014 and 15 in Class D, 2017 in Class C) the last four seasons. “We wanted to get our energy up and keep it up and I think that’s what we did through the second and third sets.”

In the second set, the Panthers won the first five points and led by as much as 10 the rest of the way.

Eden struggled to play with the sharpness and skill it displayed in the first set – perhaps a sign of its youth compared to a Portville team featuring several players with state championship-tournament experience.

“Your momentum goes down after that first set,” second-year Eden coach Hailee Herc said. “First set our service game was really good ... and then the second set our service game dropped.

“They’re an athletic team. They play really well. We’re very young. ... We’re still learning things.”

Senior Sierra Keim had eight digs, seven kills and two aces for Portville, while classmate Ericka Carlson added 13 digs and senior Sydney Colligan 10.

In the overall Class D final, Natalie Angeletti came up huge for Panama with the fifth set hanging in the balance. She came through with a kill to tie the set 14-14. That was the final time the fifth set was tied as her kill sparked a 6-0 run. Still, the Thunderbirds pulled within two and one point. Each time Angeletti blunted their momentum by delivering a kill.

Angeletti finished with 14 kills and 14 digs, while teammate Madalyn Bowen added 15 kills and 26 digs.

North boys volleyball’s season ends in Division I semis
Sweet Home upset in D II-A quarters
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Williamsville North will not be able to return to the Section VI Division I boys volleyball final.

The fourth-seeded Spartans lost to top-seeded Frontier, 21-25, 16-25, 22-25, in a semifinal match Friday at Lackawanna High School.

“I felt like we went in prepared, but even during warm-ups, it didn’t feel like we were going to come out strong,” North coach Jake Waszak said. “If you don’t set the pace against a team like that, they are going to take advantage of that and that is exactly what happened. We started even in all three games, but around point 15, they broke away and we could not battle back.”

Waszak said he wanted to establish his team’s middle attack early, but when Frontier kept getting blocks against it, “it was almost like we didn’t know what to do.”

“We did not make the adjustments quickly enough, especially in the first and second sets, and by the third set we were so shell-shocked by losing the first two so handily, we could not bounce back,” Waszak said. “Williamsville North is just not used to playing in those big-time matches. Teams like Frontier are used to having a big crowd. Our guys seemed like they weren’t able to build off of that and use that as motivation. It almost seemed like they tensed up and did not play loose. It was tough to watch them play. It was like we were playing scared instead of playing to win.”

Waszak said his team had no answer for Frontier’s Brian Norsen (14 kills, three assists, two blocks), and Brandon Dunz. Ben Taylor added 32 assists, two digs, and a block.

Adam Gulick led the Spartans with 17 kills and 11 digs. Matthew Wiepert handed out 27 assists. Carson Swierski added five kills and five blocks. Mitchell Simon added 12 digs.

North breezed into the semifinals after routing fifth seed Niagara Falls, 25-12, 25-11, 25-8, in the quarterfinals at home Oct. 30.

Gulick led the Spartans with 12 kills. Jonathan Abaya added nine kills, and Jackson Liebler added eight kills.

Wiepert and Andy Krysiak posted 22 and 16 assists, respectively. Chris Kirsch supplied three aces.

North finished with a 14-6 overall record.

The team graduates Gulick, Wiepert, Lieber, Simon, Abaya, Peter Stopinski and Eoin Burns.

Abaya and Wiepert both end their careers as three-year starters.

Wiepert totaled 1,607 career assists. Gulick ends his career as a four-year starter with 904 kills.

“It’s going to be a tough turnaround, but I have a lot of hard-working sophomores and juniors who want to make a name for themselves,” Waszak said. “From my standpoint, it’s going to be a fun turnaround because we are going to have players that might not have had as much experience as our three- and four-year starters, but I still think we are going to be a contender next year.”

Sweet Home

Sweet Home’s boys volleyball team had high hopes to repeat as Section VI Division II-A champions.

The Panthers completed a 12-0 regular-season record in ECIC Division II and were the defending II-A champs and top seed this year, but their playoff run came to a screeching halt with a five-set home loss to eighth seed Hamburg in the quarterfinals Oct. 30.

The Panthers lost 25-27, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 13-15.

“Hamburg is no slouch,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “They play tough competition. We could have passed better and missed some serves. I thought our team played hard and left it all on the court.”

Kaleb Luton tallied 14 kills and an ace. Dylan Aarum added nine kills and Solomon Shabazz added six stuffed blocks.

Sweet Home finished 12-2 overall. Four of the seven seniors are starters: Shabazz, Luton, Aarum and Andrew Thiele. Anthony Roberts, Jared Kraus and Nick Hill are the other seniors on the roster.

Williamsville South

The Billies also had an early postseason exit on the other side of the Division II-A bracket, losing at home to West Seneca West, 17-25, 20-25, 12-25, in the quarterfinals Oct. 30.

“We probably played our best match of the season, but it wasn’t enough to match their fire power,” South coach Thomas Knab said. “We made a couple mistakes in the second set and they converted and took that game. I think it took a little wind out of our sails. In the third game, we lost the energy that we had for the first two.”

Jeffrey Randall tallied seven kills and two blocks. Nico Zanelotti added five kills and two aces. Matt Angelo chipped in two kills and four blocks.

South finished 7-12 and graduates six seniors: Zanelotti (four-year player, three-year starter); Randall, Dominic Drexinger, Mateo Gonzales, Jack Schultz and Vinney Cao.

Zanelotti, a setter and right-side hitter, tallied a team-high 194 kills, 106 digs and 39 aces, and was second with 292 assists.

Randall, a middle hitter, was second in kills with 130 and blocks with 41. Angelo, a middle hitter, led the Billies with 42 blocks. Schultz, a setter, led the team with 292 assists.

South girls volleyball’s rally falls short in section final
Lady Billies finish 18-3
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Williamsville South’s bid to become Section VI Class A girls volleyball champion fell one game short, losing in five sets against Niagara Wheatfield Saturday at Daemen College.

The Lady Billies lost the first two sets, 16-25, 17-25, won the next two, 25-22 and 25-17, and then dropped the fifth set, 14-25.

South was seeking its first section title since they won Class B in 2014. It’s Niagara Wheatfield’s first section title in program history. The Lady Falcons lost to Williamsville East in last year’s final.

“I wanted this so bad for them,” Niagara Wheatfield coach Brandi Cochrane said. “They fought so hard all year. I was a little nervous for them because they usually win in three, and I knew that South was such a strong team that I didn’t think we would win in three. I had a feeling that they were going to come back and my kids found a way to stick it out.”

South, which breezed through ECIC Division II with a 12-0 record, and entered the match with an 18-2 overall mark, looked out of sorts throughout the match, including the sets they won.

“We never got going,” South coach Tom Sproull said. “I don’t know what it was. We didn’t serve well or hit spots. We were tight and not loose. Even in our wins, our offensive flow was not where it normally is. We were slow and stagnant.”

The Lady Billies trailed 11-5 in the third set, but rallied to move ahead 15-14 on a kill from Molly McKinnon. South had match point at 24-18, but could not put Niagara Wheatfield away until a kill made the score 25-22.

The only set where South was firmly in control was the fourth set. South’s biggest lead was eight points.

The deepest South led in the fifth set was 8-6. Niagara Wheatfield went on a 17-4 run to take a commanding 23-10 advantage.

“Nobody could get us that point when we needed it,” Sproull said.

South never led in the first set. It was tied at 3-3 but Niagara Wheatfield then went on a 10-4 run and a 14-7 lead. South cut the deficit to 14-10, but were outscored 11-6 the rest of the way.

South held an early 6-4 lead in the second set, but trailed the rest of the way.

Megan Muehlbauer led South’s offense with 21 kills. Maddy Popielski and Amari DeBerry each tallied nine kills. Cecilia Brooks and Hannah Abramowitz added four and three kills each, respectively. DeBerry and Brooks supplied four and three blocks, respectively.

Gabby Presutti recorded 56 digs.

Riley Domin and Haley Marchewka handed out 27 and 24 assists, respectively.

As a team, South was only successful on 84.7 percent of its serves. They are usually successful on 94 percent of their serves.

Danielle Brochey led Niagara Wheatfield with 26 kills and 26 digs. Mackenzie Franks added 23 digs and 16 assists. Jenna Sonnenburg supplied 31 digs.

To reach the final, South defeated Williamsville East for the third time this year, winning its semifinal match, 25-21, 32-30, 25-21, at home Oct. 30. East was the reigning five-time Section VI Class A champions.

“It was big,” Sproull said.

East had leads in all three games, most notably 23-21 and 24-23 in the second set, but could not close it out.

“We played well, but not well enough,” East coach Scott Wright said.

Sproull said his team blocked well against East, led by DeBerry (seven blocks), Abramowitz (six blocks) and Brooks (block).

Popielski led South’s offense with 10 kills. Muehlbauer added nine kills, and Abramowitz and DeBerry each had seven kills.

Rachel Steffan led the Lady Flames with 15 kills and 20 digs. Summer Clark handed out 25 assists to go along with eight kills. Madeline Reid supplied five kills and three blocks, Madison Smith had five kills and Christy Mack chipped in 18 digs.

East finished with a 12-7 overall record and graduates six seniors. Steffan, a four-year starter, leads the way. Mack, Reid and Nikki Polokoff are two-year starters. Grace Degen and Skyllar Cicero are the other seniors on the roster.

South finished with a school-record mark 18-3 and graduates Abramowitz, Gabby Presutti and Muehlbauer.

For the season, Muehlbauer led the team with 206 kills. Popielski had 146 kills, DeBerry tallied 123 kills, Brooks had 97 kills, McKinnon had 56 kills and Abramowitz added 50 kills.

Presutti recorded 300 digs.

Marchewka handed out 356 assists and Domin had 231 assists.

DeBerry tallied a team-high 50 blocks. Brooks recorded 43 blocks and Abramowitz had 42 blocks.

“It was a fun team to coach,” Sproull said. “We had lots of different options for hitting. Everyone bought in and did their part.”

“It’s meant everything,” said Muehlbauer, who has verbally committed to play at Brockport State College. “I’m glad we made it this far.”

Williamsville North

North’s bid to reach the Class AA final fell short with a 21-25, 15-25, 20-25 loss to Clarence in the semifinals Oct. 30.

The Lady Spartans’ serving struggled all match, only serving at 80 percent.

Coach Keith Hopkins said his team trailed 18-17 in the first set and then missed three of four serves.

“You can’t do those things, not only how many serves you miss, but when you miss them,” Hopkins said.

In the second set, Hopkins said Clarence served well and his team could not get anything going on offense.

In the third set, Hopkins said service errors late in the match gave Clarence an edge.

Allie Macon tallied 14 kills. Bri Brown added six kills. Maddie Farber supplied 17 digs.

North finished with a 21-10-7 record. Seven seniors, and three starters graduate, including Macon (outside hitter) and Vincent (setter/ right side hitter), both four-year starters, and Brown, a three-year starter at outside hitter.

Sacred Heart volleyball loses to St. Mary’s in league final
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team won countless Monsignor Martin and New York State titles over the past two-plus decades. But this one was a little more special, considering the circumstances.

When Hannah Mulhern got the championship clinching kill in the third game, dispatching Sacred Heart in a sweep at Cardinal O’Hara Thursday, she wasn’t just closing out another championship for her team. She was completing what has been an incredible and unlikely comeback.

The senior spend much of the spring in doctor’s offices and hospitals while dealing with a tumor that had wrapped itself around her brainstem. The rare malady could have been life-threatening, but instead Mulhern quickly resolved to get back on the court, missing no time and still playing well.

“It’s amazing,” St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski said. “She’s still not 100 percent. She still has to take a lot of medication and she’s still in a lot of pain. You can only imagine her at 100 percent. We didn’t expect to have her at all this year. For her to go through our grueling practices and our grueling schedule, this is probably our 38th match this year. The kid just don’t quit. She struggles at times; no question about it. But she just keeps going at it. It’s a great example for the rest of the team.”

“It’s amazing. I’ve thought about this moment since I was in surgery,” Mulhern said. “It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of and I’m so proud of my team.”

Watching Mulhern come back was inspirational for her teammates, who wanted to make sure she finished out her high school career with another championship.

“Hannah means the absolute world to me,” Jasmine Brundage said. “You can’t imagine how much I’ve done and how much I wanted her to have this moment. I can’t wait to do the same thing at states.”

Mulhern and the Lady Lancers rolled through the first two sets Thursday, winning 25-10 and 25-12, after an undefeated regular season in league play. Sacred Heart put up a bit more of a fight in the third set. The Sharks tied things up at seven at one point and trailed just 15-12 later in the match. But the Lady Lancers took a seven-point lead soon after and never looked back. St. Mary’s took the final set, 25-17.

“We followed the game plan,” Pieczynski said. “We wanted to serve tough. We switched up our defenses numerous times to keep them unbalanced. They followed the game plan and played with a purpose.”

“We could actually pass the ball in the third set,” Sacred Heart coach J.T. Ripper said. “In the first two, they were just serving and we couldn’t put the ball inside the 10-foot line to save our lives. That’s all this game comes down to, is serving and passing. Everything else is just playing the game. But your first contact of the ball decides how things are going to go. If you can’t get a good pass, you can’t do anything. If you serve them tough, like we did for a little while, then they have a tough time passing and they have to run something else.”

The St. Mary’s defense was a major key to the victory, as the team got dig after dig on what seemed to be sure points for Sacred Heart. Brundage, a libero, was all over the ground saving points for her team all match.

“I think defense is kind of the base for the game,” Brundage said. “Defense plays an entire role in it. Wearing this (libero) jersey is special to me, especially for St. Mary’s.”

“Defense was the key today,” Brundage said. “That and our serve-receive game were the keys today. We worked on it, we played a couple different defenses today against their strong hitters and they followed the game plan to a T. Our serving was tremendous.”

That impressive St. Mary’s defense frustrated Sacred Heart’s attack, which eventually led to breakdowns on offense.

“It’s frustrating,” Ripper said. “It’s very frustrating. I’ve told these kids a couple times during the season. A good-to-great defense will frustrate an offense no matter how high-powered you are or how many stars you have. If you dig up every ball, the other team is just going to get frustrated and you’ll just be done at that point in time. Then you can just put it wherever you want to. In the first set, we were one and done too many times. We would serve and they would get the ball back.”

The Lancers have now won eight consecutive league titles and have been the team to beat in Monsignor Martin for more than a decade now. It takes a certain mental toughness to be able to overcome that history.

“It’s been eight years since we’ve won a playoff championship, and it’s been longer since we’ve actually won a league championship,” Ripper said. “There is a mental aspect to it, but you have to have the mental toughness to roll through it. If you don’t, c’est la vie.”

Junior Siobhan Ryan led the Sharks’ offense with 11 kills. She also had seven serve receives and six digs.

On defense, junior Hannah Tudor had 13 digs and five serve receives. She also had two aces.

Sophomore Olivia Jarosz had 12 serve receives and six digs, as well as three kills and one ace.

Also contributing for Sacred Heart were senior captain Gabriella Berardi (two kills, two serve receives, two digs); freshman Blair Kuzniarek (five digs); freshman Isabella Allen (ace, kill); junior Catie Grable (dig), and junior Alexis Kuzniarek (dig).

The Lady Lancers will next play in the CHSAA State Championship Tournament Saturday at St. Mary’s High School, looking to win their 17th state title.

Regardless of how this weekend turns out, the team has created its own legacy for a program that has so many stories of success.

“We know each year is a new year, and every year you have to prove again that we’re one of the best, so it starts in practice,” Mulhern said. “We start at the very beginning of the season working hard.”

“We talk about it all the time; we are a family,” Pieczynski said. “But each team has to create their own legacy. It’s been carried on for decades now and the kids believe in it and they buy into it. That’s the key to our success.”

Sacred Heart reaches league final
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball returned to the Monsignor Martin Association final after beating Mount St. Mary’s, 29-27, 25-16, 25-22, in the semifinals Oct. 29 at Cardinal O’Hara.

It is not surprising that the first game of the night went into extra points and was back and forth between Sacred Heart, the second-place team in the league, and Mount St. Mary, the third-place team.

Mount St. Mary won the first match between these two teams in four games and Sacred Heart responded one week later by winning the next match in four games. Second place was ultimately decided by a coin flip after every other tiebreaker failed.

Mount St. Mary had an early lead in the semifinal match and Sacred Heart could only get within two points. However, Sacred Heart finally tied the game at 17-17 and then took a four-point lead to make it 21-17.

Mount St. Mary responded with a seven-point run to make it 21-24. Sacred Heart never backed off and tied it at 24-24. The teams then traded points with neither team being able to win game point.

With Sacred Heart up 28-27, Siobhan Ryan had one of her 28 kills for the match to give the Sharks the win, 29-27.

Sacred Heart took an early lead in game two with Mount St. Mary making several early errors.

Although Mount St. Mary tied to keep the game close, Sacred Heart never let the lead get under four and the Sharks won the second game 25-16.

Sacred Heart again took an early lead in the third game, but Mount St. Mary kept the game closer, often bringing the game to within two points. However, Sacred Heart stayed strong and won the third game 25-22.

Every Sacred Heart player that stepped on the court significantly contributed to the win.

Ryan led the team offense with 28 kills and one ace, as well as nine digs and nine serve receives. Hannah Tudor led the defense with 28 digs and 19 serve receives, as well as one ace. Also contributing to the win were Olivia Jarosz (15 serve receives, 14 digs, five kills); senior captain Gabby Salvo (seven kills, serve receive, dig); sophomore Kayleigh Colleary (nine kills); Blair Kuzniarek (six digs); Gabriella Berardi (five digs); Catie Grable (four kills, dig), and Isabella Allen (two kills, ace).

Sacred Heart finished the season in second place in the Monsignor Martin Association with a 12-7 overall record. Ryan and Tudor were named First Team All-Catholic all-stars, and Berardi was named a Second Team all-star.

Clarence Boys volleyball team wins one of two playoff matches
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

It took five games, but Clarence’s boys volleyball team was able to earn first-year coach David Hill a playoff victory Oct. 30 when the Red Devils topped Orchard Park in a Division I quarterfinal by 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 15-10 marks.

Teddy Payne led the victors’ charge with 54 assists, six kills and four blocks. Andrew Ratzel was on the receiving end of many of Payne’s assists, finishing with 17 kills, while Zach Ciraolo chipped in with 14 kills and six digs.

Pat Wiesinger and Chris Wikar added 11 kills each, while Jackson Wurtz contributed 15 digs.

“Orchard Park played the best volleyball they played all year that night, giving us a run for our money,” Hill said. “We had the lead in both the first and fourth games, but we couldn’t close it out either time – and we can’t let that happen. When you have a team down you need to put them away; you can’t give them life. But, other than losing the lead in those two games, I was happy with how we played and battled all night.”

The Red Devils were unable to find themselves in a similar predicament during Friday’s semifinal against Lockport, as the Lions roared to a 22-25, 21-25, 22-25 triumph.

Payne finished with 28 assists, while Ratzel had 15 kills. Wikar chipped in with 10 kills and Ciraolo added five, while Wurtz finished with 11 digs.

“Coming into the match we knew who Lockport’s big players were and how they played, so our focus leading up to the match was how we could potentially slow them down,” Hill said. “Our strategy worked for the most part, but when we got the lead we just couldn’t keep it or otherwise stop them from going on runs. We fought to the end, though, and am very proud of how we played.”

Clarence finished the season 13-9 overall and loses seven seniors to graduation.

OP girls volleyball rallies, ends Clarence’s title reign
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI, Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

The Orchard Park girls volleyball team was on the brink of being swept.

The Lady Quakers were down 21-16 in the third set of the Section VI Class AA Championship Saturday at Daemen College after losing the first two sets. Clarence was on the verge of winning its fifth-straight sectional title. It was all but over.

The Lady Quakers started serving strong and racked up seven straight points to take a 23-21 lead. Clarence would make it 23-22, then 24-23 before Orchard Park clinched the set to cut the deficit to 2-1. Less than an hour later, Orchard Park was a sectional champion after cruising through the final two sets.

“I guess we were a little too jacked up to start the match,” Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo said. “Clarence is the four-time defending sectional champion, so a lot of the girls have been in that situation. My girls had not yet. I’m sure the moment was a little too much for them in the beginning. Even in game three, we didn’t play our best.”

“It’s amazing,” Kate Hennessy said. “After the first two games, I was done. I was like ‘oh God. This is not going to end well. A sweep to end my senior season would not be good.’ We really wanted it so bad. It was amazing to finally get there.”

Clarence took the first set 25-13, barely breaking a sweat, and had little trouble in closing out the second set by a 25-18 score. After the big comeback in the third set, Orchard Park won the fourth set 25-18 and opened up a nice lead early in set five.

“We put a little doubt in Clarence that it’s not going to be easy and you win two in a row,” Lardo said. “I’m sure they thought they had us in game three, but really we just patch-worked our way through it and got it done with everyone contributing. It was a nice team win; we haven’t had many of those this year. We rely a lot on our big outside hitters and they definitely made them normal outside tonight.”

The Lady Quakers seemed like they were going to run away with the fifth set a couple times, but the Lady Red Devils would not allow that to happen. At one point, Orchard Park scored four straight points to make it 20-14. But Clarence fought back to make it 23-20. The Lady Quakers then took control to score the final two points and won 25-20.

“It would have been nice to win 25-15 and not have any of the stress, but when you’re up in volleyball, it usually doesn’t end with a big blowout,” Lardo said. “Teams come back, but Clarence battled back and they served tough. I don’t think we had any aces, maybe a couple. We just tried to work on getting them on a system and serving them tough. We were trying to get those easier shots.”

One of the keys to the team’s turnaround was the blocking of Orchard Park. The frontline made it difficult for Clarence to get anything over the net.

“We were saying that we needed to start blocking and we started to touch balls,” Lardo said. “Then our defense found a way, then our blocking would show up and our defense would go away. It was never a smooth run that we got on. It was just patchwork, trying to make it work. We just stuck with it and kept trying to adjust. In the end, we did enough to come out on top.”

Ashley Dogal led the team in blocks with seven and also added six kills. Kate Hennessy had 10 kills, 10 digs, three blocks and two aces. Sarah Lucas had 32 assists. Abby Ryan had 21 kills, nine digs and a block.

Meanwhile, it was a difficult loss for the Lady Red Devils, who were just a few points away from clinching a fifth-straight title. They struggled to serve and to get kills against Orchard Park in the final two sets.

“OP dug in a little bit, and I think we let them off the hook with some stretches of poor serving,” Clarence coach Michael Meyer said. “They could have quit and they did not quit. My girls could have quit in the fifth game and we didn’t either. When you have the one and two team, this is probably what you’re going to get: five sets. Obviously, we would have liked to have come out on the other side of it, but it was really some volleyball that got played.

“These girls play a lot of volleyball. They’ve been up and they’ve been down. They’ve had tough matches before. I think we were OK. We definitely had some passing lapses in that fourth set. We were duking it out at the end for every point. That fifth set could have gone either way. I think that’s the bottom line.”

The title was Orchard Park’s first since 2012, a culmination of years of building up to the point where they are now. They will now move on to the Far West Regional round, where they will take on Victor at Webster-Thomas High School Friday night at 8 p.m.

To reach the title match for the fifth consecutive season, Clarence had to defeat both Niagara Falls in the quarterfinal round on Oct. 26, and Williamsville North in the semifinal round on Oct. 30.

The Lady Red Devils began their 25-10, 25-9, 25-17 win over the Lady Wolverines fast and maintained that momentum throughout the match, as eight different players – led by Olivia Walczak’s 11 – recorded kills for the match. In its 25-21, 25-12, 25-21 win over North, Walczak and Jaide Cummings combined for 20 kills, while Leah Victor, Jessica Fitch and Lexi Ballard each recorded six kills.

Cummings’ and Lexi Mac- Donald’s passing “allowed us to run an efficient side-out offense,” Meyer said, which was crucial because “both times we played North this year, they were competitive, and as such we knew that they were going to be playing with a lot of confidence after they pushed us to the limit in four games the last time we played them.”

The Lady Red Devils finished the season 24-4 overall and 10-2 in league play, and were champions of the St. Mary’s, Clarence and Horseheads Tournaments – with both the St. Mary’s and Horseheads titles being firsts for the program. Clarence, which started September ranked as the fifth- or sixth-best team in Western New York but stepped on the court for the finals ranked second in the state by Maxpreps, loses six seniors to graduation off the squad, including Cummings – who was a member of all five of the Lady Red Devils’ sectional final appearances – as well as Miranda Edmondson, Fitch, Haley Marlowe, Jenna Hugenschmidt and Allie Klonowski.

“We unfortunately came up short on some of our team goals, but I am very proud of how far we came as a team this year,” Meyer said. “I am also very proud of how the team stuck together and really played as a team. They also did some cool volunteering together, greeting elementary school kids as part of the High Five Friday program and running a mini-volleyball clinic for the Unified Basketball team. They conducted themselves with class and sportsmanship throughout the year and really were a mentally tough team on the court. But a special thanks goes to Jaide for five years of great memories and to the rest of the seniors for being great role models to the younger team members.”

Though the seniors will certainly be missed, MacDonald “had a great junior year as a libero, co-captain and fierce leader on the court,” Meyer said, and is part of “a great returning nucleus for another run next year” that also included regular rotation players Julianne Bolton, Olivia Walczak, Nina Nicometi and Izzy Kocz, all of whom were sophomores, as well as juniors MacDonald, Victor and Ballard. Freshman Taylor Denall also made key contributions to Clarence’s tournament victories at St. Mary’s and Horseheads.

“Our seniors will be missed for sure but the program is in good shape going forward,” Meyer said.

(Reporter Jason Nadolinski contributed to this article.)

North Tonawanda girls volleyball team wins playoff opener, finishes .500
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

North Tonawanda’s first season under coach Katie Harrington’s guidance recently came to an end, but not before the 10th-seeded Lady Lumberjacks were able to secure a 25-22 25-17 25-16 victory over seventh-seeded Hutch-Tech Oct. 24 in a Section VI Class A prequarterfinal round contest.

Jessa Krull served up four aces, while Paige Book chipped in with two of her own, along with eight kills and eight digs. Chase Steingasser put down seven kills, while Emily Anastasi had 23 digs for the victors, whom Harrington noted “were very excited” about the match and were “mentally ready walking into this game.”

“The girls knew that we needed to come in aggressive and smart with our play, and they responded by being the most consistent and excited I have seen us play all season,” Harrington said. “I think the girls enjoyed not knowing much about the team we were facing, so they could not get in their own head about winning or losing. They knew that they needed to come out and play hard the entire time, and they did.”

Knowing a bit about their quarterfinal-round opponent, second-seeded Williamsville South, didn’t work against the Lady Lumberjacks from a mental standpoint in this match either, but an off night passing the ball did put them in a tough spot and ultimately played a role in the squad’s 25-13, 25-17, 25-12 season ending loss on Oct. 26. North Tonawanda came up with a number of solid rallies over the course of the contest, but in the end South had a few more of its own – and lengthier rallies at that – to come out on top.

“Going into the South match the girls knew it was going to be a tough one, but we still came out prepared and ready to go,” Harrington said. “Unfortunately, our passing was not on for the night. The girls tried to make the adjustments that we needed to, but we gave up too many points at one time. The girls played hard until the last point of the match and I was very proud of them for that.”

The loss to South brought North Tonawanda’s final record for the season to 11-10-1 overall and 7-7 in league play. The Lady Lumberjacks lose three seniors – Steingasser, Laney Wieclaw and Michaline VerHague – and a foreign exchange student – junior Astrid Möller – off the squad, but Harrington is optimistic that the players who will be coming back will be able to take what they accomplished this fall and build off of that moving forward throughout the offseason.

“We’re definitely going to continue our training during the offseason,” Harrington said. “We always try to find some gym time so the girls’ volleyball skills don’t become too raw between volleyball seasons, and the hope is that anyone who doesn’t play other sports throughout the year – and even those who do – can get in the weight room so that they can be stronger and faster. This season didn’t always go the way we had planned, but it was truly amazing to watch their confidence grow with their competitiveness. We had some phenomenal moments where I think they surprised even themselves; when we played with energy and no regret, we were pretty much unstoppable.

“I’m happy that we had a better than .500 season over, and that we can continue to grow from that point moving forward. I know that these girls have a ton of potential, and all they have to do is see it in themselves.”

Marauders volleyball falls in Monsignor Martin final
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, November 7, 2018

St. Joe’s had Canisius on the ropes in the second set of the Monsignor Martin boys volleyball championship Thursday. They led 20-15, just five points away from tying the 18-time champions at one set apiece.

But the Crusaders stormed back to tie it at 22. The Marauders got another point on a spike to take a 23-22 lead again. There was a long volley on the next possession, but St. Joe’s was called for hitting the ball while it was on the other side of the net. That tied the game at 23, opening the door for a 25-23 Canisius set win.

The Crusaders would then roll to a 25-13 victory in set three to win their 19th-straight Monsignor Martin Title. After a 25-17 first-set loss, the second set was really the Marauders’ chance to take control of the match.

“There was just a couple plays here and there,” St. Joe’s coach Mark Anzalone said. “The one rally that we came down and crushed one, they were able to dig it and we ended up losing that rally. That was a big turning point because we were really hammering balls at them and they called them on the over. That made it 23-23 and it was a big momentum shift as well. We had lost a little momentum, and we started to get it back by banging some balls hard. That was a turning point on that set right there. Momentum wise, that was huge.”

The team’s success in the first two sets was partially driven by the Marauders’ ability to block. Canisius had trouble at times getting the ball past the St. Joe’s blockers, who earned their team quite a few points, especially on runs in the second set.

“Blocking is a big strong point for our team,” Anzalone said. “We’re a good-size team. We have a lot of guys that can jump well, so we get a lot of points on blocking.”

St. Joe’s came out strong and played well against a first-place Canisius team that didn’t have to sweat out many matches this year. But they weren’t intimidated and proved that they could at least play with the Crusaders.

“We can play with them,” Anzalone said. “We are a good volleyball team. We were expecting to have a really good match, we were expecting this to be a good match and it was for the first two sets. We were obviously deflated after dropping the second set. Unfortunately, that carried over to the third set. We do everything in our power to prevent that, but it’s just human nature. It happens sometimes. Canisius got out to a fast start on the third set with some good serving. That set the tone for the set.”

However, it is hard to go into the match against a team that hasn’t lost a Monsignor Martin playoff match this century and be too confident. A sense of helplessness is bound to creep in at some point.

“It’s almost impossible for it not to creep in there,” Anzalone said. “But I thought our guys stayed mentally strong, at least through the first two, and we didn’t do so well in the third game, but we were in a good mind frame to come in and win this game.”

In all, it was a solid season for the Marauders, who finished second in Monsignor Martin and made it all the way to championship. Although they wanted to win it all, the team has a lot to be happy about in 2018.

“Our goal was to win the whole thing, but if you’re not going to win the whole thing, this is the second best,” Anzalone said. “But I’m pleased with the way the guys played. But the guys played hard; they played for each other. They hustled the whole time. I’m pleased with the level of volleyball we played.

“I felt like we had a balanced team. I felt like everyone contributed one way or another. I feel like we don’t have one guy that stands out. Maybe some teams have one or two that stand out, but I felt like we had six or seven guys that contributed all the way through.”

Western New York 2018 Boys Top 10 Poll - 11/6/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Western New York 2018 Girls Top 10 Poll - 11/6/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Alden captures Section VI Class B girls volleyball title
By Melissa Brawdy, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Alden coach Amber Breyer told her team to expect five sets.

The Bulldogs needed just four to defeat Olean in the Section VI Class B girls volleyball championship match on Monday at Daemen College, 25-14, 20-25, 27-25 and 27-25.

“Coming into this game, [I told them to] play our game,” Breyer said. “We came in thinking we were gonna play five games off the bat, just because we know that [Olean is] a good team and they’re a sound team with great outside hitters and great middles. We just had to make sure our passing was on point and our serving was on point.”

Alden will play in the state subregional Wednesday at Daemen College against Section III Westhill at 5 p.m. The winner advances to the Far West Regionals on Saturday.

Breyer is in her first year coaching the varsity Bulldogs after moving up from the JV team, and she’s thankful for the group of girls she has worked with this year.

“It’s awesome,” Breyer said. “They’re an amazing team, and the best thing about them is they all are so close, so I’m blessed to have them.”

Part of that closeness comes from having sisters Shelby and Jenna Kersten, who treasure every moment they’re able to play with each other, on the team. Shelby is a senior captain committed to play for Daemen next year; Jenna is a freshman.

“I get to play with my sister for her senior year, and this is the first time we’ve gotten to play with each other, so it’s a dream come true,” said Jenna, who had 29 assists and three aces against Olean.

“I’m really excited to play with my little sister this year,” added Shelby, who finished with 24 kills, five digs and three blocks. “This is my last chance, so I’m glad that I have such a long season with her.”

Other key performers for Alden included Emma Wlostowski with 11 kills, 12 digs and two aces, and Emma Lux with three digs.

While they’re enjoying playing together, the Kerstens know how much hard work it has taken to get to where they are, and Shelby echoed her coach’s advice to always expect five sets.

“I think we should always have that expectation to play five games,” Shelby said. “Olean’s a great team, and I have to give credit to them, but I think we really pulled through and we just put our hearts and souls into this game.”

“We just have to play with energy, even when we get down on ourselves,” Jenna added. “Energy can make a game, and it really pays off.”

Part of that energy is building each other up, and Shelby spoke of the team’s chemistry on and off the court.

“One of our big things is team chemistry,” Shelby said. “We’re not scared to be silly or goofy around each other. We’re a very goofy group of girls.”

“We just gotta make sure that we build each other up, and that’s why every time we end a huddle, we say ‘Together,’ because that’s the only way we’re gonna win a game,” Breyer said. “And that’s what we did. It worked out nicely.”

High School Extra: Chautauqua Lake, Panama into v-ball final
By Staff, Buffalo News
Tuesday, November 6, 2018

After losing the grueling second and fourth sets, No. 1 seed Chautauqua Lake rolled past Randolph in the fifth set, 25-4, to win the Section VI Class D-1 girls volleyball championship Monday night at Jamestown Community College.

The Thunderbirds from Mayville won the first set decisively, 25-14, but the Cardinals gutted out a 26-24 win in the second. Chautauqua Lake won the third, 25-19, only to fall in an exhausting fourth set, 27-25.

Chautauqua Lake will face D-2 champion Panama at 8 p.m. tonight at JCC for the overall Class D sectional championship and a berth in the Far West Regional against Section V.

Panama, the No. 4 ranked small schools girls volleyball team in Western New York, but seeded only seventh in the sectional bracket, swept three sets from North Collins, 25-20, 25-22, 25-21, in the D-2 final.

The Panthers have swept all nine sets they have played in the sectionals with previous victories over Pine Valley and Maple Grove.

North Collins had drawn a bye to the semifinals where the Eagles swept three sets from the Ellicottville Eagles to advance.

At Jamestown Community College tonight, No. 1 seed Portville will take on the No. 2 Eden in the girls Section VI Class C championship game at 6 p.m. before the Class D final.

Portville is the No. 1 ranked small school in WNY, unseating St. Mary’s of Lancaster after a five-set victory over the Lancers three weeks ago. The Panthers won the state Class C title last season after winning three Class D crowns previously.

Bethany Miller and Sierra Keim, who were all-WNY Small Schools first-team selections last year and setter Kylie Blessing and among the Portville standouts.

Eden is ranked No. 3 among WNY small schools. The Raiders are led by returning All-ECIC IV standouts junior Emma Sutfin and sophomore Kaitlin Schmitz.

Boys II-A and B games tonight

Hamburg honed by competition against potent opposition from Frontier, Clarence and Williamsville North in ECIC I, and Grand Island, runner-up to Class AA powerhouse Lockport in the Niagara Frontier League. will meet for the Section VI II-A boys volleyball championship today at 5:30 p.m. at Lackawanna.

Eden and Lake Shore will play in the II-B championship on the same court at 7:30 p.m. The winners will return to Lackawanna for the overall sectional Class B championship on Wednesday.

The Hamburg-Grand Island encounter will be a rematch of last year’s II-A semifinal won by GI, in straight sets, but they were close (26-24, 25-22 and 25-17).

Eden is no stranger to championship-level play. The Raiders captured their first state public schools championship last year and have numerous sectional and conference titles in the books. Eden has won 31 Section VI championships, 38 ECIC III titles in 41 years. Before the first statewide championships were first staged in 2010, The Raiders on eight intersectional championships.

Eden is led by two players who were second team All-Western New York selections last season -- middle blocker Tome Filkov and setter Gavin Musielak. Outside hitters Jacob Basinski, a sophomore, and Alex Overhoff a junior, are other standouts.

Lake Shore, which was runner-up to Sweet Home in ECIC II, advanced to the II-B championship with a semifinal victory over Maryvale.

Grand Island fell to Sweet Home in last year’s II-A final but swept through the Frontier League this season with losses only to Lockport. Sophomore Billy Weiberg leads the Vikings.

Hamburg survived a grueling five-set match against West Seneca West in the semifinals while Grand Island was sweeping Frontier League rival North Tonawanda in three sets.

Orchard Park, Niagara Wheatfield find their way, capture girls volleyball titles
By Miguel Rodriguez, Buffalo News
Sunday, November 4, 2018

The moment almost swallowed up a young Orchard Park girls volleyball team. It came close to gobbling up Niagara Wheatfield, too.

But with Section VI championships there for the taking, OP and NW each raised its level of play and earned the right to fight another day in the New York State Public High Schools Athletic Association tournament.

Orchard Park and Niagara Wheatfield did it Saturday night at Daemen College.

The Quakers spotted four-time defending champion Clarence a two-set to none lead and were within four points of defeat only to rally for a wild 13-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 triumph in the Class AA final. When senior captain Kate Hennessey’s hit touched the floor, that clinched Orchard Park’s first sectional title since 2012 and fourth in its history.

“At first everyone was playing down, everyone was nervous,” OP junior Abby Ryan said. “Once we got our rhythm going there’s no stopping us. ... We came together and finished.”

In the nightcap, before a loud contingent of Williamsville South fans playing roughly two miles away from its school, Niagara Wheatfield’s veteran lineup kept its composure and seized control for good in the final set to capture the program’s first Section VI title. The Falcons soared to the Class A crown by scores of 25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 17-25, 25-14.

“It feels amazing,” senior Danielle Brochey said. “It’s definitely the highest point of my volleyball playing career doing something our school had never done before. To do it with my teammates after I’ve been playing with them so long is one of the best things.”

Both champions return to action at Webster Thomas on Friday against Rochester-area counterparts in the Far West Regionals.

Orchard Park hopes to get off to a quicker start than it did Saturday.

There were points in the Class AA final where key elements of the Quakers’ game seemed to have abandoned them at the worst possible time. Yet, they kept fighting, pressing on through their own struggles until finding their way.

Ryan was one of the players who led OP’s big finish Saturday, overcoming a few errors of her own early in the match to finish with 21 kills, nine digs and one block.

Ryan had four kills during the third set, most of them coming in the middle of it to prevent Clarence from running away like it had the first two sets. Trailing 21-16, the Quakers dug in their heels and started their comeback. Three hitting errors and an Ashley Dogal kill tied it for OP. Behind the fifth of six straight service points from Summer Harris, the Quakers took the lead for good.

A Ryan kill early in the fourth set enabled OP to get a jump on Clarence. With Harris serving, the Quakers went on a run to give themselves a little distance as she served up four straight points to stake OP to a 15-8 lead. Later, Ryan and Hannah Rauh combined on a block to make it 20-14. Hennessy (10 kills, 10 digs, three blocks, two aces) closed out the set with a kill to force the winner-take-all fifth and deciding set.

With Hennessy serving, the Quakers bolted to a 4-0 lead. Still the fifth set was one befitting a match between the top-two ranked large schools in the area with No. 1 OP clinging to a 13-12 lead. It then went on a 7-2 run to seize control with Ryan notching two kills.

Dogal finished with seven blocks and six kills, while Sarah Lucas had 32 assists for the winners.

“I guess we were just a little too jacked up at the start,” Quakers coach Greg Lardo said. “Clarence the four-time defending Section VI champion, the moment was a little too much for them at the beginning. Even game three, the game we won, we didn’t play our best. It was a nice team win. We haven’t had a lot of those. We usually rely on our two big outside hitters (Ryan and Hennessy) and they made us look normal. We never got on a smooth run but we were getting to balls. We did enough to come out on top.”

Enough to end an era in which Clarence went from finally capturing that elusive first Section VI championship to earning the right to be considered one of the top programs in the area.

“Orchard Park dug in a little and we let them off the hook with some poor serving,” Red Devils coach Mike Meyer said.

In Class A, the returnees from last year’s Niagara Wheatfield crew that lost in the sectional final weren’t to be denied on this night.

Brochey’s kill broke an 8-8 knot in the final set and sparked an 8-1 run that enabled the Falcons to seize control for good. Brochey had two kills during the run, classmate Jenna Sonnenberg (31 digs) had one, while more points were scored off blocks by seniors Le’Gary Jackson and Mackenzie Franks.

Brochey had six of her 26 kills for the match in the final set. She also had 26 digs to lead the Falcons defense. Franks had 23 digs and 16 assists.

“I’m so happy for the girls,” NW coach Brandi Cochran said. “I wanted it for them. It was a little nerve racking. I knew this South team was such a strong team. ... My team, they found a way to stick it out and I’m so proud of them.”

High School Extra: Frontier, Lockport advance
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, November 3, 2018

Lockport and Frontier will meet to decide the boys Division I volleyball championship, after both teams swept their opponents in the semifinal round.

Lockport defeated Clarence in the first match-up between the two teams this season, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22. Duane Barrow finished with four kills, nine digs and four blocks.

“Duane stepped up big for us this year. He’s at the peak of his performance right now,” said Lions coach Elizabeth Smorol.

Frontier defeated Williamsville North in the latter of Friday’s semifinal matches. Brian Norson led the Falcons with 14 kills, and added two blocks.

Ben Taylor was stellar at sending the ball around, totaling 32 assists on the night.

“I thought that we were pretty well-balanced tonight,” said Frontier coach Nick Penberthy. “Ben was really good as he always is, just a consistent setter.”

“It’s going to be a high-powered game... so I’m looking forward to seeing how that will play out,” said Penberthy of the match with Lockport.

High School Extra: Portville, Eden girls to play again for Class C volleyball title
By Staff, Buffalo News
Friday, November 2, 2018

Portville and Eden to meet again in Class C

For the third straight year the Portville and Eden girls volleyball teams will meet in the Class C Championship.

The Eden Raiders (18-6) and Portville Panthers (36-2) easily handled their opponents in the Class C-1 and C-2 finals, both winning in three sets Thursday night.

In last year’s meeting between the two, Portville defeated the eight-time defending state champion Raiders 25-21, 25-18, 25-21.
It ended Eden’s 19-year run in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four.

Portville finished this season as the third best team in New York State according to MaxPreps.com.

Raiders coach Hailee Herc decided to give her players a little extra motivation this season. Written across the back of every jersey reads ‘Play With Fire.’ The Raiders were able to finish this season undefeated in league play and did not lose a set throughout the C-1 playoffs.

The Raiders will be led by Paiton Basinski who had 15 kills and 4 aces during the teams 25-20, 25-20, 25-12 victory against Roy-Hart in the C-1 Championship game.

The Panthers have found a blessing in disguise this season. Senior Beth Miller had 15 kills in the C-2 Championship game against Gowanda, all assisted by freshman Kylie Blessing. Portville won, 25-11, 25-11, 25-9.

When Miller is not getting an assist from Blessing she’s serving up aces. Miller had 9 aces on 16 serve attempts in the finals.

The two teams match-up on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. with the match taking place at Jamestown Community College.

Olean, Alden to play for Class B girls volleyball title
By Budd Bailey, Buffalo News
Friday, November 2, 2018

Cinderella, also known as the Olean girls volleyball team, will get to stay at the ball for a while longer – at least until Monday night.

The Huskies, a lowly No. 7 seed, knocked off No. 1 seed and defending Class B champion East Aurora to claim the B-1 championship of the Section VI playoffs on Thursday. The scores were 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-20, and 25-23.

Olean coach Carrie Peters, having survived a five-setter against Lake Shore in the semifinals, didn’t think this one would be easy either. She was right.

"We knew we were going to have to battle for every single point," she said. "East Aurora played a wonderful game. I’m just so proud of the way the girls came back. I’m just absolutely speechless. I can’t believe it.

"I anticipated us being aggressive. But with the youth on the team, I didn’t know if we could hold it together long enough to make it. I thought it would be a work in progress. But we have great leaders."

Olean looked ready to crack a couple of times in a match that left the crowd at Daemen College thoroughly drained. After losing two of the first three sets, the Huskies almost let a good-sized lead get away in the fourth set – only to hold on to even the match.

Then after falling behind early, Olean jumped out to a 20-16 lead - only to see the Blue Devils get within one a couple of times. But the Huskies - with only one senior on the roster – found a way to win.

"They play well under pressure, Peters said. "They deal with it pretty well."

"I’m so proud of us," captain Destiny Custer said. "We played so hard. I think people underestimated us, coming into games with a seventh seed."

Custer finished with 27 digs and four kills, while Sophia Renaud had 32 assists and 16 digs and Adele Dwaileebe had 17 kills.

Next up for Olean is the Class B championship, which will be back at Daemen on Monday. There Alden, the B-2 champions will be waiting.

That sounds good to first-year coach Amber Breyer, even though she had a ready response when asked if winning titles comes easily to her.

"No!" she responded. "This stuff really raises my blood pressure."

Even so, Breyer and the rest of the Bulldogs remained calm enough to beat Springville in four sets to take the title. The scores were 25-17, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-11.

"Our tradition is to play our game," Breyer said. "We don’t like to focus on the other team. When we break a huddle, we always say, ‘together.’ We always play together, because that’s the only way you’re going to win."

That’s the way it worked two years ago, when the Bulldogs claimed the overall Class B title in the sport.

The two teams came into the game ranked first (Alden) and second (Springville) in the seedings. One of the few differences between the teams became obvious with a look at the roster. The Bulldogs featured Shelby Kersten, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter. She had sister Jenna Kersten setting her up throughout the night, and Springville didn’t have an answer for that sort of height. Shelby led the Bulldogs with 15 kills.

It could be argued that the older Kersten had a home-court advantage of sorts. She’ll be playing at Daemen next year.

"Honestly, one of the most exciting things about playing for a Sectional championship is to play here - playing on the court where I’ll be spending the next four years," she said. "I’m super-excited."

Emma Wlostowski chipped in with a team-leading 10 digs and four aces to lead Alden in those categories. But it was a solid team effort overall by the winners.

"It’s very much a team sport," Kersten said. "As long as we are talking and communicating, I know we’re going to come up on top."

The Bulldogs had defeated the Griffins twice in the regular season, although the last match-up went five sets.

More MMHSAA volleyball titles for Canisius boys, St. Mary's girls
By Dave Ricci, Buffalo News
Friday, November 2, 2018

Ethan Weislo had 34 assists as the Crusaders knocked off rival St.Joe’s in three sets to win their 19th consecutive Monsignor Martin Athletic Association volleyball championship.

The game was part of a girls/boys doubleheader that was held at Cardinal O’Hara High School.

"To have this moment with my sons. Their first year on varsity as sophomores," Tom Weislo said. "It’s more than I could ask for."

Ethan agreed that sharing this moment with his dad and brother was the perfect way to cap off their first season of varsity.

"It feels real good," Ethan Weislo said.

Canisius won by scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-13. It was set two that defined just how mentally tough Canisius is.

The Marauders built a 21-15 lead and clearly had the momentum on their side. The Crusaders bent, but they didn’t break.

Thanks in part to Connor Booth (12 kills) and John Scrocco (11 kills/five blocks) they were able to chip away and eventually regain the lead and close out the win.

"Nineteen years in a row," senior captain Christian Cungo said with a broad smile.

"It’s unbelievable. Just being able to be a part of this team and come out and win it for the school. For the community everyone who follows the team. Nineteen years straight. It’s incredible."

Coach Weislo said the hallmark of this team was their growth. How they got better week after week and molded themselves into a team worthy of this moment.

"I’m proud of every group every year, but this group had remarkable growth from the start of the season until right now," Weislo said. "We were not as good a team in August as we are right now. We’ve gotten so much better over the course of the year. In fact of all the teams that we’ve had they’ve had the most growth from beginning to end."

St. Mary’s sweeps

Each team is different, but the end goal is always the same: win.

Hannah Mulhern had seven kills, and the game winning point, as St. Mary’s of Lancaster swept Sacred Heart.

Winning by scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-18 the Lancers breezed to their eighth consecutive playoff title and punched their ticket to the state tournament that will be played at St. Mary’s on Nov. 10. There they will attempt to capture their 17th state title overall.

"Every year is different and we know that every year we have to prove that we are one of the best," said Mulhern.

This was far from the only battle Mulhern had to contend with this season as she overcame two different surgeries after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumor.

The final outcome was never really in doubt as the Lancers were clearly in charge all night.

Their combination of strong play at the net, especially from Marie Rhodes (four blocks/nine kills) and solid back row defense made it tough for the Sharks to create any offensive flow.

St. Mary’s offense was paced by Kelly Cleversly, who had 10 kills.

Coming in the Lancers looked to be the more relaxed and confident team. Even though they carry the expectation of continuing the program’s legacy of success the pressure doesn’t show as they know it’s not about replicating what previous teams have done.

It’s about being their best and creating their our history.

"We talk about it all the time," head coach Dan Pieczynski said. "We are a family but each team has to create their own legacy. It’s been carried on for decades now. The kids believe in it and they buy into it and that’s the key to our success."

Sacred Heart, who last won the playoff title in 2010, showed a strong sense of compete in the third set, but having to battle from behind virtually all night long took its toll.

EA boys volleyball tops Holland twice in five days
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, East Aurora Bee
Thursday, November 1, 2018

East Aurora’s boys volleyball team emerged from a pair of matches against Holland victoriously last week, with Friday’s 25-11, 25-18, 25-14 conquest in a Section VI Division II-B prequarterfinal giving the Blue Devils a rare postseason victory.

After the match, East Aurora’s first-year coach Brian Lombardo received a call from Eden’s coach, who informed him that it was the first playoff victory for the Blue Devils – to the best of his knowledge – in at least five years.

“Having just played them earlier in the week, we knew where we wanted to go with the ball, and we went back to our seniors for their defensive play and their passing,” Lombardo said. “With four sophomores and a freshman starting for us, we were a little jumpy to start the playoff match – we were doing some things we hadn’t really done our last couple of matches – but we took a timeout and that helped settle us down.”

The second set proved to be the toughest for East Aurora, as the Blue Devils found themselves down 8-3 early and 18-16 later in the set. Fortunately for East Aurora, it was able to close out the set on a 16-2 run – fueled by Danny Farrell’s serving run – to prevent the Dutchmen from gaining any momentum. East Aurora opened the third set on a 19-4 run en route to securing the victory.

“To Holland’s credit, they knew where they wanted to serve and they executed that plan early on, but we made a couple of changes to answer that and continued to play with aggression,” Lombardo said. “Danny was great about hitting his spots with his serve, which was nice to see, and I think the way we closed out the second set made it so the final one wasn’t even anywhere as close as the score might make you think.

“We’ve been working hard this year to change the perception that East Aurora boys volleyball is just a team other schools don’t have to work hard against,” Lombardo continued. “We’re looking to do well moving forward, and I feel it’s safe to say that we’re trending upwards, especially as the kids see their hard work translating into better performances. We still have more positive steps to take, but it’s nice to see that no one’s going into our matches feeling like we’re going to automatically lose.”

East Aurora was feeling particularly confident about its chances Friday after closing out the regular season with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-11 victory in Oct. 22’s Senior Night match with the Dutchmen.

Jake Czelusta finished the match with 18 serve points, including a few “really big runs when we needed them,” Lombardo said, while freshman Jason Freed, who started just his second match in the middle that match, had a .417 hitting percentage for the night. Caleb Heigl chipped in with eight kills for the victors.

“We were trying to force them into making some plays, but as we got comfortable we got more aggressive, and the more aggressive we were, the more problems we caused for them,” Lombardo said.

East Aurora returned to action Tuesday with a quarterfinal round clash with Lake Shore, but information about that match was not available at press time. The winner of the contest will advance to play the winner of Tuesday’s Maryvale-Cheektowaga quarterfinal – which also ended too late for this edition – in Saturday’s semifinal round at Lackawanna.

“We didn’t play them in the regular season, but I know they’re big and athletic, and will present an interesting matchup for us,” Lombardo said. “We’re going to have to serve tough, which we’ve been doing the last couple of matches, in order to try and force them out of their offense. We’ve played a little bit with our blocking scheme this week, which hopefully will help us out because if they stay in their primary offense, we’ll be in trouble.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Girls volleyball team advances to sectional final
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, November 1, 2018

The Orchard Park girls volleyball team is going to the sectional final. The Lady Quakers defeated Lockport 3-0 Tuesday night to clinch a spot in the Section VI, Class AA Championship Game against Clarence Saturday.

Setter Sarah Lucas dished out 26 assists, Abby Ryan had 10 kills and one ace, Kate Hennessy had seven kills and Hailey Callahan had eight digs in an impressive victory.

“Our girls like to show up at the big games,” Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo said. “We didn’t know much about Lockport going into it. I had a couple people talk to me about some of their big hitters. We kind of watched them in warm ups and we adjusted our block a little bit just watching their tendencies.”

Tuesday’s victory bordered on dominant at times. The team opened the match with a 25-9 win in the first set. However, Lockport came to play in the second set. They made it close throughout and Orchard Park had to sweat out a 25-22 set win.

“We served tough, but they missed a lot of serves in games one and three,” Lardo said. “They were a really good serving team in game two. But they didn’t give themselves many opportunities to score points by missing serves and we did a good job of passing and sliding out pretty quick.”

Lardo gave the team a quick pep talk before the third set, reminding them how close they were to reaching the championship game. The Lady Quakers responded well, taking the final set, 25-8.

“I think overall our girls came to play,” Lardo said. “They had a lot of energy, but it kind of died down a little bit in the second game. You can kind of tell by the score that we weren’t as sharp as game one. Then you give them that pep talk of ‘you’re one game away from going to the sectional finals. Let’s step it up a little bit.’ They woke up and came out well.”

The Lady Quakers will next move on to play four-time defending sectional champion Clarence in the Class AA final at Daemen College Saturday at 5 p.m. It’s the natural culmination of a year that has featured the two teams as the top programs in AA all along.

“All year it’s been us and Clarence as the two top-ranked teams in Western New York in the large schools,” Lardo said. “Matching up against them, I know they put a target on us to go after us, even though they’re the defending champions. It will be a good test on Saturday and it will be a good volleyball match.

“They’ve won the division the last four years, they’ve won the section the last four years. They have a lot of experience. They’ve been there before and they expect to win, I’m sure. We’re just gonna go in there and try to knock them off.”

While the Lady Red Devils are consistently a dominant program, Orchard Park does have some reasons for optimism. They’re beaten Clarence three straight times dating back to last season while no one else has beaten them in a couple years. The Lady Quakers know what to expect.

“Maybe we match up well against them,” Lardo said. “They’re going to play decent defense. They’re going to serve really tough. They’re going to be one of the best serving teams that we face this year. They’re usually in system with their passing. Hopefully we match up well with them with our blocking. Our blocking was really steady tonight. If we weren’t getting points off our block, we were slowing it down. Lockport did a good job covering our blocks. Hopefully we can be offensive above the net on our blocking. Hopefully we’ll outlast them a little bit.”

email: tnigrelli @beenews.com

Lady Legends volleyball falls in sectional quarters
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, November 1, 2018

The Lancaster girls volleyball season came to an end last week in the Class AA quarterfinals with a 3-1 loss to Lockport.

The Lady Legends were strong in the first set with a 25-13 victory. However, they dropped the next three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 26-24. The team stumbled early in the second set and could not recover from that.

“We made a few mistakes at the beginning of the second set that gave them confidence,” Lancaster coach Becky Edwards said. “Then we just got in our own heads. They showed up to play. We were making too many mistakes. We just lost confidence throughout the set. They had a lot of fans there, it was a pretty intense atmosphere.”

The Lady Legends finished the season 7-5 in league play and 10-8 overall. It was an impressive finish, considering the team graduated the entire starting lineup from last year’s team. This year’s team worked hard to get up to speed with the varsity game.

“After graduating the whole starting lineup, the group came in and worked really hard,” Edwards said. “We only had one day off this year; we went six days per week. They were just hard workers. We could have lost to Frontier and Jamestown, but we worked so hard and won some matches. We did have a good season considering we lost so many girls to graduation. It ended a little sooner than we wanted, but looking back on it, we had a pretty good run.”

The team will now bid farewell to three seniors and a foreign exchange student. Jess Clarke, Marlaina Voelker and Bri Acquard have all been with the program since the were in seventh grade. They all brought a different skill set to the table.

“Jess Clarke led the team in kills: she was just a solid all-around player for us this whole year,” Edwards said. “She was on varsity for three years and really put together her all-around game this year. Marlaina Voelker led the team in blocks. Bri Acquard led the team in digs as the starting libero. She was one of our captains and just a leader on the team. She’s hoping to continue her career at Brockport or Mercyhurst next year.”

Meanwhile, Blanca DeSantos was an exchange student from Spain who played an important role in her only year on the team.

“She came from Spain this year; she played club over there,” Edwards said. “She’s the first foreign exchange student we’ve had that made the team. She’s very talented and fit in well.”

However, much of this year’s starting lineup will return next season. The Lady Legends will have a chance to return to the ranks of sectional championship contenders in Class AA in 2019.

“We probably have more than half our starting lineup back next year,” Edwards said. “That will help us a lot. Vanessa Uhteg, setter, Meg Vona, defensive specialist, Emily Lewandowski, utility girls Sydney Lubanski and Julia Pilecki in the middle were all key players, too.”

High School Extra: Clarence, OP advance
By Staff, Buffalo News
Wednesday, October 31,2018

Clarence, which had won two competitive matches against Williamsville North in the ECIC I girls volleyball regular season, survived another battle on the court with the Spartans, winning 25-21, 25-12 and 25-21, Tuesday in the Section VI Class AA finals.

The Red Devils will meet No. 1 seed Orchard Park in Saturday’s sectional final at Daemen College. Junior Sarah Lucas had 26 assists and junior Abby Ryan had 10 kills and an ace as the Quakers defeated Lockport, 3-0, in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

"We knew they were going to be tough in the playoffs," said Clarence coach Mike Meyer said after defeating North on the Clarence home court. "They beat Orchard Park and we didn’t."

Senior Jaide Cummings (eight kills, 12 digs) and sophomore Olivia Walczak (11 kills, six digs) led the Clarence victory.

"The first and third sets were very close, back and forth," Meyer said. "We served really tough in the second set. Izzy Kocz and Lexi MacDonald hit a bunch of tough serves and we got a run off of that."

Orchard Park, which defeated Clarence twice in the ECIC I season, shook off a second set when the Quakers were not as dominant in defeating Lockport, 25-8, 25-20 and 25-9.

"We got into a little bit of trouble with a couple of passing errors and a couple of hitting errors," said Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo. "They had a little run at the end with five service points but we calmed down.

Clarence is the defending championship It’s the first sectional final for many of the OP players.

"None of our girls have been to a sectional final," Lardo said, "but these girls play year around and they step up when there’s been a big game."

Sweet Home boys volleyball finishes 12-0 in ECIC II
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Sweet Home’s boys volleyball team completed a 12-0 regular season in ECIC Division II with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 road win over Williamsville East Oct. 22.

Kenny Naples had six kills and four aces.

“One of our short-term goals was to win the league championship,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “It was business as usual and did not let up on them.”

Sweet Home is the top seed in the Division II-A Tournament and hosted ninth-seed Williamsville East in the quarterfinals, but information about the game was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The winner plays against either Williamsville South or West Seneca West in the semifinals Saturday at Lackawanna.

Williamsville South

The Billies’ lone match was a 17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18, 12-15 non-league road loss against Maryvale Oct. 22.

“It was very competitive,” South coach Thom Knab said. “We are evenly matched. If we played 10 times, we would win five and they would win five. It came down to a few points in the last game, and Maryvale was able to convert those.”

Nico Zanelotti led the Billies with 16 kills.

Jeffrey Randall added 10 kills and six blocks.

Matt Angelo supplied five kills and six blocks.

Ryan Setlock contributed eight kills.

South finished the regular season with a 7-12 record.

South, East girls volleyball to meet in Class A semis
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

A girls volleyball team from Williamsville will be playing for a Section VI title.

Williamsville South and Williamsville East faced each other in the Class A semifinals

Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The Class A final is at 7 p.m. Saturday at Daemen College.

South reach the semis after beating North Tonawanda, 25-13, 25-17, 25-12, in the quarterfinals at home Friday.

Lady Billies’ coach Tom Sproull said his team did not play well.

“We were not crisp,” he said. “Most of their points came off our unforced errors. That is not a place we want to be, giving other teams points.”

No South player recorded double-digit kills. Megan Muehlbauer had seven kills, and Maddy Popielski and Amari DeBerry each recorded six kills.

South downed West Seneca West, 25-8, 25-12, 25-7, in the prequarterfinals Oct. 24. Maddy Popielski led the Lady Billies’ offense with 11 kills. Cecilia Brooks added seven kills.

South closed out the regular season with a 25-17, 25-17, 25-12 non-league road win over Lancaster Oct. 23.

“We played really well,” Sproull said. “It was a total team effort. When everyone is contributing, we are tough to handle.”

Maddy Popielski led South with nine kills. Megan Muehlbauer had eight kills, Amari DeBerry chipped in six kills and Cecilia Brooks recorded four kills.

Williamsville East

The Lady Flames won both of their playoff matches, downing West Seneca East, 25-13, 25-12, 25-15, in the Section VI Class A prequarterfinal Oct. 24 and Hamburg, 25-15, 26-16, 25-15, in the quarterfinals Friday.

Rachel Steffan tallied 10 kills against West Seneca East and 22 versus Hamburg.

Summer Clark handed out 32 assists and added three kills against Hamburg. Christy Mack supplied 24 digs.

Wright said his team put together a great effort against Hamburg after losing to them in the previous week.

East closed out the regular season with a 21-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 non-league road loss over Williamsville North Oct. 23.

Against North, East coach Scott Wright said his team’s first touch on serve receive and defense improved, which allowed his team to run more of its offense.

Steffan led East with 24 kills. Madison Smith and Madeline Reid supplied 10 kills each.

Allie Macon led North with 17 kills. Bri Brown added nine kills and Maia Reed had eight kills. Abby Vincent handed out 32 assists.

Williamsville North

North opened the postseason with a 25-13, 25-18, 25-19 home win over Frontier in the Section VI Class A quarterfinals Friday.

North trailed 5-1 in the first set, but played much better after that, coach Keith Hopkins said.

Allie Macon had 14 kills, Maia Reed posted seven kills and Erin Mergler added five kills. Abby Vincent had 26 assists.

North (15-8-5) traveled to Clarence for a semifinal game Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

North boys volleyball wins on Senior Night
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Williamsville North’s boys volleyball team won their Senior Night match with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-18 home win over Hamburg Oct. 22.

“It was a straightforward win,” North coach Jake Waszak said. “We went in and played Williamsville North volleyball and took care of business.”

Senior Adam Gulick led the way with 14 kills, eight digs and three blocks.

Senior Jackson Lieber added 11 kills, seven digs and three aces.

Senior Jon Abaya had three kills and two blocks.

Senior Pete Stopinski added two kills and two blocks.

“Pete’s been getting better and has been becoming our go-to guy when we are in our system,” Waszak said. “When you have an effective middle attack, it makes it easier on your outside hitters.”

Senior Matt Wiepert handed out 26 assists and four digs.

Also playing well were seniors Eoin Burns and Mitchell Simon.

North (9-3) is the fourth seed in the Section VI Division I Tournament and hosted fifth-seed Niagara Falls in the quarterfinals Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The winner plays top-seed Frontier on Friday.

“I think we are one of the most talented teams in Western New York, but it is whether or not we can turn the switch on when it needs to be turned on and we can go to the next level when we need to,” Waszak said.

Kenmore East boys volleyball upends Kenmore West
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

The Kenmore East boys volleyball team got its biggest win of the season Friday in the pre-quarterfinal round of the Section VI playoffs. The Bulldogs defeated rival Kenmore West in four sets to move on to the quarterfinals.

The team got all three set wins by a 25-23 score. Alex Simmons led the way with five kills, one ace and seven blocks. Mike Greiner had 21 set assists; Dam Omcikus had seven kills, one ace and two blocks; while Adam Lisowski had seven kills, one ace and two blocks.

“The feeling of beating our rival was exhilarating,” Kenmore East coach Nick Sereday said. “Not just for myself, but for the boys as well as the Kenmore East athletics as a whole. They have been working hard this entire season for a feeling like this. There’s nothing better than victory during late fall, sectional ball.”

The win was just the team’s third of the season, but it was the best they had played thus far. They were engaged throughout and determined not to have their season end at the hands of their rival.

“The boys were focused, determined and had fire in their eyes,” Sereday said. “They weren’t only on the court to play, they were on the court to continue our sectional run. Everyone was engaged, not only those on the court but those on the sidelines, too. Everyone did their job.”

The team will have played its quarterfinal game by the time this is printed. They were scheduled to play Grand Island Tuesday at 6 p.m. on the road. They’re certainly an underdog from here on out, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem if they can play the way they did Friday.

“Tuesday’s game will be tough, but if the boys play as a whole unit and with a lot of heart, I will be happy, no matter the outcome,” Sereday said. “A hard-fought game is needed to win, and I think the boys will be ready to come out swinging.”

Kenmore West girls volleyball falls in sectional quarters
TAYLOR NIGRELLI Sports Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

The Kenmore West girls volleyball team got a playoff victory over rival Kenmore East Wednesday in the prequarterfinal round of the Section VI Class A playoffs. The Lady Blue Devils would fall to Grand Island in the quarterfinal round.

The team finished strong in its final win of the season, getting a satisfying win over its crosstown rival.

“The girls played really well as a team,” Kenmore West coach Brittany Lis said. “They were smart with the ball, communicated well and our hitters were really connecting in the final three sets.

“It definitely feels great to get the win over our rival, especially in a playoff game. The best part about playing East is that it is always an exciting game and the girls always get really hyped up. It was great to see them come together as one cohesive group to defeat East.”

The team did not play as well in the final match of the season, falling to Grand Island in the quarterfinal round. The team had some of its more veteran girls well, but that was not enough to get a win.

“We definitely battled against Grand Island until the very end; however, it wasn’t one of our strongest matches that we’ve played this season,” Lis said. “Two of our seniors, Sam Veronica and Rachel Valente, really stepped it up during that match; unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t in our favor.”

With the loss Friday, the Lady Blue Devils finished the season 12-7 overall and 11-5 in league play. It was a strong season for the Kenmore West, especially with such an impressive final week. Team chemistry was key to that success.

“The season overall was a success,” Lis said. “The team peaked at the end of the season, defeating Lockport in our last league match and taking East in the first round of playoffs. Together, the team met all of their goals they set to accomplish in the beginning of the season, and they did it while building the strongest team chemistry I’ve seen in my seven years of coaching.”

The team will bid farewell to six seniors – Sam Veronica, Chloe Moore, Rachel Valente, Sarah Denman, Jordan Stranahan and Mackenzie Bacon.

“This group of seniors are the most genuine group of girls that I have ever had the pleasure of coaching,” Lis said. “They are hard-working, passionate and dedicated to making our team like a family. They all have supported and led the team in their own way, and they will be greatly missed next year.”

The 2018 season was a successful first campaign as head coach for Lis, who took over for longtime coach Kelly Strong in the offseason. It was another solid, above-.500 season for a program that is always in the picture.

“I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to have coached these girls and take over the varsity position this year,” Lis said. “I’m looking forward to the class moving up and wish my seniors the best of luck, as I know they will all be extremely successful in whatever they set out to do.”

Tonawanda girls volleyball reaches B-2 semifinals
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

For the first time in the more than a decade that Renee Smith has guided Tonawanda’s girls volleyball program, the Lady Warriors are able to call themselves victorious in postseason play after they defeated both Depew and Buffalo Arts in Section VI Class B-2 prequarterfinal- and quarterfinal-round contests, respectively.

Friday’s 25-8, 25-13, 25-20 victory over third-seeded Buffalo Arts put sixth-seeded Tonawanda in Monday’s semifinal round against second-seeded Springville, but information about that match was not available at press time.

The winner of Monday’s match will advance to play in the B-2 title game at Daemen College on Thursday against the winner of Monday’s other semifinal, which pitted fifth-seeded Fredonia at top-seeded Alden.

“Myself, the girls, our parents and our whole program couldn’t be happier or more excited to have made it to the semifinals,” Smith said. “Even though our league record dipped a little bit this year, which hasn’t really been the trend as of late, getting these two big playoff wins has us finishing the year better than we ever had. This team is special and is one that I will remember for the rest of my coaching career, not only for the ultimate success we have achieved, but by the character, integrity, commitment, collective responsibility and tenacity that these girls played with. They’re one of the best for sure.”

Tonawanda, playing what Smith called a “relaxed” style, for the most part coasted to its triumph over Buffalo Arts in the quarterfinal round. Alex Heffle and Corynne Wildrick served up five aces each, while Kristen Toth dished 18 assists - seven of which ended up in kills for team leader Kelsey Wood.

Hannah Reid pitched in by digging out 16 balls for the Lady Warriors.

“The girls played a very controlled game to beat Buffalo Arts,” Smith said. “We took care of the ball enough to play a relaxed game and enjoy winning at this round in the playoffs.”

Tonawanda reached the quarterfinal round by taking down 11th-seeded Depew in straight sets two days earlier, winning by 26-24, 25-50, 25-19 marks. Heffle, Toth and Allysa Prytula were very strong at the service line, collectively achieving 45 attempts behind the line.

Toth also finished with 12 assists, with Reid collecting 14 digs. Courtney Metzger helped start Tonawanda’s attack with her effective serve receive.

“This was a great win for our team against another very talented team,” Smith said. “Depew played very well, but our girls in the end did what it took to get the win. They played together the whole time and proved that we were the better team in the end.”

Kenmore West boys volleyball season ends
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

The Kenmore West boys volleyball season came to an end Friday with a 3-1 loss to Kenmore East in the pre-quarterfinal round of the Section VI playoffs.

It was a close match overall, as the Blue Devils lost all three of the sets by a 25-23 score. The team was also playing at a disadvantage, as it lost three starters to injury over the final week of the season. They were forced to call up several JV players to step in right away.

“It was definitely a couple plays here and there,” Kenmore West coach Dan Norton said. “We also had some injuries going into the match that we had to adjust to. We played Grand Island the Monday before and had some injuries. We had three players injured over the course of the week. Two guys had a concussion – our staring setter and libero. Then one of our defensive specialists hurt his knee during the week.”

Dylan Kaiser stepped up from JV right into the setter role. Meanwhile, Tyler Barlow came up to play libero and was strong on the defensive side of things. Senior Alex Walker also stepped in and played some setter.

“We had to bring up some JV kids, and they played really well for us. For what we had, I was pleased,” Norton said. “The guys just played their hearts out and put everything out there.”

The team finished the season with a 4-9 record. Things started to come together at the end and surprised some teams in the Niagara Frontier League.

“It was up and down season,” Norton said. “It’s been a while since Kenmore West played all together as a team. They fed on each other’s passing and really impressed some other coaches in the NFL at the varsity and JV level. We want to push the program forward into next season.”

The team will bid farewell to a good number of seniors next year, but there are already six JV players who are ready to come up to varsity next year. It should be a young but talented group.

“We have six JV players coming up and will have two returning players on varsity,” Norton said. “We’re light on returning players, but we have JV guys who are ready to step up into the varsity role.”

With a long offseason ahead, Norton is looking to get his kids to play as much as possible, whether that be through open gyms or playing club.

“This year, we’re trying to get into more open gyms and try to play year-round,” Norton said. “We have five or six JV players that play in the offseason. We just want to get everyone on the court in the offseason.”

Western New York 2018 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/30/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Western New York 2018 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/30/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

High School Extra: Nardin advances
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, October 27, 2018

It was a good day for Nardin athletics as the Gators advanced in the Monsignor Martin volleyball playoffs.

On the hardwood, Amanda Chmiel and Hannah Obrochta led Nardin volleyball to a convincing win over Nichols, defeating the Vikings in three sets, 25-15, 25-16, 25-22. Chmiel had 12 kills and 3 blocks in the win, and Obrochta added 9 kills and 6 aces. Nardin now has the weekend to prepare for a semifinals match with St. Mary’s of Lancaster on Monday.

St. Mary’s boys volleyball preparing for postseason
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, October 25, 2019

The St. Mary’s boys volleyball team is gearing up for the postseason. The Lancers are 7-7 overall this season with a 2-6 record in league play. The team is aiming to finish out sets better than they have right now. They have been close most of the time, but for one reason or another, they have not been able to close things out.

“We’re in every match, we have the ability to win every match,” St. Mary’s coach Peter Florczak said. “We just want to not get down on ourselves so we have a better outcome.”

The team has three games left in the season. They took on St. Joe’s Tuesday, but lost 3-1 in another series of close-set losses. They played Hutch Tech Wednesday in a match that did not end by press time and will play Williamsville North this week in a non-league match. They’re looking to finish strong against a pair of solid teams, led by top players setter Sean Brown and senior Austin Walsh.

“Hutch Tech is a public school that we haven’t played yet and so is Williamsville North,” Florczak said. “But hopefully they both should be winnable matches.”

The team is aiming to get some momentum going heading into the playoffs, which is the reason they are playing these games so late.

“The goal was to schedule these matches a little later in the season knowing that the playoffs were coming for Monsignor Martin,” Florczak said. “Instead of being idle, we’d have some matches under our belt.”

The Lancers are fourth in the Monsignor Martin division so they will have to take on Cardinal O’Hara Friday in a play-in game. They’ll be looking to get a third win over the Hawks to kickstart a postseason run.

“At this point in the season, you just have to play volleyball,” Florczak said. “You can get ready for them team-by-team and know what some of their players are. If they have taller players, maybe you can block and so forth. But at this point in the season, we know how to play the game of volleyball, we just have to go out there and execute.”

West boys volleyball playing well ahead of postseason run
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, West Seneca Bee
Thursday, October 25, 2018

No matter the sport, if there’s a chance to continue playing after the conclusion of the regular season, coaches are going to aim to have their players peaking just as they make the transition to the playoffs.

If all stays as is, that’s exactly what West Seneca West’s boys volleyball team will be doing when the Section VI postseason begins.

“We just need to keep playing like we’ve been playing of late,” coach Brett Widman said. “We’re clicking right now – I’ve been really happy with our starting crew – so if we can keep winning that battle with our serve receive, we’ll be fine and we’ll have the potential to go pretty deep in the playoffs.”

West – which hosted Frontier in Monday’s ECIC I finale that doubled as this year’s Senior Night, and also took on Grand Island Wednesday in a pair of matches that ended too late for this edition – was playing well in its matches leading up to this week’s final outings of the regular season, matches that included a march to the finals of Saturday’s Grand Island Tournament. Though in the end the Indians were upended by the hosts by 25-17, 25-17 scores, West was able to secure pool-play wins over Niagara Falls, Niagara Wheatfield and St. Mary’s of Lancaster before earning playoff victories over Williamsville East, Williamsville South and Starpoint.

“We’ve just really been able to rely on our serving and serve receiving this season,” Widman said. “Winning that battle at the service line and putting other teams out of system – which creates havoc on the other side of the net – has us looking really good right now. We’re doing a pretty good job of playing well in transition where our free-ball offense is concerned.”

Heading into the tournament, West had posted impressive wins over Hamburg on Oct. 16, Section V’s Spencerport on Oct. 13, and Orchard Park on Oct. 12. Nathan Petrik, West’s 6-foot-8 right-side hitter, made his presence known against the Bulldogs, picking up 21 kills to go along with four aces to help the Indians record the 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 triumph.

Petrik had 20 kills to pace West’s offense against Spencerport, with Jack Breen dishing out 34 assists in the Indians’ 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16 victory over their foe from Rochester. Nicholas Pozzuto, meanwhile, had 12 digs against Hamburg and posted 10 kills in West’s 28-26, 25-18, 18-25, 25-18 win over Orchard Park. Nicholas Szablicki chipped in with 12 digs against the Quakers, while Noah Petrik helped out with eight kills.

“Spencerport is probably Rochester’s top-ranked ‘B’ team, so we wanted to get a look at what Section V has to offer and what we’re getting ourselves into in the event that we can advance that far in the playoffs,” Widman said. “Whether it was against them or anyone else, I think Pozzuto has shown that he’s probably the best passer out there in Section VI, and with him passing well we’re able to get the ball to our right side, which is allowing Nathan to get a ton of kills. But at the same time, you can’t really run an offense unless you’re passing the ball well, which is why Nick has really been the foundation of our success.”

West’s postseason draw, which was undetermined as The Bee went to press, will undoubtedly lead the Indians into additional battles against teams just as eager to keep their seasons alive. No matter what school the Indians face in the playoffs, though, Widman is hoping West’s secret weapon – team chemistry – will give them an edge no matter who it’s playing.

“The guys are really just playing as one unit this year, and that’s been huge,” Widman said. “We didn’t have it last year, when there was a lot more of the ‘me-me-me’ approach. This group is working together as a team, with everyone doing their job and playing their role to where there is no real standout on this team. A lot of the teams we’ve played this year have that one guy or two who they ride the whole way, but we’ve truly got six guys who can stop anyone in front of them.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

South boys volleyball defeats East
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Williamsville South’s boys volleyball team completed a season sweep over Williamsville East, recording a 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 home win Oct. 16.

“It was one of our better games we played all season,” South coach Thom Knab said. “We passed well and got a better attack going, and played some fairly decent defense.”

Nico Zanelotti led the Billies’ offense with seven kills. Matt Angelo added five kills and seven blocks.

The win evened South’s league record to 6-6.

The next night, the Billies lost a five-game non-league home match against North Tonawanda Oct. 17, 25-18, 17-25, 25-22, 19-25, 8-15.

“We got to the fifth game and we seemed to peter out a little bit,” Knab said. “We did not move or pass as well, and they took control and won the match. The previous four games were battles that could have gone either way.”

Zanelotti (nine kills, three aces); Jeffrey Randall (eight kills, six blocks) and Angelo (five kills, five blocks) paced the Billies.

At Saturday’s Grand Island Tournament, the Vikings finished 4-2 in pool play after sweeping Kenmore West 25-22, 25-14 and Amherst 25-19, 25-19; and losing to Grand Island 15-25, 19-25.

South moved onto to the playoff round where they lost to West Seneca West 7-25 and Williamsville East 20-25.

Knab thought the team played decent throughout the day.

“We had some decent passing and offense going on,” Knab said. “West Seneca West is a very good team that hits the ball and we had trouble dealing with that, both in blocking and in digging up their hits. That was the difference. The Will East match was a battle. If we played each other 10 times, we both would win five times.”

Throughout the day, Zanelotti recorded 15 kills, three aces and 18 digs, Angelo tallied 19 kills, Randall had 11 kills and Jack Schultz distributed 26 assists.

South (7-10) closed out the regular season with a non-league match at Maryvale Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. Playoffs start Friday.

South girls volleyball sweeps East
Lady Billies win first ECIC II title
PATRICK NAGY Sports Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Williamsville East had been the girls volleyball team to beat for years in ECIC Division II, but not this year.

Williamsville South snapped East’s six-year reign as league champions with a convincing 25-17, 25-20, 25-18 road win Oct. 15. The win clinched the league title for South for the first time in school history. East finished second in the league.

South coach Tom Sproull, who had never beaten East in his eight years as coach, said his players followed the game plan perfectly.

“They did everything we were practicing,” Sproull said. “We were trying to make sure we had four hitters against three blockers everywhere and the only way we could do that was by running a fast-paced offense, so we needed to finish our passes really fast to our setters. That allowed us to have one-on-one hitting everywhere.”

“South played really well,” East coach Scott Wright said. “Everything from their serving plan to their defense was executed really well. They stayed on point where we played up and down.”

Megan Muehlbauer led South’s attack with 16 kills. She also had 18 digs on defense.

Amari DeBerry added a season-high nine kills as well as four blocks.

Cecilia Brooks was a disruptive force in the middle with six kills and four blocks. Molly McKinnon added four kills, Maddie Popielski had three kills and 24 digs, and Hannah Abramowitz had two kills.

Gabby Presutti led the defense with 31 digs.

Rachel Steffan led East with 14 kills. Madison Smith added seven kills.

South completed a 12-0 mark in league play with a 25-14, 25-11, 25-8 home win over Starpoint Friday.

Muehlbauer had eight kills, Popielski added six kills and DeBerry added five kills. Haley Marchewka had three aces and Riley Domin added two aces.

South also beat East Aurora, 25-13, 25-13, 25-11 in a non-league match Oct. 16.

South (14-2) traveled to Lancaster for a non-league match Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They are the second seed in the Section VI Class A Tournament and host West Seneca West in a pre- quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Friday.

“We are peaking at the right time,” Sproull said.

Williamsville East

It was a rough week for the Lady Flames, who also lost a non-league match in five games to Lancaster 25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-27 Oct. 17 and a league match against Hamburg 25-21, 18-25, 25-27, 12-25 Thursday.

Steffan led East’s offense against Lancaster with 24 kills. Madeline Reid added nine kills and five blocks. Summer Clark handed out 44 assists.

Steffan and Smith led the East attack with 16 and 11 kills, respectively, and Clark handed out 34 assists.

The Lancaster match was East’s Senior Night match. Seniors honored were Steffan, Reid, Christy Mack, Skyllar Cicero, Grace Degan and Nikki Polokoff.

East traveled to Williamsville North for a non-league match Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. East hosts West Seneca East at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Section VI Class A prequarterfinals.

SS. Peter and Paul white volleyball wins final regular-season match
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

SS. Peter and Paul Williamsville’s varsity white volleyball team traded numerous rallies and serves to defeat St. Benedict’s, 30-28, in its final regular-season game of the year.

St. Benedict’s waged a strong comeback to win the second game backed by some powerful serves, but behind some reliable defense courtesy of Mariah Serrano and service runs by Kaitlyn Acquisto and Genevieve Bell, the Knights won the game and match.

Carrying the momentum, Oaklie Zdrojewski took her turn behind the line with a six-point run while Savannah McKee, Mariah Serrano and Genevieve Bell combined to shut down St. Benedict’s by a dozen points.

Kaitlyn Acquisto controlled game two with 10 consecutive service wins with defensive help by Cassidy Merriman and Quinn Flaherty to take the game and match.

Lucy Voelkl and Ashley Anderson lent a hand in game three, but St. Benedict’s squeaked out the game win.

The White Lady Knights finished in second place in their division with an 11-3 record.

Sacred Heart girls volleyball records victories
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball team finished the week with four wins, including a crucial win against Mount St. Mary Academy.

The Sharks started their busy week with a non-league road win Oct. 15 against Frontier, 25-13, 25-18, 25-16.

The entire team contributed to this win. Freshman Blair Kuzniarek led the offense with six aces and a kill, as well as five digs. Junior Hannah Tudor led the defense with 12 serve receives and 10 digs.

Also contributing were sophomore Olivia Jarosz (six digs, four serve receives, three aces, kill); senior Taylor Jakubik (six kills, four digs, two serve receives, ace); junior Siobhan Ryan (five kills, five digs); junior Catie Grable (six kills, three digs); junior Alexis Kuzniarek (four digs, two serve receives); freshman Isabella Allen (three kills, ace, dig); senior captain Gabriella Berardi (three digs, kill); junior Megan Vincek (ace, kill); sophomore Grace Meyer (dig), and sophomore Kayleigh Colleary (kill).

The Sharks were back at it on Tuesday night with a league win over Nichols, 25-16, 25-16, 25-14.

Ryan led the offense with 10 kills and two aces, as well as five serve receives and four digs, and Tudor led the defense with 14 digs and 11 serve receives.

Also contributing to the win were Jarosz (three digs, two aces, two kills, serve receive); Jakubik (three serve receives, two digs, kill); Blair Kuzniarek (four digs, two aces); Berardi (six digs); Grable (four kills); Colleary (four kills); Allen (two kills, dig); Alexis Kuzniarek (three digs); senior captain Gabby Salvo (kill, dig); Vincek (kill, dig), and Meyer (dig).

Continuing their busy week, the Sharks traveled to Grand Island on Wednesday night and pulled out a 23-25, 25-11, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15 win.

The Sharks started out slow with two out of their three outside hitters out sick. The Sharks called on Tudor, who plays libero, and Grable, who plays on the right side, to share the duties of outside hitter.

Tudor had a great game filling in as an outside with nine kills, six aces, 18 digs, and 16 serve receives. Grable added 10 kills and four digs.

Ryan led the team with 34 kills and two aces, as well as 21 digs and 13 serve receives.

Also contributing to the win were Alexis Kuzniarek (15 serve receives, 11 digs, kill, ace); Allen (eight kills, three aces, three digs); Berardi (six digs, four kills, two aces, serve receive); Blair Kuzniarek (eight digs, two serve receives, ace); Salvo (two kills, two digs); Vincek (two kills), and Meyer (two kills).

The Sharks closed their busy week celebrating senior week for Berardi, Salvo and Jakubik on Friday night.

Berardi is a four-year varsity contributor as setter and right-side hitter, Salvo is a two-year varsity contributor as a right side, and Jakubik is a three-year varsity contributor (having transferred in from Immaculata Academy after it closed at the end of her freshman year) as an outside hitter.

These three seniors have significantly contributed to the success of Sacred Heart’s varsity volleyball program and will be very much missed next year.

The Sharks again faced Mount Saint Mary Academy, having just lost to them last Friday night on the road. This was a must win game for the Sharks to have a chance of being in second place in the Monsignor Martin League. Despite losing the first game 23-25, the Sharks won the next three games 25-19, 25-21, 25-20. Ryan led the offense with 21 kills and four aces, as well as 15 digs and 13 serve receives.

Tudor led the team defense with 25 digs and 20 serve receives. Also contributing to the win were Jakubik (20 digs, 19 serve receives, six kills, ace); Blair Kuzniarek (eight digs, four aces); Allen (four kills, dig, serve receive); Salvo (five kills, dig); Berardi (three digs, kill, ace), and Colleary (four kills).

Sacred Heart (11-5, 7-3) finished up its regular season against Clarence at home on Monday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

Amherst turning the corner
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Amherst’s boys volleyball team is heading in the right direction as the regular season nears the end.

The Tigers have won four of their last five matches after starting the season 1-8. Amherst’s overall record is 5-9 and its ECIC Division II record is 2-9.

In a 25-17, 24-26, 19-25, 25-20, 15-9 home league win over Williamsville East Oct. 5, Amherst coach Paul Wlosinski said everything seemed to click.

“I always stress communication and tonight it was necessary,” he said. “This win is a confidence booster. All the pieces came together.”

Marcus Hall recorded 13 kills. Matt Gramza added six kills and nine digs. Sam Greco added 11 digs.

In the Tigers’ 25-16, 25-22, 20-25, 25-12 home league win over West Seneca East Thursday, Wlosinski said his team had control throughout with a strong serve and great play at the net.

“We used our height to shut down their attack and it became difficult for West Seneca East,” he said.

Hall led the offense with 11 kills. Jack Lasher added four kills, two aces and three blocks. Xavier Lewis and Jon Dusza both supplied four blocks each. Jackson Tan handed out 22 assists.

Other recent matches were a 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 non-league home win over Cheektowaga Oct. 9, a 28-30, 27-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-17 home league loss to Williamsville South Oct. 12 and a 25-6, 30-28, 25-11 non-league home victory over Holland Oct. 15.

Amherst closed out the regular season with home matches against Starpoint Monday and Senior Night against Cardinal O’Hara Tuesday, but information about both were unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The Tigers will be hosting a home playoff match against a yet-to-be determined opponent at 6 p.m. Friday.

Sweet Home wins ECIC II title
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Sweet Home won the Section VI Division II-A boys volleyball title last year, but did not win the ECIC Division II championship. The Panthers wrapped up the league title with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-19 home victory over Lake Shore Oct. 17.

“This was our first short-term goal,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “I thought they played well. Our serving hurt us a little bit, but our athleticism helped us. The kids hung in there and stayed mentally strong. We picked up a lot of the tips and convert those into points.”

Kaleb Luton and Dylan Aarum each had seven kills and Aarum added two aces.

A day earlier, Sweet Home downed West Seneca East, 25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 25-15. Cicero said the match allowed players off the bench to see significant playing time, such as junior setter Matt Clemens.

Sweet Home (11-0) looked to finish undefeated in the league when they faced Williamsville East Monday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Panthers will likely host a quarterfinal playoff match on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

“I don’t think we have peaked yet,” Cicero said. “We have some room to grow and keep our goals in mind. The kids are working hard in practice.”

North boys volleyball takes runner-up at Hamburg Invite
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

For the second time this season, Williamsville North’s boys volleyball team put together a strong season at a tournament, taking runner up at Saturday’s Hamburg Invitational.

The Spartans went 5-1 and won their pool, beating Lake Shore, 25-18, 25-10; Lancaster, 25-20, 25-12; and splitting with Frontier, 23-25, 25-19. North then defeated Hamburg, 25-19, 25-13 in the semifinals and lost to Frontier 21-25, 20-25 in the finals.

“I was proud of the way they played,” North coach Jake Waszak said. “There were a couple late runs in the final that cost us. We weren’t able to take advantage of our better servers. We didn’t have as many blocks or aces like we did in our pool play match with them.”

Adam Gulick and Carson Swierski were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

Gulick recorded 43 kills, 23 digs and 10 blocks over the course of the tournament, and Swierski tallied 25 kills and six blocks.

Waszak said middle hitters Swierski and Peter Stopinski (12 kills, 10 blocks) were the reason the team went as far as they did.

“We have been working so hard at developing our middle attack and it is starting to pay off because it makes it so much easier for our outside hitters when we are able to spread the block,” Waszak said.

Matt Wiepert handed out 90 assists and tallied four aces.

Also contributing to the team’s success were Jackson Lieber (12 kills, 10 aces); Jon Abaya (17 kills, 10 blocks); Mitchell Simon (20 digs); Eoin Burns (six aces); and Brendan Travis (three aces).

The Spartans improved to 8-3 with a 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-13 road win over Orchard Park Oct. 16.

“We played our brand of volleyball and took care of business,” Waszak said. “The one game we lost they outplayed us, but then we bounced right back and played the way we needed to.”

Gulick led the offense with 20 kills and three aces. Swierski added 12 kills, Chris Kirsch had three aces and five digs, and Wiepert handed out 34 assists.

North hosted Hamburg in its regular-season finale Monday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. North will be hosting a playoff game on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

“I think we are hitting our peak,” Waszak said.

North drops to third in ECIC I
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Williamsville North’s girls volleyball team fell to 8-4 and third place in ECIC Division I after losing at Orchard Park 25-21, 19-25, 14-25, 22-25, Oct. 15.

Lady Spartans coach Keith Hopkins told his players before the match that his team needed to serve the ball well to have success.

The team served at 96 percent in the first set, but the next highest set they served after that was 80 percent.

An example of North’s serving mistakes came in the second game when at 17-17, the Lady Spartans missed a serve and went down 21-19.

“It was not how many we missed, but when we missed,” Hopkins said.

Maia Reed led North’s offense with nine kills. Maddie Farber had 14 service points.

Two days later, North downed West Seneca West 25-12, 25-16, 25-16, at home. Allie Macon led the Lady Spartans with 10 kills.

North closed out the week with a 25-21, 25-16, 16-25, 24-26, 25-15 non-league home win over Sweet Home Friday.

Chloe Hudecki led North’s offense with 11 kills. Reed added 10 kills. Mila Blanco handed out 30 assists.

North hosts Frontier in a Section VI Class AA quarterfinal match at 6 p.m. Friday.

Sweet Home coach Krista Prentice said her team started off slow against North, losing the first two sets, but then picked it up and took them to five sets, but unfortunately ran out of gas at the end.

“This was a great match for the girls to have right before heading into sectionals,” she said. “They played a tough team and rose to the challenge.”

Lauren Hubert led Sweet Home with 14 kills, seven assists, two aces and 18 digs.

Dayna Edholm added 10 kills, five aces and six digs.

Maddy Gerber (25 digs); Kelsey Prentice (three aces, 15 digs); and Anna Stang (18 assists) led the Lady Panthers.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers picked up a league victory over Hamburg Oct. 15, winning 26-24, 16-25, 25-7, 25-20.

Coach Prentice said it was also Senior Night and all of the girls were fired up and excited to play.

“It was a great team effort,” she said. “They really came out strong after they lost the second set and then never looked back.”

Hubert led the way for Sweet Home with 13 kills, 14 assists and 18 digs.

Edholm added 10 kills, two blocks and 16 digs.

Marche Moody (four kills, four blocks); Stang (three kills, 14 assists); Gerber (33 digs); and Kelsey Prentice (26 digs, three aces) also contributed to the victory.

In addition to the North match, Sweet Home lost a non-league road match to Niagara Wheatfield, 16-25, 16-25, 8-25, Oct. 17.

“It was a tough loss for us,” coach Prentice said. “It was their Senior Night that day, and their girls played really well. We didn’t pass well on serve receive at all, which didn’t allow our offense to get going. Defensively, we did get a lot of touches, but never managed to get any momentum going our way.”

Hubert led Sweet Home with seven kills, 10 digs and two assists.

Edholm (three kills, two aces, 16 digs); Gerber (27 digs); Kelsey Prentice (two aces, 14 digs); and Stang (nine assists, five digs) also contributed to the win.

Sweet Home plays at McKinley in a Section VI Class A prequarterfinal match at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Clarence Girls volleyball wins Horseheads tourney
JASON NADOLINSKI, Sports Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

For all the achievements Clarence’s girls volleyball team has accomplished during its recent string of successes, one that always found a way to elude the Lady Red Devils was the tournament championship at the Horseheads Classic. That’s a tournament coach Mike Meyer described as “one of the state’s premier late-season events, filled with state and regional champions that make the level of competition there, from top to bottom, very high.”

Yet even with several key starters missing, the Lady Red Devils managed to cross winning the tournament off its to-do list this past weekend as Clarence eventually took down fellow Section VI squad Portville in Saturday’s championship round by 12-25, 25-11, 15-6 scores to emerge victoriously.

“Portville has won the state title as either a Class C or Class D school for four of the past five years, and my money’s on them being on track to win the Class C title again,” Meyer said. “They truly are one of the best teams in the state, and one of the best coached teams too, so we definitely knew we were in for a tough challenge in the final. All the credit goes to the girls for the way they played, with special credit to captains Jaide [Cummings] and Lexi [MacDonald] for their leadership. I am just so proud of how the girls didn’t give up and of the way they fought all day to win this tournament.”

A slow start led to early errors that Portville capitalized on in quickly winning the first set, and that’s when Meyer – without an assistant coach on the day as well – turned to Cummings and MacDonald to get their input on a potential change. With their green light, the Lady Red Devils came out and “played some of the best volleyball yet this season,” Meyer said, turning up their serving, blocking and defense.

Clarence’s serving and passing in particular helped get Portville out of their system, and from there the Lady Red Devils ran off points as quickly in sets two and three as Portville did in the first set.

“I figured we couldn’t do any worse than 12 points, so we went ahead and made the changes after the first set that I talked with Jaide and Lexi about,” Meyer said. “What was amazing was how the girls reacted to the change; they could’ve acted confused, lost and defeated, but instead embraced the new lineup and played great.”

Clarence, which went 6-0 in pool play in defeating Oneonta, Cicero-North Syracuse and North Penn Liberty, reached the championship round by defeating Baldwinsville by 25-22, 30-28 marks in the semifinal round. Sophomore setter Izzy Kocz ran Clarence’s 5-1 offense “smartly and efficiently from both the front and back rows,” Meyer said, with Leah Victor and Olivia Walczak as relentless from the outside as MacDonald and Taylor Denall were attacking from the middle of the court.

Miranda Edmondson, Jenna Hugenschmidt, and Nina Nicometi went on key serving runs during the semifinal match, and in the middle of it all was the passing, defense, and leadership of MacDonald and Cummings, whom Meyer said “did everything they could to will the team to victory.”

“Essential to the comeback was the other-worldly play of Jaide Cummings, who could not be stopped from the outside even when Baldwinsville started to key on her,” Meyer said. “Set after set, kill after kill went Jaide’s way. Her play was also key to the last point, where both blockers went to Jaide – which left Lexi Ballard open in the middle for the decisive kill and the 30th point.

“Baldwinsville was big, strong and determined, so we knew that we were going to have to be at our best to have a chance at reaching the finals,” Meyer continued. “Serve receive, defense and our ability to reliably side out set the tone. Fortunately for us, Jaide was the best player in the gym and showed why she is in the running for many high-level postseason honors. Her defense and serve receive were next level, her serve was almost unpassable, and she would not be denied from the outside as she recorded kill after kill, especially in the semifinal against Baldwinsville’s large and experienced block.”

Clarence’s playoff run began with a 25-16 quarterfinal round triumph over Bainbridge Guilford. Though the Lady Red Devils had not run a 5-1 system all year they looked as if we had played it all along. The offense was made much easier to run as the serve receive and defense of Cummings, McDonald, Hugenschmidt, Walczak and Edmondson passed the ball on target, allowing Kocz to run a smart and varied offense that continually kept the other teams off balance. Ballard and Denall took over at middle, providing timely kills and key blocks, while Edmondson played a new role in the 5-1, serving, playing defense and attacking from the back row.

Clarence came into the tournament feeling good about its chances after taking down Hamburg by 25-15, 25-13, 25-20 marks on its Senior Night Wednesday. Cummings, Edmondson, Hugenschmidt, Jessica Fitch, Allie Klonowski and Haley Marlowe were all recognized for their contributions to the program over the years, with this night Edmondson and Klonowski combining for 14 kills on the right side, and Fitch contributing two kills and five blocks in the middle against a top-10 non-league opponent.

Cummings, as per usual, led the team with 11 kills and solid defensive play, while Hugenschmidt was also on her game defensively. Marlowe, meanwhile, dished out 10 assists and served up three aces.

“The fans were out in full force and really showed their support for the girls that night,” Meyer said. “It was great to see that support and appreciation for all that they have done for the program over the years.”

Clarence kicked off its week two days earlier with a hard-fought 25-16, 18-25, 25-11, 28-26 win over Lancaster. Walczak and Cummings were nearly unstoppable on offense, finishing with 16 kills each as they both finished with more than 50 attacks on the night. Many of their kills came in the decisive fourth set.

Ballard and Julianne Bolton were also on their game, combining for 11 kills and 11 blocks, while Cummings and MacDonald combined for 40 digs on defense. Hugenschmidt “hit tough serve after tough serve to continually put Lancaster out of system,” Meyer noted.

“Lancaster is a well-coached team that always plays amazing team defense, which is why you know you’re always going to be in for a tough night whenever you play them,” Meyer said. “We just had to keep attacking, as ball after ball came up, in order to score points.”

Clarence, which earned the second seed for the Class AA bracket of the playoffs, will open postseason play at 6 p.m. Friday by hosting seventh seeded Niagara Falls. The winner will advance to the semifinal round on Tuesday.

“We have played some great volleyball up to this point but have to step our game in the next couple of weeks,” Meyer said. “We just need to get to business in practice to prepare for playoffs, because we know we need to be mentally tough enough to fight through practices to keep improving so we can keep this season going for as long as possible.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Tonawanda girls volleyball team wins two of final three matches
Draws Depew for tonight’s Class B-2 playoff opener
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Tonawanda’s girls volleyball team closed out its regular season on a strong note this past week, with coach Renee Smith calling the Lady Warriors’ finale against Holland Friday “simply the best win of the season and the most exciting win of my coaching career here at Tonawanda.”

The Lady Warriors, who battled back and forth all night, played hard in the opening set but ultimately came out on the wrong side of a 25-22 score. Holland pushed Tonawanda to the brink in each of the next two sets, but in the end the Lady Warriors prevailed by matching 26-24 counts to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Another struggle to come out on top in the fourth set saw Holland find a way to tie the match via its 25-20 triumph, and the momentum of that victory helped the Lady Dutchmen open the decisive fifth set on what looked to be a nearly insurmountable 18-7 run.

Not wanting to send the team’s seniors home disappointed on Senior Night, the Lady Warriors dug deep and rallied to pull out the improbable 27-25 victory for their fourth win of the season. Taylor Frankhauser served Tonawanda’s two winning points to help nail down the triumph.

“That fifth set, we were having a tough time not giving in when we were down as much as we were,” Smith said. “But, we just reminded each other that we have faced that kind of a deficit before this season and have always found ways to fight back to get back in the game – and that if there was any team that could pull off that kind of a rally, it was us. It was just an amazing Senior Night – all the seniors played well – where all the girls on the team played their hearts out with 110-percent effort, emotion and communication.”

Kristen Toth finished the match with 37 assists to go along with 11 digs and seven aces, while Allysa Prytula added 10 kills and a block. Hannah Reid had 39 digs for the Lady Warriors, who came into the finale looking to bounce back after suffering a tough 25-9 25-10, 25-5 setback to Eden three days earlier.

Just three of Tonawanda’s normal starters were in the match against the Lady Raiders, but that just meant that players who hadn’t gotten onto the court for a good portion of the season were able – and ready – to make the most of their opportunity to play.

“Even though we lost it was a great match on our end,” Smith said. “We had players who haven’t seen the playing court all year get their chance, and many of them experienced some nice success. Eden is obviously a very talented team and it’s never easy going up against them, but I couldn’t be any prouder of how my girls performed that night.”

Tonawanda came into the Eden match flying high after taking down Lackawanna by 26-24, 25-22, 25-12 marks the previous evening, which was Tonawanda’s breast cancer awareness match. The Lady Warriors, whose festivities included games for the crowd in between each set, played a controlled game and did what it needed to do in order to be successful.

“We followed our game plan of controlling the ball on our side and just keeping it in play with the most aggressive delivery of the ball back,” Smith said. “And we made sure to control our unforced errors in the last set, too. Plus, we raised some money that we’ll be able to donate to someone battling cancer right now here in Tonawanda.”

Toth led the team in aces with seven and also added 14 assists, while Prytula finished with five kills. Reid added 16 digs.

Tonawanda geared up for its final week of the regular season by traveling to crosstown rival North Tonawanda on Oct. 13 to take part in the Lady Lumberjacks’ annual “Dig Pink” Invite. While the Lady Warriors did not emerge with the team championship – that honor went to Williamsville South – they were able to hold their own against teams that exhibited a much higher level of play than what they’ve encountered for the most part this season, Smith said.

“I am very proud of our team’s success this season,” Smith said. “I feel that we let a couple of games and opportunities slip through our fingers this year, but overall we had a very successful season. There is more to high school volleyball than just winning, but we still added wins to an already very positive season with a great group of girls. Now, we’re looking forward to entering the postseason with the momentum of Friday’s big win on our side.”

Sixth-seeded Tonawanda will begin its Section VI Class B-2 playoff run at 6 tonight by hosting 11th-seeded Depew. The winner of that prequarterfinal round clash will advance to face third-seeded Buffalo Arts in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

Lady Lumberjacks’ volleyball closes regular season on two-match streak
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

North Tonawanda’s girls volleyball team wrapped up regular-season play last week by winning its final two matches, including Friday’s 25-19, 25-16, 25-21 Senior Night triumph over Kenmore East.

Playing with its full roster for the first time in a while due to various injuries, the Lady Lumberjacks – spearheaded by their senior starters in the first set – took care of business efficiently against the Lady Bulldogs. McCartney Geartz finished with 11 kills to pace North Tonawanda, while Chase Steingasser added six kills and also served up five aces. Emily Anastasi chipped in with 15 digs.

“The girls had a ton of fun playing in front of their friends and families as we celebrated and congratulated our seniors for their contributions to our program,” coach Katie Harrington said. “The girls played with confidence and were motivated the entire match. We were very excited to have the entire team able to contribute to our win, since we were down a few players for a little while due to injury. All in all, it was a fun and exciting match.”

North Tonawanda came into the finale feeling good about its chances after taking down Niagara Falls three days earlier by 25-23, 25-5, 25-22 marks in a match that Harrington noted was the perfect opportunity for the Lady Lumberjacks to “work on plays and different lineups in match situations, that we had been working on in practice.”

The team’s final away league match was just what the doctor ordered following the Lady Lumberjacks’ 16-25, 11-25, 25-18, 12-25 loss to Grand Island on Oct. 15. Despite coming out strong to start the match, Harrington conceded that North Tonawanda “had too many mental errors that cost us.”

“We were happy that we were able to take them to four sets, and we did come out strong to start that final set, too, but we just didn’t have enough that night,” Harrington said. “So, now, we’re just waiting to see what we have going on for the postseason. We’re excited for the chance to rise to the occasion in the face of that new challenge.”

Paige Book led the way for North Tonawanda against the Lady Vikings with 11 kills, while Emily Anastasi had 19 digs and Laney Wieclaw chipped in with nine digs.

Tenth-seeded North Tonawanda will begin its Class A postseason at 6 tonight by traveling to seventh seeded Hutch-Tech. The winner of that contest will advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round, where it will play the winner of the prequarterfinal pitting 15th-seeded West Seneca West against second-seeded Williamsville South.

Thunder volleyball wins two matches
Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team finished out the regular season with a three-match week.

Last Tuesday, the Thunder defeated Mount Mercy 3-0 in a league match. They won the first set 25-19, the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-13.

The team then got a non-league win Wednesday, 3-0, over Kenmore East. They won sets 25-16, 25-23 and 25-22.

Rachel Hayek had three kills, Sarah Vicari led the way with 16 assists and Sam Hare had 25 digs.

The Thunder lost their final match of the regular season Thursday. They won the first match, 25-23 but then lost 25-19, 25-21 and 25-20.

Shotwell had eight kills, Vicari had 32 assists. Sam Hare had 24 digs and Morgan Feyko had six blocks.

The team’s overall record is 14-4 and 6-3 in conference.

Western New York 2018 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/23/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Western New York 2018 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/23/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Lockport boys volleyball bounces back after falling in poll
By Staff, Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Lockport rebounded from its first loss of the season in boys volleyball by closing an unbeaten league season in the Niagara Frontier League with a sweep over Kenmore East, 22-5, 25-11, 25-15. The Lions won all 13 of their Frontier League matches.

Coach Liz Smorol agreed that her team played with a little added fire after losing two sets to Frontier in the semifinals of the Hamburg tournament on Saturday.

"We played a good team on Saturday, but we didn’t play well," Smorol said of the Frontier match. "I don’t know what the outcome would have been if we played well."

Zach Schneider had 11 kills, 6 aces and 3 digs for Lockport. Rhees Perry had 7 kills, 2 assists, 3 aces and 7 digs. It capped a third straight unbeaten league season for the Lions.

The victory and the Hamburg tournament championship boosted Frontier past Lockport to the No. 1 spot in the WNY Coaches Poll after the Lions has been on top all season. Frontier and Lockport were scheduled for a nonleague match earlier this month, but it was canceled. A rematch will have to wait until the Section VI Class AA playoffs. Frontier is expected to get the No. 1 seed and Lockport No. 2 when the seeding are announced.

Frontier needed four sets to get past West Seneca West in its final ECIC I match of the season.

In ECIC II, Sweet Home completed an undefeated season in league play by sweeping three sets from Williamsville East, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18. Junior Kenny Naples had six kills for the Panthers and senior middle hitter Solomon Shabazz also had six kills. "Shabazz is one of our most consistent players, one of the kids we really rely on," Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said.

Weislo brothers lead Canisius

Sophomore twins Noah and Ethan Weislo, sons of Canisius coach Tom Weislo, led the No. 4 ranked Crusaders to a 25-8, 25-13, 25-21 victory at No. 6 Clarence.

Noah Weislo had nine kills and three aces while Ethan had 31 assists, 4 aces and 2 blocks.

Canisius will play at No. 3 Eden on Thursday before the Monsignor Martin playoffs next week.

High School Extra: Portville volleyball outlasts St. Mary's in five sets
By Staff, Buffalo News
Friday, October 19, 2018

In a matchup between a pair of defending state champions and the top two squads in the Western New York Small School Coaches Poll, top-ranked Portville rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat second-ranked St. Mary’s of Lancaster in a five-set decision on the Lancers’ home court.

After dropping 25-20 and 25-23 decisions in the opening two sets, the Panthers won the final three sets 25-17, 25-11 and 25-17.

“It was such great volleyball on both sides of the court,” said Portville coach Kelly Unverdorben. “I wanted to play a great team before the playoffs and this was the team I wanted to play.”

Beth Miller had 31 kills and 21 digs while Sierra Keim added 17 kills and 28 digs. Kylie Blessing had 59 assists.

Eden sweeps Orchard Park

After clinching the ECIC III boys volleyball title with an undefeated 10-0 mark, Eden stepped up in class to defeat ECIC I opponent Orchard Park in three sets (25-22, 25-13, 25-23) on the Quakers’ home floor. Jake Basinski led the Raiders (17-2) with 11 kills and four aces. Setter Gavin Musielak accounted for 29 assists in the contest. Eden, ranked second in the Western New York Coaches poll, also downed ECIC I foes West Seneca West and Hamburg during the regular season. They host Monsignor Martin leader Canisius in the regular season finale on Oct. 24. Frontier, the league leader, in ECIC I remained undefeated after a three-set win over Lake Shore in boys volleyball. Brandon Dunz led the Falcons (13-1, 11-0) with 12 kills while Brian Norsen added eight. Frontier hosts West Seneca West in the league finale on Monday night.

Mulhern wins Athlete of Week nods

St. Mary’s volleyball player Hannah Mulhern and Kenmore West football player Cam Crosier were named Prep Talk Athletes of the Week in online voting by readers.

Mulhern had 10 kills in a senior night victory against Sacred Heart to help St. Mary’s clinch another Monsignor Martin regular season title. The match was special because Mulhern started the season in a wheelchair following surgery to deal with a benign tumor in her brain stem. She received 53 percent of the vote.

Voting is conducted on BuffaloNews.com, beginning each Monday. The voting concludes Thursdays at noon. To nominate an athlete for consideration, send an email to sports@buffnews.com.

Sweet Home nails down ECIC II volleyball title
By Staff, Buffalo News
Thursday, October 18, 2018

Dylan Aarum and Kalebe Luton scored with 10 kills each to help Sweet Home sweep three sets from visiting Lake Shore, 26-24, 25-23 and 25-19 clinching the ECIC II boys volleyball championship for the Panthers. Sweet Home is 11-0 with one league match left. Lake Shore is 9-2 with one to go.

Besides the work at the net from Aarum and Luton, Sweet Home had "real strong setting from senior Andrew Thiele," coach Richard Cicero said.

Thiele had 35 assists.

"We really blocked well and transitioned well," Cicero said of his team’s performance.

The Panthers were ranked seventh in the latest WNY Coaches Poll.

Canisius wins 19th straight title in volleyball

Canisius completed its 19th straight Monsignor Martin Association championship season in volleyball with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 triumph over St. Francis.

John Scrocco led the Crusaders with 16 kills and five aces as the Crusaders completed an 8-0 league regular season.

Adding to the occasion was the Senior Night festivities for the Crusaders.

"We have half a dozen seniors who play a lot for us," said coach Tom Weislo. "Tonight we tried to feature them and they did great."

Next for Canisius is the Jesuit Invitational tournament hosted by McQuaid Jesuit in Rochester on Saturday. Also entered are Loyola Brakefield of Baltimore and Colegio Ignatio from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

St. Mary’s girls volleyball team continues to impress
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, October 18, 2018

The St. Mary’s girls volleyball team has continued to have an impressive season despite its overall youth. The Lady Lancers are now 26-4 overall and 9-0 in Monsignor Martin play after a win over Nardin Monday.

The team saw some players take some major leaps when they played in the Garden City Tournament in New Jersey two weekends ago. St. Mary’s did very well on the first day to qualify for the playoffs on Sunday. However, they lost in the quarterfinals to finish 3-1-3 on the day.

“I thought we did well,” St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski said. “We lost to a team that we beat Saturday night. It’s hard to beat a good team twice. They beat us Sunday in the quarterfinals.”

The team saw some younger girls start to really understand how to play at the varsity level of the busy weekend. In particular, Courtney Kurkowiak and Marie Rhodes showed their coach a lot.

“I think it’s developing great right now,” Pieczynski said. “We won some tough matches in Garden City. The younger players came of age. Courtney Kurkowiak and Marie Rhodes came to age a little bit.”

Outside of those two, the team has been getting solid play from its experienced girls in Kelly Cleversley, Hannah Mulhern and Jasmine Brundage.

“Our top corps of players is playing well right now,” Pieczynski said.

The team has now played in three tournaments this season, including its home tournament and the Victor Tournament. They will play in one more before the season ends. These out-of-town weekends help prepare the girls for the postseason and the stretch run. The aim isn’t just to win the tournament, it’s to get better for November.

“It’s huge,” Pieczynski said. “Everyone is on the same mindset at these tournaments. You don’t win anything in October.

You’re in those tournaments to toughen your skin a little bit. We’re looking forward to playoffs and year-end. We play through adversity and it only bodes well for us.”

The team is in a tough stretch of play currently. The Lady Lancers took on Nardin Monday and played Section V Our Lady of Mercy Wednesday in a match that took place after press time. Thursday, they will take on top small school Portville. This weekend, St. Mary’s will travel to Westchester for the Walter Panas Tournament.

“We’re playing at home so that helps,” Pieczynski said. “We have to put into play what we’ve been learning over the past couple tournaments. No lead is too safe. We have a year-end tournament in Westchester this weekend that we will prepare us for the playoffs. We’re looking forward to the playoffs, and we’re hoping to make it to states and win it at home this year.”

EA girls volleyball responds well to first league setback of season
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, East Aurora Bee
Thursday, October 18, 2018

East Aurora girls volleyball coach Rebecca Jacobs was understandably curious about how her team would respond after the Lady Blue Devils dropped a 19-25, 20-25, 17-25 decision to Lake Shore – their first league loss of the year – on Oct. 4.

Fortunately for Jacobs and her players, East Aurora aced that particular test as it won its next two matches – including Thursday’s 25-19, 25-17, 25-14 Senior Night conquest of Pioneer – to move to 9-2 on the year and show that it has a short memory where loss is concerned.

“Lake Shore was a tough match for us, specifically since we had a few injuries that kept some of our starters out of the match,” Jacobs said. “But, sophomores Bella Weir and Paityn Hill both did a nice job of communicating out there on the court.”

Jacobs noted that “it was exciting to see how the team bounced back from the Lake Shore loss” to record a 28-26, 25-16, 29-27 win over Cheektowaga in its next match, held Oct. 9. East Aurora had to rally from a 21-14 deficit in the third set to pull out the victory, with Olivia Alessi keeping the offense humming and Izzy Sell picking up a crucial kill during the Lady Blue Devils’ rally.

“Our serving was tough and really helped us come back for the win,” Jacobs said. “I was really proud of how the girls played together and never gave up.”

Alessi finished the Cheektowaga match with 12 kills and five aces.

Senior Astrid Larson, meanwhile, had five kills while playing a solid match from the back row and from the outside in the win over Pioneer. Fellow senior Olivia Covington added seven kills and four aces, while senior right-side hitter Kelly Gampietro added four kills and an ace. The squad’s other senior, middle hitter Taylor McClure, also saw significant playing time in the match.

“This was a really special game because it was our Senior Night, and Astrid and Taylor really stepped it up and made some amazing plays in the second and third sets,” Jacobs said. “Olivia and Kelly combined for 11 kills and five aces, making it hard for Pioneer to stop our momentum.”

East Aurora (8-1 ECIC III) returned to action Monday against Depew and also took on Williamsville South Tuesday before facing the Lady Wildcats again on Wednesday, but information about those matches was not available at press time. The Lady Blue Devils close out their regular season Friday with a contest against division and playoff rival Maryvale.

“I am really happy with our progress so far this season,” Jacobs said. “The girls are working hard every practice on new plays to add to our system for the second half of season, and to prepare for playoffs in a couple of weeks. I, for one, am really excited to be playing a large school in South this week; it’s going to be a tough match, and we are going to have to really compete with them to have a chance. But it’ll be a great tuneup for the playoffs.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Sweet Home can clinch ECIC II volleyball with a win
By Staff, Buffalo News
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Sweet Home can wrap up the ECIC II boys volleyball championship by defeating Lake Shore in their match today in Amherst.

Coach Richard Cicero’s Panthers improved their division record to 10-0 on Tuesday, defeating West Seneca East in four sets on Senior Night at Sweet Home. The set scores were 25-20, 25-29, 21-25 and 25-15.

Senior co-captain Dylan Aarum and Shawn Romanowski led the way with six kills each.

Sweet Home has gone deep into the sectional playoffs the last two season in a resurgence of the sport at the school, but lost to Eden and Hamburg in the crossover finals each time.

"We’ve had a pretty good run," said Cicero, who has been the Panthers’ coach for 20 years. "Our three co-captains (Aarum, Kaleb Luton and Solomon Shabazz) do a great job of getting us all pulling in the right direction."

Sweet Home volleyball remains perfect in ECIC II
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Sweet Home boys volleyball team’s lone match last week was a big one, downing Starpoint, 25-21, 25-17, 25-23, on the road Friday and improving to 9-0 in ECIC II.

Panthers coach Rich Cicero said his team played a solid game.

“We played good defense and blocked well,” he said. “I thought we needed to work on our serving. It was not awful, but it was 15-15 in the first game and we had missed five serves.”

Left side hitter Kaleb Luton and left side hitter Dylan Aarum led the Panthers’ offense with seven and six kills, respectively. Setter Andrew Thiele handed out 23 assists.

“Dylan covers a lot of the court,” Cicero said. “Kaleb Luton has also picked up his game as well. Andrew played a solid game and made some good choices.”

Cicero said right side hitter Shawn Romanowski has been a nice addition on the right side.

Sweet Home hosted West Seneca East Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. Sweet Home hosts Lake Shore Wednesday. Wins over both teams should likely clinch the Panthers the division title.

“We are not there yet,” Cicero said. “We are playing good ball now, but we have some work to do. We are making good strides in practice and understanding the concept of what we are trying to do as a team. Our goal is to play a complete game.”

Williamsville North

The Spartans improved to 7-3 with a 25-15, 25-12, 22-25, 25-13 road win over Lancaster Oct. 10.

Adam Gulick led the Spartans’ offense with 17 kills and four aces.

Matt Wiepert handed out 31 assists. Jon Abaya tallied six kills. Mitchell Simon recorded 11 digs.

Carson Swierski added 10 kills.

“Carson is continuing to get better and becoming a major part of the offense, which is exciting,” North coach Jake Waszak said.

Waszak said the match allowed him to play some secondary players to get experience, including junior setter Andrew Krysiak and junior Chris Kirsch, who serves and plays in the back row for Abaya. Kirsch finished with three aces.

“Chris has one of the best jump float serves that I have ever coached,” Waszak said. “You can count on him to be consistent every single night. He does well in his role.”

North traveled to Orchard Park Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. North competes in the Hamburg Invitational Saturday.

Williamsville South

For the second time this season, Williamsville South needed five games to defeat Amherst, winning on the road Friday, 31-29, 25-27, 25-20, 18-25, 17-15.

South coach Thom Knab said the difference in the match was that his team played a cleaner game and made fewer mistakes.

“Both teams were very comparable,” Knab said. “It was a streaky match. We would go up five and they would catch up or vice versa. The last two points of the last game came down to two mistakes.”

Nico Zanelotti recorded 11 kills and six aces.

Jeffrey Randall had 10 kills and Matt Angelo added eight kills.

The Billies dropped a non-league home match to Iroquois 17-25, 20-25, 27-29 Oct. 10.

“It was a competitive match, but we just didn’t seem to be as organized on the court as we might normally be and Iroquois was a little more aggressive in their play,” Knab said.

Zanelotti tallied seven kills and Tom Binda had six kills.

South (6-9, 5-6) hosted Williamsville East Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The Billies also host North Tonawanda Wednesday and compete in the Grand Island Tournament Saturday.

South girls volleyball wins Lady Jacks ‘Dig Pink’ Invite
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Williamsville South’s girls volleyball team continued its banner season by beating Fairport, 25-13, 25-16, to win the Lady Jacks Varsity “Dig Pink” Invitational Saturday at North Tonawanda High School.

It is the Lady Billies’ second invitational they have won this year, also winning the Sweet Home Tournament.

“Our offense was definitely the best it has been all year long against Fairport,” South coach Tom Sproull said. “We served very tough and ran our offense fast, and the girls pounded the ball to the ground. We did not give them a chance to get the first swing.”

South went 4-2 in its pool, beating Mount St. Mary and and Amherst, and losing twice to Niagara-Wheatfield.

In the first set of the Niagara Wheatfield match, senior libero Gabby Presutti reaggravated a ligament injury in her thumb and Maddy Popielski injured her hand.

Presutti did not play for the rest of the day. Popielski did not play in the second set against Niagara-Wheatfield but played the rest of the tournament.

“Gabby is our vocal leader, so I am shocked that we made the run without her,” Sproull said.

The losses dropped the Lady Billies to a 10th seed, who then beat seventh-seed Chautauqua Lake, 30-25, in the play-in game of the gold bracket, and upset second seed Niagara-Wheatfield, 30-28, in the quarterfinals and Hamburg in the semifinals.

Sproull noted the play of Claire Montgomery for stepping in and performing well at libero, right side hitter Amari DeBerry, middle hitters Cecilia Brooks and Hannah Abramowitz, outside hitters Popielski and Megan Muehlbauer, and setters Riley Domin and Haley Marchewka for putting the ball to where the hitters needed them.

South won home league matches over Amherst, 25-19, 25-13, 25-10, Oct. 9 and Hamburg, 25-23, 25-19, 25-19 Thursday.

Popielski had nine kills and three aces, and Muehlbauer added seven kills and three aces versus Amherst. Right side hitter Molly McKinnon added five kills. Marchewka added three aces.

Sproull said his team had a lot of unforced errors in the first set against Hamburg and started connecting more in the second and third sets.

Muehlbauer recorded a season-high 19 kills along with two aces. Popielski added eight kills and three aces. DeBerry and Brooks each contributed four kills. Riley Domin had three aces.

South traveled to Williamsville East Monday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. South’s Senior Night is against Starpoint Friday.

Williamsville North

The Lady Spartans improved to 7-3 in ECIC Division I after earning home wins over Jamestown, 25-13, 25-13, 25-19, Oct. 9 and Frontier, 25-12, 25-14, 25-23, Friday.

Mila Blanco tallied 15 service points against Jamestown, including three aces.

Allie Macon registered 17 kills, Maia Reed had four kills and Maddie Farber contributed 17 digs against Frontier.

“I was concerned about our match against Frontier because of homecoming, but we were focused throughout the entire match,” North coach Keith Hopkins said. “We really took it to them.”

The Lady Spartans tied for third at Saturday’s Lady Jacks Varsity “Dig Pink” Invitational at North Tonawanda, losing to Fairport, 23-30, in the semifinals.

“We were down 20-19 and then could not serve receive,” Hopkins said. “The next six serves we just couldn’t pass.”

In pool play, North defeated Roy-Hart, 25-18, 25-20 and Albion, 25-20, 25-15, and split with Chautauqua Lake, 20-25, 25-18. The 5-1 record advanced North into the gold bracket quarterfinals where they defeated Olmstead, 30-20.

Throughout the tournament, Macon recorded 34 kills and Blanco handed out 64 assists.

North traveled to Orchard Park Monday, but information about the game was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Lady Spartans host West Seneca West at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Sweet Home at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Williamsville East

The Lady Flames dropped a 16-25, 18-25, 19-25 non-league home loss to West Seneca West Oct. 10 and defeated Amherst, 25-10, 25-11, 25-13, in a league home match Thursday.

Rachel Steffan led East against OP with 12 kills and four blocks. Christy Mack added nine 19 digs and six aces, Madison Smith recorded six kills and Summer Clark handed out 23 assists.

Steffan led East’s offense against Amherst with 16 kills. Madeline Reid tallied eight kills and four blocks. Smith had six kills and 10 digs. Summer Clark handed out 22 assists.

East hosted Williamsville South Monday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. East also hosts Lancaster Wednesday and travels to Hamburg Thursday.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers won both of their league road matches, defeating Starpoint, 25-13, 25-16, 25-20, Oct. 9 and West Seneca East 25-14, 25-21, 25-15, Thursday.

Coach Krista Prentice said her team passed well and did not make many errors against Starpoint.

Dayna Edholm tallied 12 kills and six aces. Madison Gerber added 15 digs and two aces.

Prentice said her team served and passed well against West Seneca East.

Lauren Hubert led the way with seven kills, seven assists and five aces.

Jahleya Burt added five kills.

Sweet Home closed out the week by losing to tournament runner-up Fairport, 23-30, in the quarterfinals of the gold bracket of the Lady Jacks’ “Dig Pink” Varsity Invitational Saturday.

In pool play, Sweet Home split matches with Hutch-Tech and Hamburg, and won both against Kenmore East.

The Lady Panthers then beat Newfane in the pre-quarterfinals.

“I feel like we got better as they went on,” Prentice said. “They played well against Fairport. We got down early by like seven points and were never able to recover.”

Prentice noted the play of Gerber at libero and Hubert, who sets and hits.

Sweet Home hosted Hamburg Monday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Lady Panthers play non-league matches at Niagara Wheatfield Wednesday and Sweet Home Friday.

Sacred Heart volleyball drops league matches
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball team lost two tough Monsignor Martin Association road league matches this past week to St. Mary’s of Lancaster, 19-25, 17-25, 13-25 Oct. 10 and Mount St. Mary Academy, 21-25, 14-25, 25-18, 23-25 Friday. The team is 5-3 in league play and 7-5 overall.

Junior Siobhan Ryan led the Sharks’ offense against St. Mary’s with eight kills, and added nine serve receives and five digs.

Junior Hannah Tudor led the defense with 17 digs and 13 serve receives, and had two aces.

Other contributors were senior Taylor Jakubik (four digs, three kills, two serve receives, ace); sophomore Kayleigh Colleary (six kills); junior Catie Grable (two kills, serve receive, dig); senior captain Gabriella Berardi (two digs, ace); freshman Isabella Allen (kill, serve receive); sophomore Olivia Jarosz (two serve receives); and freshman Blair Kuzniarek (two digs).

Coming off the loss to St. Mary’s, the Sharks hoped to defeat Mount St. Mary’s. Although the Sharks won game three, they gave up a lead in the fourth game. Ryan led the offense with 14 kills. She also recorded 12 digs and seven serve receives.

Tudor led the defense with 22 serve receives and 21 digs.

Also contributing for the team were Jakubik (11 serve receives, 10 digs, seven kills, two aces); Berardi (10 digs, four kills, two serve receives); Allen (six kills, two aces, two digs); Colleary (eight kills); Kuzniarek (five digs); Grable (three kills); Salvo (two kills); and Jarosz (dig).

The Sharks have a busy week. They traveled to Frontier Monday and hosted Nichols Tuesday, but information about the matches were unavailable before The Bee went to press. Sacred Heart travels to Grand Island Wednesday and hosts Mount St. Mary’s on Friday for Senior Night.

Clarence Boys volleyball reaches Gold semis at OP tourney
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

After a big gap between contests, Clarence’s boys volleyball team closed out its week in a flurry of activity by facing Frontier Friday ahead of taking part in the Orchard Park Tournament on Saturday.

The Red Devils reached the semifinal round of the Gold Flight at the tournament, where they lost to Eden by 17-25, 25-21, 12-15 marks. All-Tournament Team selection Teddy Payne had 15 assists, three aces and two digs to guide Clarence’s effort in the semifinal round, while Andrew Ratzel had seven kills. Chris Wikar had five kills, while Jackson Wurtz had six digs.

Clarence, which swept Hamburg and St. Joe’s in pool play, advanced to the semifinal round by topping the hosts in the quarterfinal round, 30-21. Payne dished out 13 assists in the match, while Pat Wiesinger had six kills. Ratzel chipped in with four kills.

Prior to the tournament, Clarence was defeated by Frontier in a close 26-24, 13-25, 22-25, 24-26 decision. The Red Devils trailed 10-2 in the first set before capitalizing on the roll shots Frontier was sending their way. Clarence had additional opportunities to close out the third and fourth sets as well, but ultimately couldn’t pull out the victory.

“Frontier is hard to beat,” coach David Hill said. “They’re one of the best in Western New York with two players who swing tough and come up big when they need it the most.”

Payne had 27 assists, three kills and two aces to lead the charge for Clarence. Wiesinger had nine kills and Zach Ciraolo had seven, while Wikar, Wurtz and Kevin Cashdollar finished with 10, nine and seven digs, respectively.

Clarence (8-3 ECIC I) returned to action Tuesday against Lancaster, but information about the Red Devils’ league finale was not available at press time. Clarence will close out its regular season by hosting Canisius on Monday and traveling to Williamsville East on Wednesday, Oct. 24, in a pair of non-league matches.

NT girls volleyball enters stretch run playing well
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

North Tonawanda’s girls volleyball team entered its busy final week of the regular season, having played well just about every time it has stepped onto the court in October, with the most recent evidence of that solid play coming at its own annual “Dig Pink” Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

The Lady Lumberjacks, who placed second in their pool following the morning round-robin session, were ultimately upended by Hamburg in the quarterfinal round. Coach Katie Harrington had her players primed to do well, placing a big emphasis on making it to 15 points first in the one-set, 30-point match. Though North Tonawanda did hit that mark with play that Harrington noted featured “very minimal errors,” in the end a few overpasses by the Lady Lumberjacks proved too much to overcome.

“We knew going into the match with Hamburg that it was going to be tough, but the girls were consistent and positive the entire time,” Harrington said. “Our level of play was high and fun to watch for sure.”

North Tonawanda came into the tournament looking to do well after topping Starpoint on Wednesday by 25-16, 25-22, 24-26, 25-18 marks. Chase Steingasser and McCartney Geartz led the way with 10 kills each, while Emily Anastasi had 18 digs and Emily McNeill had 14. Jessa Krull served up three aces.

“The girls played well as a whole and did a great job of always ‘bettering the ball,’” Harrington said. “We remained aggressive even when the ball was out of system. The girls just played with confidence and didn’t let anything hit the floor without us at least trying to get a touch on it. It was the most aggressive we have been with our footwork and offensive play in a while. Everything seemed to click.”

Starpoint was just what the doctor ordered for the Lady Lumberjacks following their straight-sets loss to Kenmore West the previous evening. Laney Wieclaw (12 digs) and Paige Book each had five kills for North Tonawanda, while Anastasi added 15 digs.

“Ken West wasn’t our best match,” Harrington said. “We gave up our feet and had lack of communication. We know that these are parts of our game that need constant improvement.”

North Tonawanda’s match with Kenmore West came on the heels of another tournament appearance on Oct. 6. That day, the Lady Lumberjacks – who were without two players due to injury – fought their way to a second-place finish in the Silver Bracket at Frontier’s Tournament.

“We pulled up one of our JV players to help us out, being down the two normal players – and she did a wonderful job for us,” Harrington said. “Anytime that you are missing a core player, it changes the dynamics on the course, and though it took the girls a little bit of time to find their groove that day, they definitely eventually did.”

Lew-Port made North Tonawanda grind out a tough 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 win on Oct. 4 in a match that Harrington conceded “the girls were a little flat and complacent the entire time.” Steingasser finished the match with eight kills for the Lady Lumberjacks on the day.

“They knew what they needed to do, but it wasn’t our most intense game that we’ve played together,” Harrington said. “It was a good eye opener for them to see what happens when we just sit back.”

A slow start against Lockport on Oct. 2 doomed the Lady Trojans to a 17-25, 21-25, 30-32 loss in a match Harrington said that her girls “were very excited about.” Geartz finished the match with six kills for North Tonawanda, while Wieclaw finished with five kills and 19 digs. McNeill chipped in with 13 digs.

“We unfortunately started off too slowly, but the girls showed a ton of heart and perseverance throughout the entire match,” Harrington said. “The third match in particular, we were able to keep a level head and really push forward as a team. We were down 10-1 at one point and came back to make it really interesting. I just wish we would have started that set the way we ended it.”

North Tonawanda came into the month of October feeling good about its chances after posting a 25-12, 25-11, 25-10 win over CSAT on Sept. 28. Steingasser had five kills and five aces to lead the charge, while McNeill finished with 15 digs. Wieclaw chipped in with nine digs for the Lady Lumberjacks.

“CSAT was another match that was a full team effort,” Harrington said. “It was great to see the girls run new plays and try some things that we had been working on during practice. The girls did a terrific job of playing our game the entire match.”

North Tonawanda (8-7, 6-7 NFL) resumed play Monday against Grand Island and then took on Niagara Falls Tuesday, but information about those matches was not available at press time. The Lady Lumberjacks are slated to complete regular-season play Friday by facing Kenmore East.

“The girls seem to be gaining confidence at the right time in the season,” Harrington said. “We have done much better at remaining positive and loud throughout our matches, and when we can control what is happening on our side, we can make some remarkable plays.”

Kenmore East girls volleyball staying positive
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The young Kenmore East girls volleyball team has put forth a strong effort in Julie Becker’s first year back as a head coach. The Lady Bulldogs have overcome their youth and inexperience to put up a 6-8 Niagara Frontier League record and 7-8 overall.

“I’m very positive about what they’ve done in the respect that they’re a young team,” Becker said. “The girls work really hard. They really don’t get down on themselves very often. They continue to push when we’re down. They try to stay up when we’re up. With having only one or two starters that are seniors and a couple 10th-graders that are starting and so on, the team that we’re playing against that we stay close to are the teams that have a little more experience than us.”

The team might have lost some close games against more experienced teams, but the Lady Bulldogs have not gone into any game believing they were about to lose. The Lady Bulldogs come to every match with a positive attitude, which has allowed them to play above their experience level.

“I’m very proud of what they’ve done this season,” Becker said. “Would I hope for more of those tight wins against a couple of those teams? Yes. But overall, I’m happy with the attitude of the team. We go into every game positive that we’re going to win. We’re just trying to keep our head up. Even though we might not have a winning record right now, it’s not horrible. Being in the middle of the league is OK. We’re just trying to keep it very positive. I hope for some better results overall, but I’m not really disappointed in where we’re at.”

The team has been led by the play of Jordan Taylor, who comes from a long line of star volleyball players. She is not only an excellent player, but also a good leader and person.

“She’s one of our best players; she plays all year round,” Becker said. “She comes from a family of volleyball players. Her oldest sister plays at RIT. Her other sisters also played for East. They’re a big volleyball family. She’s an excellent player; she really stands out. When we play, everyone kind of says ‘oh yeah, number four.’ She’s a great person, too; she has a great personality. Same with her sisters. That’s just a wonderful family. She’s a great volleyball player and a great person.”

The team has also gotten a solid effort out of junior libero Maya Maccaganno and sophomore Gabrielle Sordetto. Both have been standout players for Kenmore East this season.

“Maya is an excellent player, and she’s really been very consistent this season,” Becker said. “She plays club; she just is volleyball. She is the epitome of that awesome volleyball player. She’s not even just that; she’s a great person. Then also Gabrielle Sordetto. She’s a 10th-grader, and up and coming girl. When you see her or watch her play, she really wants to get better. She doesn’t get she’s just a sophomore sometimes, but also it’s awesome that she is just a 10th-grader. Those are my other two that I would just add to the standouts this season.”

The team has just three games left in the regular season. Wednesday, they will take on Mount St .Mary in a road non-league match. They’ll then finish out the league schedule season with Lockport on Thursday and North Tonawanda Friday.

“I’m hoping to get a good non-league out of Wednesday to bring us into the last couple games and then into playoffs,” Becker said. “Lockport is a tough team, but they are definitely beatable. I’m hoping to take a couple games from them, if not win the match. We could, if everyone is on their game. Same with NT. I know we could win them and the girls are not walking into the game thinking we’re going to lose.”

The team is just looking to stay positive, as it has all season. The girls have served well, and will look to continue that into the final week.

“The serving has been real- ly good,” Becker said. “It’s not something that we work on every time we lose game. We work on tougher serves, not getting the ball in. Sometimes it’s like ‘oh, guys, you missed so many serves.’ That’s usually not the issue. A lot of times it is that, but also the reality that you’re going to miss some. It’s not a high percentage that we’re missing.

“Overall, we just want to stay positive. There is always going to be times where your team is going to get down a bit. But overall, the girls have been good at keeping a positive attitude and walking into game with the thought that we should win. It’s not like ‘we’re playing Niagara-Wheatfield and they’re undefeated, so we’re going to lose.’ They’ve never walked into a situation with that thought in mind.”

Kenmore East boys volleyball aiming to improve
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Kenmore East boys volleyball team may not have had the best record this season, but the boys are playing hard and continuing to improve. The team is 2-8 thus far but is playing better than it was last year at this time.

“In comparison to last season, I am very happy,” Kenmore East coach Nick Sereday said. “My boys have been working really hard and continue to impress me.

“Despite our record, we remain hard workers at practice as we try to transfer the skills we learn and develop in practice to the hard-fought competition.”

The team has been led by junior setter and captain Mike Greiner, who leads by example in his work ethic.

“My setter/captain Mike Greiner is an 11th-grade leader and role model,” Kenmore East coach Nick Sereday said. “He is very determined and works hard in every practice and game, showing improvement each day. He is very mobile on the court, and his performances often result in a clutch appearance for our team.”

Another solid player has been middle blocker Alex Simmons, who has been important on the defensive side of things.

“He has developed remarkably and is one of our top defensive play makers,” Sereday said. “His blocking ability fires up the team, and he is able to match with his hitting for both accuracy and power. In addition to his athleticism, Simmons remains calm, cool and collected with his face of granite and 10-mile stare, no matter the play or point.”

One area the team is looking to improve on in the final stretch of the season is communication. The Bulldogs will have matches left against North Tonawanda and Lockport to close out the season.

“We are still developing our ability to communicate on the court to move the ball swiftly and accurately during the games,” Sereday said. “For the remaining time of our 2018 season, we will be working hard toward achieving the goals that we set for both individual athletes and the team at the beginning of the season. These goals will be achieved both in the classroom and on the court.”

Thunder volleyball wins two in a row
Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team continued an impressive season last week with a pair of league wins.

Monday, the Thunder defeated Cardinal O’Hara in three sets. They won 25-10, 25-9 and 25-14. Gabby Giglia had three kills, Sam Hare led the way with 16 digs and Lauren Mucica had 11 assists.

Friday, they followed that up with a 3-1 victory over Sacred Heart. The Thunder won the first set 25-21, the second set 25-14, dropped the third set 25-18 and then clinched the match with a 25-22 victory in the fourth set.

Morgan Feyko led the team with seven blocks, Mya Shotwell had one kill and Sarah Vicari had 25 assists.

The team’s overall record is 12-3 and 5-2 in conference. The Thunder played Mount Mercy Tuesday in a match that did not end by press time.

Western New York 2018 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/16/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Western New York 2018 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/16/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 16, 2018

High School Extra: Tough volleyball win for Canisius
By Staff, Buffalo News
Sunday, October 14, 2018

Canisius swept three sets from the host Baldwinsville Bees after coming back from two sets down to defeat defending Section III volleyball champion Cicero-North Syracuse in the Baldwinsville tournament.

Coach Tom Weislo’s Crusaders rallied to win the last three sets 25-21, 25-23 and 15-8 after losing 25-18 and 25-22.

Eden took two of three sets from Orchard Park to win the championship of the Quakers’ own tournament. Gavin Musielak of the champion Raiders was tournament MVP.

High School Extra: Frontier survives clash
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, October 13, 2018

Frontier boys volleyball fended off its biggest competition in ECIC I, but it was anything but comfortable.

The Falcons won in four sets (24-26, 25-13, 25-22, 26-24) against Clarence to stay undefeated in division play. Coach Nick Penberthy said the Red Devils outplayed them, pushing them to a game point in the fourth set, but Frontier did just enough to prevail.

“They’re tough competition,” Penberthy said. “They definitely showed up tonight. I thought that they played really well and pushed our hand.”

The win pushes the Falcons to 11-0 in ECIC I and 12-1 overall. With the run they’ve been on, Penberthy said it can be beneficial in the long term to be tested like they were on Friday.

“Every time we go on the court it’s a learning lesson,” Penberthy said. “We reflect on it and see what we could have done better every night.”

The Falcons have one more league game left, an Oct. 22 date with West Seneca West.

High School Extra: Paw patrols the court
By Staff, Buffalo News
Friday, October 12, 2018

Hutch-Tech’s Tooly Paw recorded 42 digs as the Engineers earned a four-set nonleague victory against Mount Mercy.

Hutch-Tech kept Mount Mercy in the teens in all three of its victorious sets as the Engineers moved to 11-3 on the season.

Williamsville South moved to 11-2 overall and 10-0 in ECIC II with a three-set (25-23, 25-19, 25-19) victory against Hamburg. Megan Muehlbauer had 19 kills and two aces for the Billies.

Four months after surgery, senior Mulhern stars for Lancers
By Staff, Buffalo News
Thursday, October 11, 2018

It was Senior Night Wednesday for the St. Mary’s of Lancaster girls volleyball team. It was a very meaningful occasion for Lancers senior Hannah Mulhern. It was special for more than the fact that the Lancers clinched another Monsignor Martin Association regular season title with a 25-29, 25-17, 25-13 sweep of Sacred Heart. Mulhern led the way with 10 kills.

It was special because four months ago there was some concern that Hannah would walk correctly again let along play top flight volleyball after two surgeries to deal with a benign tumor in her brain stem.

"Four months ago she was still in a wheelchair," said St. Mary’s coach Don Pieczynski. "But she came back for the start of our season and took it one step at a time.

"What a competitor. She just wanted to be out here playing. Tonight, she played one of her best matches. Like a champ."

Bridget Vogl had eight digs and three aces in the victory, and Kelly Cleversley had 15 kills.

St. Mary’s has one league match to play at Nardin next week, then the Lancers, ranked second among small schools in Western New York, have a showdown agaisnt No. 1 Portville on Oct. 18 in Lancaster.

Injuries derail East’s boys volleyball team
West Seneca Bee
Thursday, October 11, 2018

It’s tough to have a legitimate chance at victory when important players are kept out of the lineup due to injury, as West Seneca East’s boys volleyball team has had the bad fortune of experiencing this fall.

The Trojans have had to play without the services of Cole Ignaszack and Dylan MacIver for extended periods of time, coach Dave Kutina said, while Andrew Luksch was also less than 100 percent for a good portion of September after fighting through an ankle injury early in the season as well. Despite missing time, Ignaszack still managed to record 40 kills with 15 errors in 63 attempts for an impressive .397 efficiency rating.

Entering October, Jackson Strong was leading the team with 16 aces, 13 errors on 88 service attempts, 62 digs – which already broke the season record – and 56 kills with 27 errors on 130 attack attempts for a .233 kill efficiency rating. Other standouts heading into October included Nate Wurl with 27 kills, Luksch with 15 kills and Dan Hardy with 10 digs.

East, which topped Amherst for its only league win of the season, returned to action Tuesday against East Aurora, but information about that match was not available at press time. The Trojans close out their week by traveling to Williamsville East on Friday.

Quakers girls volleyball preps for showdown with Williamsville North
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, October 11, 2018

The Orchard Park girls volleyball team is still in the mix for an ECIC I division title. The Lady Quakers are 8-1 in league play (and 12-3 overall) with just one loss to Williamsville North thus far. They’ll have a rematch with the Lady Spartans Monday, with a share of the division title on the line.

“I’m expecting my team not to take them as lightly as they did last time,” Orchard Park coach Greg Lardo said. “The one team that we’ve lost to in division is coming to our place, so we know what is on the line. I’ll sell it to my team that if we beat this team, that it is at least a share of the division.”

The match will take place on senior night, which means that the gym should be crowded and loud. The Lady Quakers are hoping that will make it tough on Williamsville North.

“We can lock up the division on our senior night,” Lardo said. “There are going to be a lot of emotions. It’s not going to be one of those games where the gym is dead. They’re not going to just roll out the ball and start playing. They’re going to be digging and playing hard. We know that they’re going to dig a lot of balls; we know that they’re going to bring it back. They tooled our block a ton, so we’ve been working on that as the season has gone on. We’re thinking there is going to be a different outcome this time around. We’re thinking there is going to be a different outcome come Monday.”

The first match between the teams three weeks ago went four sets. The Lady Quakers won the first set, but dropped three straight close sets after that. The team had a tough time playing on the road and just missed a couple plays here and there.

“It was pretty close,” Lardo said. “We won the first game. The next three were really competitive. We played great defense. It was at their place. You always get a little bit of an advantage playing at home. I thought we probably could have made a couple plays where served a little tougher. But volleyball is tough. When you’re playing at a high level, it comes down to a couple points. We just weren’t on the right side of it.”

Other than that match, the Lady Quakers have not had much trouble outside of those matches. They swept four-time defending Class AA State Champion Clarence.

“I love sweeping Clarence,” Lardo said. “That was a big one for us. We knew coming into this previous week that that was going to determine the division. If we lost that, we weren’t going to win the division.”

The team has been led by the play of junior outside hitter Abby Ryan. She has led the team in kills and has really cut down on mistakes.

“She’s always been our go-to girl; she’s been getting a lot of kills,” Lardo said. “She’s been hitting on a high percentage as well so she hasn’t been making the errors. She made a lot of errors her sophomore year and we talked about minimizing them. She still makes a couple foolish plays that we talk about. When we look at the box score and see that she’s only made a few errors, and has 20-plus kills, that’s going to help us out.”

Another strong player has been Hailey Callahan. The junior libero has been doing the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet, like setting up shots. She’s also been among the team leader in digs.

“She’s just been making a ton of digs for us,” Lardo said. “There’s never a stat for passing and keeping the ball in system. She’s been doing a great job for us. When you’re digging the ball, you’re taking a kill away from the other team, which is essentially a point. So she’s been doing a great job for us as well.”

Outside hitter Kate Hennessy has played better as the season has gone on. She will also be key to any success this team has going forward.

“She’s really coming alive,” Lardo said. “She had a little letdown a couple weeks ago, and she’s really starting to pick up her game and looks really strong. I’m really happy with where our team is right now. We have a couple more weeks to go.”

The Lady Quakers will take on Jamestown Thursday before their showdown with North Monday. They’ll then take on Lancaster and Hamburg to close out the season. The Lady Legends could provide a tough late-season matchup for Orchard Park.

“Lancaster is not an easy team either,” Lardo said. “They play great defense. They keep the ball live and keep things going. They’re scrappy. In our division, it’s never easy. Each night is a challenge, which is great for us. It’s never boring. We just hope to make the better plays at the end.”

email: tnigrelli @beenews.com

Sweet Home volleyball sweeps South
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Sweet Home’s boys volleyball team improved to 8-0 in ECIC II after defeating Williamsville South, 17-25, 16-25, 19-25 Oct. 3.

Kaleb Luton led Sweet Home’s offense with six kills followed by Solomon Shabazz with five kills. Kenny Naples added three kills and two aces.

The Panthers also recorded 17 stuffed blocks.

“We played well,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “Our blocking looked really good and it helped us tremendously.”

South coach Thom Knab said Sweet Home’s passing was the difference in the match.

“We played decently, but not good enough,” Knab said. “They have three kids who can really hit and block really well. It was a big obstacle for my team to overcome.”

Matt Angelo led South with seven kills and two blocks.

Nico Zanelotti added six kills.

Sweet Home travels to Starpoint Friday.

South fell to 4-6 in ECIC II after losing at home to Lake Shore, 14-25, 14-25, 18-25 Friday.

“We did not have good energy or communication and did not play a good game of volleyball at all,” Knab said.

Zanelotti tallied six kills.

The Billies closed out the week by finishing 1-5 in pool play at the Lockport Tournament Saturday. South split games with Maryvale, 25-16, 23-25; and lost to Lockport 16-25, 15-25, and Starpoint 21-25, 19-25.

Zanelotti led South with nine kills. Angelo recorded three solo blocks. Tom Binda handed out 18 assists.

South (5-8 overall) hosts Iroquois on Wednesday and travels to Amherst Friday.

South remains unbeaten in ECIC II
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Williamsville South’s girls volleyball team continued its unblemished record against ECIC II competition, downing Sweet Home, 25-14, 25-17, 25-20, at home Oct. 2.

South is 8-0 in ECIC II and 9-2 overall.

CC Brooks tallied nine kills and three of the team’s 10 aces on an almost 54 percent hitting percentage.

Megan Muehlbauer added nine kills and Amari DeBerry recorded seven kills.

Molly McKinnon tallied five aces in the third set.

Gabby Presutti and Maddie Popielski led the defense with 14 and nine digs, respectively. Haley Marchewka handed out 23 assists.

As a team, South was successful on 93 percent of its serves.

Sweet Home coach Krista Prentice said the South match came down to her team making more mistakes than them.

Dayna Edholm led Sweet Home with five kills and seven digs. Lauren Hubert added four kills and five assists. Maddy Gerber added 10 digs.

South hosted Amherst Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The Lady Billies host Hamburg Thursday and compete in the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

Sacred Heart volleyball defeats Our Lady of Mercy
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Sacred Heart had a busy but successful week on the volleyball court.

The Sharks (7-3, 5-1) recorded league victories over Mount Mercy, 25-16, 25-18, 25-10, on the road Oct. 1 and Nardin, 25-15, 25-11, 25-12, at home Oct. 3; posted a non-league home win Thursday over Our Lady of Mercy from Rochester, 20-25, 16-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-12; and reached the quarterfinals of the Frontier Tournament Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center.

Junior Siobhan Ryan led the Sharks’ offense against Mount Mercy with eight kills and four aces, as well as seven digs and six serve receives.

Junior Hannah Tudor led the defense with 14 digs and nine serve receives.

Also contributing to the win were sophomore Olivia Jarosz (five aces, two kills, two serve receives, dig); senior Taylor Jakubik (three kills, three serve receives, three digs); senior captain Gabriella Berardi (two aces, kill, dig); junior Megan Vincek (two kills, ace, dig); freshman Isabella Allen (five aces, four kills); junior Catie Grable (two kills, dig); junior Alexis Kuzniarek (serve receive, dig); freshman Blair Kuzniarek (three aces); senior captain Gabby Salvo (two kills); sophomore Kayleigh Colleary (two kills); and sophomore Grace Meyer (two aces).

Ryan led the Sacred Heart offense against Nardin with 11 kills. She also tallied 16 digs and nine serve receives. Tudor led the defense with 15 digs and 13 serve receives. Grable and Jakubik both had an excellent night, contributing 10 kills, two digs, and seven kills, eight digs and a serve receive, respectively.

Also contributing were Berardi (three aces, three digs); Allen (two kills, ace, dig); Alexis Kuzniarek (four digs, two serve receives); Colleary (five kills); Salvo (two kills); and Blair Kuzniarek (two digs, ace).

The Sharks’ five-set win over Our Lady of Mercy avenged a three-set road loss earlier in the season, showing how much it has developed into a much stronger team.

The Sharks started out with the first six points of the first game and remained in the lead until reaching 14 points. Mercy regrouped and came from behind to take the lead. The Sharks rallied late in the game to bring it within three, but could not pull out a win.

In the second game, Mercy was very effective and Sacred Heart was unable to answer them.

In the third game, the Sharks took a significant lead with some of Mercy’s non-starters on the floor. Mercy returned the starters to the floor, but they were unable to overcome Sacred Heart’s significant lead.

In the fourth game, Sacred Heart again started out strong and was able to hold off Mercy, tying the match at 2-2.

In the deciding fifth game, Sacred Heart took the lead and dominated to win the match.

The entire team played well to achieve the win.

Ryan led the offense with 23 kills and three aces, as well as 19 serve receives and 15 digs. Tudor led the defense with 28 digs and 15 serve receives.

Jarosz also provided the Sharks with some great defense, recording 22 digs and eight serve receives, as well as four kills.

Also contributing to the win were Grable (nine kills); Allen (six kills, dig); Blair Kuzniarek (four digs, kill, ace); Colleary (four kills, two digs); Salvo (five kills); and Berardi (three digs, ace).

The Sharks had a good day at the Frontier Tournament Saturday but lost in the quarterfinals of the championship division after placing second in pool play.

In pool play, the Sharks opened against Roy-Hart. Although the Sharks easily won the first game 25-10, they were not as effective in the second game, losing 22-25. The Sharks then defeated City Honors 25-15, 25-12.

In their final pool-play match of the tournament, the Sharks played well against Eden but fell short in both games, 23-25, 22-25.

Although Roy-Hart and Sacred Heart tied in pool play, the Sharks advanced to the championship division on head-to-head play.

In the play-in round, the Sharks defeated Sweet Home, 30-25, to advance to the quarterfinal game where they faced Portville, the No. 1-ranked small school in Western New York.

The Sharks played tough against the strong and effective Portville team but could not pull out the win, losing 18-30.

Overall for the tournament, Ryan led the offense with 39 kills and five aces, as well as 30 digs and 14 serve receives.

Tudor led the defense with 38 digs and 33 serve receives, and added one ace.

Also contributing were Jarosz (17 digs, 17 serve receives, nine kills, five aces); Berardi (11 digs, eight kills, three serve receives, ace); Allen (12 kills, five aces, four digs); Blair Kuzniarek (nine aces, five digs); Salvo (five kills, four digs); Meyer (three digs, two aces); Colleary (four kills, dig); Alexis Kuzniarek (two digs, two serve receives); Grable (two kills); and junior Megan Vincek (kill).

Sacred Heart plays at St. Mary’s of Lancaster at 6 p.m. Wednesday and hosts Mount St. Mary at 6 p.m. Friday.

East girls volleyball finishes third at Frontier Tourney
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Williamsville East’s girls volleyball team came in third place at Saturday’s Frontier Tournament held at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center.

East won its pool, beating North Tonawanda, 25-8, 25-17; Gowanda, 25-8, 25-16, and Nardin, 25-20, 25-13.

The Lady Flames then defeated Lake Shore, 30-26, in the quarterfinals, and lost to Orchard Park, 29-31, in the semifinals.

East coach Scott Wright said his team had a chance to win the Orchard Park match at 29-28, but OP dug it and squeezed out a point.

Rachel Steffan led East throughout the day with 30 kills, 13 aces and eight blocks.

Madeline Reid contributed 15 kills, five aces and four blocks.

Madison Smith tallied 18 kills and nine aces.

Christy Mack tallied 36 digs and nine aces.

Summer Clark handed out 55 assists and had four aces.

East hosted Orchard Park in a non-league match Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The Lady Flames improved to 8-1 win in ECIC II with a 25-10, 25-13, 25-17 road win over West Seneca East Oct. 2 and a 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 home victory over Sweet Home Thursday.

Steffan led East against West Seneca East with 16 kills and three blocks.

Smith added six kills and five aces.

Clark handed out 22 assists.

East played Sweet Home without Steffan, who was on her official visit to Fordham University.

Mack subbed in for Steffan at outside hitter and added 10 kills, 10 aces and 14 digs.

Smith tallied 14 kills and 10 digs.

Reid added eight kills and four blocks.

All-around good performances came from Skyllar Cicero, who played at libero in place of Mack, Nikki Polokoff at right side hitter and Emma Vande Velde at middle hitter. East also hosts Amherst Thursday.

Sweet Home coach Krista Prentice said it was more of a defensive battle between both teams, and came down to who passed better in the end.

“The team who passed better would gain momentum, and each game went back and forth multiple times,” she said. “The girls played tough, and were right in each game to the end, but unfortunately, didn't come away with the result we wanted.”

Lauren Hubert led Sweet Home with 11 kills, nine assists and nine digs.

Dayna Edholm recorded 10 kills and seven digs.

Maddy Gerber and Kelsey Prentice added 12 and 10 digs, respectively.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers also lost to Sacred Heart, 30-25, in the Frontier Tournament Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center. Sweet Home finished second in its pool, losing both sets to Portville and sweeping Springville and Wilson.

“The girls played well though, with some girls playing out of position due to players being unable to make the tournament,” said coach Prentice. “Overall they played well, and I still think that they will continue to get better with each match they play.”

Sweet Home traveled to Starpoint Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Lady Panthers travel to West Seneca East Thursday and compete in the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

North loses key league match to Clarence
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Williamsville North’s girls volleyball team had high hopes of securing second place in ECIC Division I, but fell short at Clarence, losing 14-25, 11-25, 25-16, 20-25 Oct. 2. The Lady Spartans are 5-3 in league matches.

“We didn’t come ready to play for whatever reason,” North coach Keith Hopkins said. “We were not ready physically or mentally and they were. It was an unfortunate occurrence for us. We played well in the third set and did OK in the fourth set, but not good enough. We were very disappointed. It seemed like the girls could never seem to relax enough to get involved in the match.”

Abby Vincent led North with five kills, 12 assists, three digs and three blocks.

North hosted Jamestown Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Lady Spartans host Frontier at 5 p.m. Friday and compete in the North Tonawanda Tournament Saturday.

North volleyball takes runner-up at Lockport Tourney
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

After dropping its last two league matches, Williamsville North’s boys volleyball team rebounded with a very successful week on the court.

The Spartans improved to 6-3 with a 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-22 home win over West Seneca West Friday and then took runner-up at the Lockport Tournament Saturday, losing to Lockport in a rematch of last year’s Section Division I final, 13-25, 20-25.

“We are playing well against teams that we should be beating and then when we start to run into some adversity against teams that we are hoping to see at the end of the year, that is when we start to be one-dimensional and go to our go-to players, and it’s difficult for them to perform at a high level against a really elite team,” North coach Jake Waszak said.

Against West, Adam Gulick recorded 16 kills, six aces and nine digs.

Carson Swierski added 11 kills and five blocks.

“Carson has been consistently getting better and has not missed a beat,” Waszak said. “It’s exciting to see him get better all of the time. He’s a good athlete, is so coachable and is the right kind of kid that you want on your team.”

Matt Wiepert handed out 34 assists.

Leading the defense were Mitchell Simon (13 digs), Jackson Lieber (nine digs) and Chris Kirsch (eight digs).

North went 6-0 in pool play at the Lockport Tournament, defeating Williamsville East, 25-18, 25-20; St. Mary’s of Lancaster, 25-13, 25-13; and North Tonawanda, 25-19, 25-18; and swept Starpoint in the semifinals, 25-16, 25-18; before they faced Lockport.

“Lockport’s go-to players played better than ours,” Waszak said. “They had a good day, and we didn’t play our absolute best against good teams.”

Gulick and Wiepert were named to the All-Tournament Team. For the day, Gulick tallied 51 kills, 18 digs, 13 aces and seven blocks. Wiepert distributed 75 assists and six aces.

“They deserved it,” Waszak said. “They were in the top four or five players at the tournament. We need to have them to go the next level. I do think they haven’t reached an extra gear yet, which is good and bad. We want them to be playing like that all of the time. We need them to be firing on all cylinders for us to beat a team like Lockport.”

Other notable stats came from Lieber (16 kills, 11 digs, seven aces); Jon Abaya (10 kills, seven blocks); Pete Stopinski (nine kills, four blocks); Swierski (12 kills); Simon (16 digs); Eoin Burns (eight aces); Kirsch (three digs); Andy Krysiak (four assists) and Brendan Travis (ace, two digs).

North (6-3) traveled to Lancaster Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

In another matter: the North JV boys volleyball team repeated as Lockport Tournament champions. Ben Malicki, Ben Reynolds and Maverick O’Neil were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Clarence Boys volleyball posts pair of league victories
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Clarence’s boys volleyball team added a pair of ECIC I victories to its collection for the season last week, knocking off both Orchard Park and Hamburg to improve to 8-2 against divisional competition.

The Bulldogs made Clarence dig deep to pick up its 25-16, 25-17, 17-25, 23-25, 15-9 win Friday. Coach David Hill noted that the Red Devils’ hitting “fell apart” in the third and fourth sets, resulting in 25 hitting errors between the two as Hamburg stole momentum back from Clarence after it opened the match with a strong effort.

Kevin Cashdollar came off the bench and had two big kills for the victors in the decisive fifth set, however, to help Clarence persevere.

“Kevin really stepped up when we needed someone to,” Hill said. “It wasn’t a pretty win, but in our league any win is a good win. Hamburg made us work for our points for sure. It was a well-fought match overall, but we just really struggled to put the ball away in the middle of it.”

Chris Wikar finished the match with 17 kills, six digs and four blocks, while Andrew Ratzel had 10 kills and eight digs. Jackson Wurtz had 19 digs, while Teddy Payne had 28 assists, eight digs and blocks.

Jack Benson had four blocks to help the cause.

Clarence came into the Hamburg match hoping to do well after recording a 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 victory over Orchard Park two days earlier. Halfway through the second set Clarence lost its opposite hitter to an ankle sprain, but Hill noted that the Red Devils “adjusted nicely” to close out the set. The entire team continued to rise to the occasion in the third set to help replace the lost production, but in the end Clarence had enough to secure the victory in three.

“Orchard Park has gotten a lot better since the last time we played them,” Hill said. “Our defense really kept us in the game, since we finished with 42 digs on the night as a team.”

Ratzel had 14 kills and five digs to lead the charge, while Payne added five digs and 31 assists. Cashdollar had eight digs and Wurtz had 16 digs. Pat Wiesinger chipped in with eight kills and five digs for the Red Devils (14-5 overall), who do not play again until they travel to Frontier on Friday. Clarence will close out its week by taking part in Saturday’s annual Orchard Park Invitational.

Blue Devils’ volleyball showing improvement
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

The Kenmore West boys volleyball team has played well of late and has shown improvement over the course of the season. The Blue Devils are 3-5 in Niagara Frontier League play. They’re doing the little things well.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Kenmore West coach Dan Norton said. “We definitely see a lot of good things we’ve done so far. We’re working hard and doing the little things right to put us in a good shape to get a win. We’ve had some good wins so far this year. We’re looking good now and we’re looking forward to the next few seasons with the guys on JV coming up.”

The team has been led by the efforts of senior third-year setter Ryan Emler, middle hitter Will Hudson and libero Jake Andrews. The Blue Devils have succeeded in the areas of communication and passing.

“We play well together as a team,” Norton said. “As the season progressed, we’re getting to that level where we can succeed. We’re passing well and the communication overall has been great. We’re passing out of the back row better than we had been last year. We’re getting the ball into play for our offense, which has helped a lot.”

The Blue Devils play North Tonawanda this week and Hutch Tech the week after. They’re looking to get wins against the teams that beat them in the first half of the season, salvaging some splits.

“Our goal is to split with the teams we have left,” Norton said. “We lost to North Tonawanda the first time we played them. We also want to beat Grand Island so we can split with them, too. Hutch tech is a non-league, so we want to win that one, too. We want to move toward .500.”

The team is aiming to keep improving through the end of the year. They are working on their placements and trying to perfect as many things as possible.

“We’re looking to continue forward with what we’ve been doing well,” Norton said. “Our passing has been improving, but there is always stuff to work on. We could work on our placement a little bit. We want to run every play correctly and be in the right space so we can come out and win games.”

Mount St. Mary volleyball splits pair of games
Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 10, 2018

The Mount St. Mary volleyball team split of pair of league matches over the past week.

Wednesday the Thunder lost to perennial power St. Mary’s 3-0. The Lady Lancers won sets 25-19, 25-19 and 25-16.

Daniella Gugino led the team with 12 kills, Elena Depaolo had six digs, while Sarah Vicari had 22 assists.

Friday, the team took on Nardin and came away with a 3-0 victory. They won sets 25-15, 25-20 and 26-24.

Grace O’Brien had seven kills, Depaolo had six digs and Vicari had 35 assists.

The win moved the team to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in league play. The team took Cardinal O’Hara Tuesday in a game that did not end by press time.

Western New York 2018 Boys Top 10 Poll - 10/9/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Western New York 2018 Girls Top 10 Poll - 10/9/18
Buffalo News
Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Lancers volleyball falls in N.J. tournament play
By Staff, Buffalo News
Monday, October 8, 2018

After going 6-2 in four pool play matches and two crossover matches, St. Mary’s of Lancaster advanced to Sunday’s gold bracket final as the second seed in the Garden State Challenge girls volleyball tournament in Hackensack, N.J. The Lancers’ bid ended, when they were upset by No. 7 seed Connetquot (L.I.), 25-9, 25-13.

St. Mary’s had swept Connetquot in two sets in pool play.

Lions win own tourney
By Staff, Buffalo News
Saturday, October 6, 2018

Lockport swept through 10 matches including 25-20 and 25-15 victories over Willliamsville North in the final to win its own tournament. MVP Zach Schneider, Sean Denniston and Rhees Perry of the Lions made the all-tournament team along with Ethan Swierski (Williamsville East), Elliot Becker (Starpoint) and Adam Gulik and Matt Wiepert (Williamsville North).

St. Mary’s of Lancaster won its pool with a 4-2 record Saturday, the first day of the Garden State Invitational Girls Volleyball Tournament in Hackensack, N.J. Jasmine Brundage led St. Mary‘s with 35 digs while Kelly Cleversley had 20 kills and Marie Rhodes 17 as the Lancers moved on to elimination play on Sunday. The Lancers swept JFK (L.I.) and Connetquot (L.I.) and split with Secaucus (N.J.) and Hunterdon Central (N.J.).

High School Extra: North VB comes back
By Staff, Buffalo News
Friday, October 5, 2018

Mitchell Simon had 13 digs and Carson Swierski notched 11 kills and five blocks in Williamsville North boys volleyball’s four-set victory against West Seneca West.

West got out to a strong start, taking the first set, 25-22, but the Spartans fought back with three straight (25-16 25-21, 25-22) to move to 6-3.

Lancers 7-0 in league v-ball
By Staff, Buffalo News
Thursday, October 4, 2018

Marie Rhodes had 14 kills and five glocks, Jasmine Brundage had 22 digs and Hannah Mulhern put away nine kills as St. Mary’s of Lancaster ran its overall match record to 20-3 with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-16 triumph over Mount St. Mary. The Lancers are 7-0 in Monsignor Martin Association matches.

Frontier tops town rival

Crosstown rival Hamburg gave first-place Frontier a tough match before falling to the Falcons, 25-22, 25-23 and 25-18, in their ECIC I boys volleyball match at Hamburg. Brian Norsen had 19 kills for the Falcons (10-1, 9-0 ECIC I). Frontier is ranked third in the latest WNY Coaches poll, behind only Lockport and Eden.

EA girls volleyball maintains team-to-beat status in ECIC III
JASON NADOLINSKI Sports Reporter, East Aurora Bee
Thursday, October 4, 2018

ECIC III girls volleyball programs hoping to catch a break from East Aurora this season had better think again after the Lady Blue Devils showed they have no intention of doing anything other than repeating as league and Section VI champions with their play this season.

To that end, East Aurora closed out the month of September with three additional victories to move to 7-1 overall, including its 28-26, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19 triumph over crosstown rival Maryvale on Sept. 26. Senior captains Olivia Covington and Olivia Alessi both had double digits in kills for the match, with Covington recording 13 kills to go along with two blocks and an ace, and Alessi adding 12 kills and an ace.

“The team was really excited about this match because the last time we played them it was a really competitive match,” coach Rebecca Jacobs said. “Iroquois has really strong servers on their team, which made it difficult for us to pass the ball in the second game. Fortunately my girls bounced back in the third game with better serve receive passing, which let us run our offense.”

East Aurora’s run to close out October actually began on Sept. 19 with a 25-14, 28-26, 19-25, 25-16 victory over Pioneer. Alessi led the team with 10 serving aces, while freshman Katie Flahtery had two serving aces that helped the Lady Blue Devils secure the win in the second game. Junior Izzy Sell had four kills on the night.

“Olivia’s serving definitely helped us in this match,” Jacobs said. “Her jump float serve is something she has been working on and it helped us on a couple of runs in this match. Izzy Sell was consistent for us in this match where scoring points at the net was concerned. She’s been working really hard in practice to strengthen her approach and hitting skills, and I’m glad she could connect with Olivia in the front row.”

A mini break in the action did little to cool off the Lady Blue Devils, as they took down Maryvale with ease on Sept. 24, triumphing by 25-20, 25-14, 25-13 marks. Covington led the team in kills with nine to go along with a block and an ace, while senior captain Kelly Gampietro also helped out in the front row with blocking Maryvale’s outside hitter. Alessi, meanwhile, “ran our offensive smoothly throughout the match,” Jacobs said.

“Both Olivia Covington and Kelly have been part of the varsity team now for a couple years and have a lot of experience in the front row and back row,” Jacobs said. “They worked really hard to stop Maryvale’s middle hitter and outside hitter from scoring points on our back row, which put us in a good position for the match. Olivia Covington’s serve receive passing also help our setter, Olivia Alessi, run our offense.”

East Aurora (7-0 division) returned to action Tuesday against Lake Shore, but information about that match was not available at press time. The Lady Blue Devils resume play this evening at Lake Shore, and then travel to Cheektowaga Tuesday.

“Overall I am really happy with what we have accomplished so far,” Jacobs said. “We have some young girls that are starting in these really competitive matches, and they are learning from our upperclassmen on what to do in game-time decisions. From now until the end of the regular season, we just have to stay focused on what we need to do to finish out the season strong and then focus on playoffs in a couple of weeks.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

OP Boys volleyball team aiming for improvement
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Orchard Park Bee
Thursday, October 4, 2018

The Orchard Park boys volleyball team is suffering through some growing pains but is continuing to grow and improve as the season goes on.

The team fell to 5-8 overall after losses to Williamsville North, Frontier and Hamburg over the past week and a half. All three of those teams are among the best in the area, so they are tough for almost anyone to beat. North and Frontier are the two top teams in ECIC I.

“We played Will North and Frontier, who are one and two in the division,” Orchard Park coach Ricky Albano said. “Then we played a tough Hamburg team that is getting better. We’re kind of still just really working out our kinks. We’re just working out who we are still. We’re trying to mesh our seniors and our juniors and even some of our sophomores. At times, we’re clicking and when we’re clicking, we’re good. Then when we’re not clicking, we’re struggling to be competitive.”

The team is a bit younger than it has been in previous years, with more sophomores and juniors than would typically start on varsity. Some of those guys play club in the offseason with each other, while others play other sports. Sometimes it can be hard for the different groups to mesh, so that is what the team is focusing on more than anything else.

“You’re trying to blend guys that play club and guys that are just playing varsity for the first time,” Albano said. “It’s just not working out as of right now. But we’re blending the guys together.”

The team will be looking to get back on the winning track this week when they take on Clarence. The Red Devils are always a tough foe, but the Quakers think they can be competitive. They played well over the weekend in their loss to Frontier, but could not close things out. They’re looking to do just that this week, before they have a mini-break over the following the week.

“This is going to be a good test for us,” Albano said. “We played competitive against Frontier, had a couple bad breaks. This will be a good indicator for what could happen going forward.”

email: tnigrelli @beenews.com

Cleve Hill girls volleyball beats Olmsted, Tonawanda over three-day stretch
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 4, 2018

After working extra hard two nights earlier to stop its losing streak, Cleveland Hill’s girls volleyball team topped Tonawanda Friday by 25-20, 25-22, 25-23 marks in a shorter – but just as tough – league contest.

Brooke Seifert served up seven aces in the victory over Tonawanda, while Amanda Duminico had four aces and five kills. Seifert was also clutch with her back-row defense and passing, according to coach Marie Meyer, with Hannah Swing also providing solid defensive coverage.

The triumph over Tonawanda came just two days after the Lady Eagles pulled out a 25-21, 26-24, 24-26, 14-25, 25-21 win over Olmsted. Krisandra Palmer had four aces, eight kills and a block to guide Cleveland Hill’s effort, while Aqe’lah Douglas chipped in with five kills. Kathleen Kobel finished with three kills and two aces.

“Krisandra, Aqe’lah and Kathleen led the team offensively that night, both in hitting and serving, to lead the team to the difficult five-game win,” Meyer said. “Aqe’lah led the team with five kills in games one and two, but then became injured. That’s when Kathleen came in to continue the solid middle play.”

Cleveland Hill’s week started on Sept. 24 with a 10-25, 6-25, 10-25 loss to Eden. Brooke Au stepped up her game and played strong defensively on top of adding multiple timely hits, Meyer noted, while Duminico filled the role as the team’s primary passer while also contributing on the offensive side of the ball.

Cleveland Hill prepared for its week by taking part in the Lake Shore Tournament on Sept. 22. Though the Lady Eagles went 0-6 in pool play, starting setters Lydia Catalino and Libby LaCourse “hustled and led the offense in order to keep the team in games against strong opponents, and showed incredible leadership throughout the day,” Meyer said.

The Lady Eagles (3-6 ECIC IV) returned to action Monday against Hutch Tech and faced Holland on Tuesday, but information about those contests was not available at press time. Cleveland Hill closes out its week by traveling to Lackawanna this evening, but then doesn’t play again until it travels to Alden on Tuesday.

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Maryvale girls volleyball posts win over West Seneca East
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 4, 2018

Victory, something that Maryvale’s girls volleyball team had become accustomed to in the recent past, has been a bit tougher to come by for this year’s group of younger players, which only made its 25-20, 25-12, 20-25, 18-25, 30-28 win over West Seneca East on Sept. 21 all the more sweet.

Maryvale had to figure things out after missing out on putting the match away in the third or fourth set, and though they did, the Lady Flyers had to work extra hard in order to squeak out the win in the fifth set. Junior captain Christie McGee-Ross had seven kills, six blocks and four service aces to lead the charge, while fellow junior Emily LeViness had 16 assists, four service aces and four blocks. Senior captain Amiah George chipped in with four hits and four digs.

“The girls really had to figure out how to push and finish a game,” coach Tina Raczynski said. “Both teams played tough, but we were just able to out edge them for the win.”

Divisional nemesis East Aurora wasn’t as kind on Sept. 24, though, as the Lady Flyers were upended by the Lady Blue Devils by 20-25, 14-25, 13-25 marks. McGee-Ross had five kills, three blocks and three digs to lead the way for Maryvale, while LeViness added 10 assists, eight digs and two kills in the first meeting between the playoff rivals.

“We anticipated going into the match that it was going to be a tough one, and East Aurora didn’t disappoint in that regard,” Raczynski said. “East Aurora had some tough servers and we were having some issues with our pass receiving.”

Crosstown rival Cheektowaga then piled on by defeating Maryvale by 21-25, 21-25, 25-14, 15-25 marks. Senior captain Brianna Schlierf had four service aces, seven kills, four blocks and three digs, while McGee-Ross had five kills, six blocks and two digs. Sophomore Faith Knospe had three service aces, two kills and four digs.

“We always play Cheektowaga tough, but unfortunately this time we fell a little short,” Raczynski said. “This match was just a microcosm of the battle that we have been having with ourselves all season: We just can’t push and finish a game.”

Maryvale then closed out its recent run Saturday by taking part in the annual Clarence Tournament. The Lady Flyers gained a measure of revenge by taking down East Aurora in the Silver Flight’s semifinals by 13-25, 25-17, 25-15 marks, but came just short of winning that division in their third consecutive berth in the finals, thanks to Chautauqua Lake, which won the title match by 15-25, 10-25 scores.

“This has been a rebuilding year for us, having graduated quite a bit, cumulatively, over the last three years,” Raczynski said. “We have a young team this year, but they are doing their best and working really hard. The biggest thing is they need game experience. What’s nice is I can definitely see them improving each game.”

Maryvale (2-6, 1-7 ECIC III) returned to action Monday against West Seneca West and then faced Pioneer Tuesday, but information about those matches was not available at press time. The Lady Flyers close out their week this evening by facing Depew.

“West should be a tough match and a definite challenge, but with them being a Division I school it’s someone we look forward to testing ourselves against,” Raczynski said. “Pioneer and Depew are must wins, as league games, especially as we start to look towards sectional rankings with the regular season winding down.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Victory proves tough to secure for Central girls volleyball
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Cheektowaga Bee
Thursday, October 4, 2018

The middle of September was not kind to Cheektowaga’s girls volleyball team, as the Lady Warriors went 1-3 over a six-day stretch that left them 4-3 in ECIC III play.

The saving grace for the Lady Warriors was their 25-18, 25-19, 25-22 conquest of Pioneer on Sept. 20. Both Angelina Garcia and Ally Alvira had numerous aces during the match, and were able to spot serve very well to make it difficult for Pioneer to run its offense.

Cheektowaga’s run began Sept. 14 with a 23-25, 25-17, 10-25, 18-25 loss to East Aurora on Sept. 14. Alisiana Muscoreil, whom coach Denee Hickson noted “is a smart player who does a great job of attacking the net, knowing that it’s not always about the muscle,” finished with nine kills and five blocks.

The Lady Warriors then took part in Starpoint’s tournament the next day, where they fell to Kenmore East in the Silver Bracket’s title match. Garcia and Bella Pezzino were both strong from the service line all day, and also each played strong defensively to set up the team’s hitters on offense.

“Bella owns the back row and does a great job moving to the ball to be a true leader in the back row,” Hickson said.

A small break in the action allowed the Lady Warriors to recover a little bit, which helped them make Sept. 19’s 25-18, 23-25, 17-25, 14-25 loss to Lake Shore a bit more interesting. Lake Shore was a bit motivated to come out on top, though, after being defeated by the Lady Warriors in the Starpoint Tournament.

“Even though Lake Shore is a league game and we beat them over the weekend, I’m not upset with my team as we lost because we were aggressive on our plays,” Hickson said. “We attempted various hits and some other plays that didn’t pan out for us, but we didn’t sit back and let them walk all over us. We attacked the ball, and every game was really close, which left me proud of how we played.

“Individually, Sarah Domanowski’s setting has come a long way since the beginning of camp; she’s doing a great job of squaring up to her target and placing the ball right where our hitters need it,” Hickson continued. “Alisiana and Ally did a great job of serving and attacking the net, too. Ally is also a track standout, and her ability to jump high allows her to hit around the blocks – and her tremendous power helps.”

Cheektowaga returned to action Tuesday against Iroquois, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Lady Warriors close out their week by hosting Amherst on Friday.

“Although our three league losses shouldn’t have occurred, our girls are very young and playing well,” Hickson said. “In my mind, it’s not always about the wins and losses we have, but how the team is progressing. We have a super bunch of athletic girls who are nice team players. Our girls are competing well, and the second half of the season is sure to be a great turnaround for us. As long as we keep our heads held high and keep serving well, everything else will take care of itself. We need to continue to be smart with our hits and how we take care of the ball, though.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Lancaster girls volleyball ends cold streak
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Lancaster Bee
Thursday, October 4, 2018

The Lancaster girls volleyball team was able to end a two-week cold streak with wins over Jamestown Monday and Hamburg last Thursday. The Lady Legends played strong defense against the Lady Bulldogs and did not make many mistakes.

“I think we really limited our errors in that match,” Lancaster coach Becky Edwards said. “As always, our defense held up pretty strong. I would say that was probably the key factor in that game, defense.”

The team lost to Clarence and Williamsville North two weeks ago and Orchard Park and Section V Our Lady of Mercy last week. The Lady Legends are a young squad with almost everyone new to the varsity level. Many of the games have been close, but Lancaster has been unable to close those sets against more experienced teams. Despite that, they are still 5-3 in ECIC I play.

“A lot of the games we lost the last two weeks were by very close margins,” Edwards said. “Maybe that might come with a little more experience, where we can finish these games out. We’re losing 25-23 or 25-22, so we want to get where we’re turning it around and winning them. All of these losses were still really close games. We’re just practicing hard and hoping that they turn the other way in the next round.”

The team is focusing on improving on the offensive side. The defense has been very good so far, but the offense could use some tweaking.

“We’ve been really working on our offense,” Edwards said. “Defense is something that we’re really strong in, so offense is definitely the area we’re lacking in. That’s an area we’ve been focusing on more in practice. We’re trying to have a better hitting percentage throughout the game.”

This week, the team will begin its second round of divisional play, as they have seen everyone at least once. They’ll be looking to do better in the second half of league play than they did in the first.

“We’re starting the next round of our division again, we’re playing everyone a second time,” Edwards said. “Hopefully we can do well this week to lead us into next week because then we will have Frontier the following week.”

The team is led by captains Bri Acquard and Meg Vona, who have done a good job leading the team as veterans. Meanwhile, junior Emily Lewandowski, sophomore Julie Pilecki and freshman Maddie Andrews have all stepped up well in their new roles.

The Lady Legends are looking to finish strong and be ready for the postseason. They want to be ready the day the playoffs start.

“Everything that we do, our mindset is to get better each day to get us ready for playoffs,” Edwards said. “The thing about our league is that everyone makes playoffs, so we continue to practice to be the best we can be on that day playoffs start.”

Sweet Home boys volleyball remains perfect in ECIC II
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Sweet Home’s boys volleyball team improved to 7-0 in ECIC II after downing Amherst twice last week.

The Panthers won at Amherst, 25-12, 25-21, 25-20, Thursday and then won at home over the Tigers, 25-13, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, Friday.

In Thursday’s match, Kaleb Luton totaled 12 kills and Solomon Shabazz added 10 kills. Shawn Romanowski served 29 times and tallied four aces.

“I thought our setting was good and we blocked well,” Sweet Home coach Rich Cicero said. “We need to focus on some parts of our game so that we can become a complete team. Amherst, though, is a much-improved team.”

In the rematch Friday, left side hitter Anthony Roberts tallied six kills and played well on defense, setter Matt Liska ran a quick offense and helped Sweet Home score 17 points off of Amherst, and Romanowski tallied six kills.

Sweet Home, 7-1 overall, hosts Williamsville South Wednesday.

Williamsville South

The Billies (4-4) earned a split in their ECIC Division II matches last week, losing to Starpoint, 13-25, 22-25, 12-25, at home Sept. 25 and winning at West Seneca East, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, Thursday.

“We are riding a roller coaster of not playing well and playing well,” South coach Thom Knab said.

Jeff Randall had five kills and Nico Zanelotti and Matt Angelo tallied three kills each against Starpoint.

“We struggled with our passing, which did not allow us to have a really strong attack,” Knab said.

Knab said his team passed and moved the ball well, and West Seneca East struggled with its serving.

Randall (seven kills), Zanelotti (six kills, six aces) and Angelo (six kills, six blocks) also contributed.

South travels to Sweet Home Wednesday, hosts Lake Shore Friday and competes in the Lockport Tournament Saturday.

North girls volleyball wins three matches
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Williamsville North’s girls volleyball team continued a strong season with three victories last week.

The Lady Spartans improved to 5-2 in ECIC Division I with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-8 road win over West Seneca West on Sept. 24 and 12-6-6 overall with non-league victories at Hamburg, 27-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21, Sept. 26, and at home over Sacred Heart, 25-21, 13-25, 25-14, 23-25, 25-14, Friday.

Allie Macon tallied 11 kills and Maia Reed added six kills versus West Seneca West.

Macon and Reed led the Lady Spartans’ offense against Hamburg with 21 and 15 kills, respectively. Abby Vincent handed out 28 assists. Bri Brown tallied 13 digs.

Vincent paced North against Sacred Heart with 13 kills and 22 assists. Reed recorded 11 kills. Courtney Herlan added six kills and seven blocks, and Brown tallied nine kills and 12 digs. Mila Blanco distributed 18 assists.

North traveled to Clarence Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

Williamsville East

The Lady Flames picked up three-set home wins over Hamburg, 25-21, 25-14, 25-10 on Sept. 24 and Starpoint 25-10, 25-13, 25-16, Friday.

Rachel Steffan led the Lady Flames against Hamburg with 18 kills and two aces.

Summer Clark handed out 26 assists and three blocks.

Madeline Reid added eight kills and four blocks.

East scored 21 points throughout the match when Madison Smith was serving.

Steffan led the Lady Flames against Starpoint with 16 kills, three aces and two blocks.

Clark (24 assists, three blocks); Smith (seven kills, three aces); Emma Vande Velde (three blocks, two kills)

Christy Mack played good defense and in serve receive in both matches.

Nikki Polokoff finished the week with seven kills and five blocks.

East traveled to West Seneca East Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. East hosts Sweet Home Thursday and competes in the Frontier Tournament Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center in West Seneca.

Williamsville South

The Lady Billies lost to Orchard Park, 25-15, 19-25, 25-15, 17-25, 19-25, at home Sept. 26

The complexion of the match changed when setter Riley Domin left the game in the fourth set with an injury.

“We usually run a 6-2 offense and then we suddenly had to run a 5-1 offense,” South coach Tom Sproull said. “If that didn’t happen, there is no doubt in my mind we would have won.”

Megan Muehlbauer led South with 13 kills and 10 digs. Maddy Popielski added eight kills and nine aces.

Cecilia Brooks tallied nine kills.

Haley Marchewka handed out 22 assists and 15 digs.

Gabby Presutti contributed 17 digs.

South remained unbeaten against ECIC II competition with a 25-11, 25-10, 25-5 road win over Starpoint.

Muehlbauer had 14 kills.

Popielski tallied eight kills and five aces. Marchewka handed out 20 assists. Presutti tallied 10 digs. Amari DeBerry had five kills.

Domin added five aces.

South (7-1, 6-0) hosted Sweet Home Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

Sweet Home

The Lady Panthers improved to 3-4 in ECIC II after beating Amherst, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22, 25-27, 25-22, Friday.

Lady Panthers coach Krista Prentice said the match came down to her team’s passing.

“When we passed, we did well and we would have a lead and when our passing fell apart, that was when Amherst would come back or take a lead,” she said.

Dayna Edholm led Sweet Home with 21 kills and 23 digs. Anna Stang added eight kills and 43 assists.

Maddie Gerber contributed 26 digs. Brianna Reynolds added 12 kills.

Amherst was led by junior middle hitter Valerie Sullivan (17 kills), sophomore outside hitter Carly Martin (eight kills, 28 digs), senior outside hitter Grace Foster (39 digs), senior libero Emma Szalach (26 digs) and Maddison Jordgenen (31 assists).

Sweet Home traveled to Williamsville South Tuesday, but information about the match was unavailable before The Bee went to press. The Lady Panthers travel to Williamsville East Thursday and compete in the Frontier Tournament Saturday.

Sacred Heart girls volleyball has rough week on court
Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Sacred Heart’s girls volleyball team had a tough week, losing to St. Mary’s of Lancaster at home Sept. 25 and a non-league road match with Williamsville North Friday and then lost to Chautauqua Lake in the silver bracket of the Clarence Tournament Saturday.

Although Sacred Heart improved with each game and brought it within four in the third game, the Sharks could not get St. Mary’s out of their system and struggled against their offense, losing 13-25, 19-25, 21-25.

Junior Siobhan Ryan led the Sacred Heart offense with 12 kills, eight serve receives and eight digs.

Junior Hannah Tudor led the defense with 13 digs and 12 serve receives.

Also contributing for the team were senior Taylor Jakubik (five kills, three digs and two serve receives); senior captain Gabriella Berardi (four digs); junior Alexis Kukniarek (three serve receives, dig); sophomore Kayleigh Colleary (three kills, serve receive); junior Catie Grable (three kills); freshman Isabella Allen (three kills); and senior captain Gabby Salvo (dig).

The Sharks just could not pull out a fifth game against North, losing the match, 21-25, 25-13, 14-25, 25-23, 14-25.

Ryan led the Sharks with 16 kills, as well as nine serve receives and eight digs.

Tudor led the defense with 25 serve receives and 19 digs, as well as two aces and one kill.

Also contributing were Allen (eight kills, two aces, dig); sophomore Olivia Jarosz (seven digs, five serve receives, four kills); Berardi (11 digs, two aces); Alexis Kuzniarek (six serve receives, four digs, ace); Grable (four kills, dig); Colleary (four kills, dig); Salvo (three kills); freshman Blair Kuzniarek (three aces); and junior Meghan Vincek (kill).

The Sharks advanced to the silver division in the Clarence Tournament on Saturday after losing in a head-to-head tie by one point.

The Sharks opened pool play by defeating Maryvale 25-12, 25-14.

The Sharks then faced Clarence and lost 15-25, 11-25. In the final pool play game, the Sharks split games with Lockport 25-22, 21-25.

This one-point difference caused Sacred Heart to advance to the silver division, where the Sharks again faced Chautauqua Lake and lost 23-25, 22-25 in the semifinals.

Overall for the tournament, Ryan led the team with 27 kills, five aces, 19 digs and 17 serve receives, and Tudor led the defense with 34 serve receives and 14 digs, as well as six aces.

The team also received contributions from Berardi (nine digs, six serve receives, three kills, ace); Jakubik (seven kills, five serve receives, four digs, two aces); Jarosz (six digs, three kills, serve receive, ace); Allen (11 kills, two digs, ace); Vincek (three digs, two serve receives, two aces); Alexis Kuzniarek (nine digs, eight serve receives); Grable (nine kills, two digs); Blair Kuzniarek (five digs, two aces); Meyer (three digs, two aces); and Salvo (three kills).

Sacred Heart (4-3, 2-1) traveled to Mount Mercy Monday, but information about the game was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

The Sharks host Nardin Wednesday and Our Lady of Mercy Thursday and compete in the Frontier Tournament Saturday at the Buffalo Niagara Court Center.

North boys volleyball downs OP, loses to Frontier, Clarence
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter, Amherst Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Williamsville North boys volleyball coach Jake Waszak called last week’s ECIC Division I matches a big week for his team.

Unfortunately, the Spartans were only successful in one match, beating Orchard Park, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19, at home Sept. 24. North then lost matches against Frontier, 25-18, 16-25, 14-25, 20-25, Wednesday, and Clarence, 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 20-25, Thursday.

Adam Gulick’s 18 kills led the Spartans’ offense against OP.

Jon Abaya added seven kills. Matt Wiepert handed out 27 assists, and Chris Kirsch contributed four digs.

“All three matches last week came down to serve receive, and our serve receive was on point against Orchard Park and we were able to generate some of our own runs,” North coach Jake Waszak said.

Waszak said the team’s serve receive was strong in the first set against Frontier and then “everything fell apart in sets two through four.”

“We were unable to put pressure on them with our service game and they would consistently get runs of four or five points on all of their servers,” Waszak said.

Gulick tallied 19 kills and 13 digs against Frontier. North also received contributions from Jackson Lieber (seven kills, nine digs); Abaya (eight kills, three blocks); Carson Swierski (seven kills, five blocks); Mitchell Simon (10 digs); Kirsch (two aces) and Wiepert (34 assists).

Waszak said Clarence had three to four players who had really good serves that gave his team problems.

“We were readily feeding them free balls because they were putting us out of system on their service game,” Waszak said. “When you feeding a team like that free balls, they ate us alive. We could not generate offense due to our serve receive.”

Gulick also paced the North offense against Clarence with 13 kills and 15 digs.

Also contributing were Swierski (nine kills); Lieber (eight kills); Abaya (eight kills); Pete Stopinski (two kills, two blocks); Simon (10 digs); Kirsch (six digs); and Wiepert (34 assists, two aces).

North (5-3) is idle until they host West Seneca West Friday and compete in the Lockport Tournament on Saturday.

Clarence Girls volleyball team defends championship at own tourney
by JASON NADOLINSKI Reporter, Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Clarence’s girls volleyball team showed that its pool-play triumph over Lockport was no fluke in the title game of Saturday’s annual Clarence Invitational Tournament, as the Lady Red Devils defended their 2017 Gold Flight championship by defeating the Lady Lions by 25-16, 25-17 marks to secure their sixth Clarence Tournament title in coach Mike Meyer’s eight years with the squad.

It was Clarence’s third title in four years.

Jaide Cummings was named the Tournament MVP for a second consecutive year, while fellow Lady Red Devils Julianne Bolton and Lexi MacDonald were both selected to the All-Tournament Team for Clarence, which also cruised through Sacred Heart and Maryvale in pool play before taking out Mount St. Mary in the semifinal round, 25-15, 25-12, to earn the chance to defend last year’s title.

Nina Nicometi had a serving run in the morning against Lockport that helped switch the momentum to Clarence’s side, while Jenna Hugenschmidt was relentless in serving against Maryvale and Mount St. Mary. Perhaps more importantly, Clarence was once again able to display its depth, with Taylor Denall and Kayla Brady starting two games in pool play and “doing a great job while in,” Meyer said.

“Jaide sets the tone for us offensively and defensively,” Meyer said, “taking big swings all day, playing amazing defense and serving teams off the court. And once Jaide gets going from the outside, it opens up the middle, where Lexi Ballard and Julianne Bolton continue to shine. Haley Marlowe and Izzy Kocz are continuing to grow in their roles as setter and really do a great job of spreading the ball around so we can use all of our weapons. Lexi was steady in serve receive, a floor general on defense and also served very tough, especially in the finals. And with Jaide as an example, all the pin hitters – including Olivia Walczak, Leah Victor and Allie Klonowski – continued to swing away.”

The Lady Red Devils came into the tournament looking to do well after taking down Jamestown with relative ease the night before, winning by 25-11, 25-7, 25-10 marks. Middle hitters Taylor Denall and Kayla Brady each started games and “played very good volleyball, with each recording kills,” Meyer said, while Klonowski led the way from the right side with six kills. Ballard set the tone to start the match by recording four straight kills, while Kocz, Cummings and MacDonald combined efforts to finish with 48 serves and 11 aces.

Clarence’s busy stretch of action began Wednesday with a 31-29, 17-25, 26-24, 25-14 non-league triumph over perennial Catholic small schools title contender St. Mary’s. The rematch of the title clash in the Lady Lancers’ recently held tournament – which Clarence won – marked the first time the two squads had met outside a tournament setting in quite some time, Meyer noted, saying that “the match did not disappoint, as both teams played at a very high level.”

Miranda Edmondson collected the back-set kill that eventually gave Clarence the win in the first game, while the second and third games saw both teams go on extended scoring runs. The turning point of the match, Meyer said, came in the third game, when Cummings made a diving one-handed dig to keep the play alive – with Clarence trailing 24-22 at the time – and ultimate set Walczak up for an outside attack.

Haley Marlowe, who served up that point, provided a few more tough serves, and Walczak came up with some big swings to help Clarence put that third game away. The Lady Red Devils then pulled away in the fourth game behind Kocz’s serving, as well as the offense that was fueled by the serve receive of MacDonald and Cummings.

“Jaide, Olivia and Leah Victor had monster nights from the pins, combining for 30 kills, but the defense really was the story on both sides, as defenders were able to make dig after dig to make the match incredibly entertaining,” Meyer said. “Izzy, Jaide, Lexi and Jenna each finished with at least 13 digs. It really was a great match to be involved with, and in the end it was a great team win for the girls. We have to remember how hard it was to play at that level and commit ourselves to getting to that level every time we step on the court.”

Clarence (7-1 ECIC I) returned to action Tuesday against Williamsville North, but information about that match was not available at press time. The Lady Red Devils close out their week by facing Orchard Park on Thursday.

“We are playing volleyball the right way, and that is producing wins, so we need to stay focused on getting better and not be satisfied with what we have done so far,” Meyer said. “We have to show up for each of the matches ready to play and with an aggressive mindset.”

email: jnadolinski@beenews.com

Clarence Boys volleyball secures pair of divisional wins
Clarence Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Clarence’s boys volleyball team continued to march through the ECIC I competition last week, taking down West Seneca West and Williamsville North to improve to 6-2 in divisional action.

The Red Devils kicked off their week Sept. 25 by posting a 25-17, 25-19, 25-17 triumph over West. Clarence’s serve was on, coach David Hill noted, which helped the Red Devils get the Indians out of system. Clarence was also cognizant of West’s big left-handed hitter, throwing a solid block at him every time he geared up for a hit attempt to do a commendable job of limiting his effectiveness.

“Our defense is getting better and better every day,” Hill said. “It’s something we’ve been working on in practice, and that work is paying off.”

Jackson Wurtz had nine digs and Kevin Cashdollar had eight to help spearhead Clarence’s defensive play, while Pat Wiesinger had three digs and two blocks to go along with his team-high 11 kills. Zach Ciraolo added nine kills and two blocks, while Andrew Ratzel chipped in with eight kills and five digs. Teddy Payne contributed three blocks to go along with his 31 assists for the victors, who went on to take down North on Thursday by 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 25-20 marks.

Once again, Clarence’s effectiveness from the service line played a significant factor in the outcome, as the Red Devils recorded 12 aces and otherwise made it hard for the Spartans’ passers to be effective. Cashdollar (10 digs) and Wurtz (17 digs, 3 assists) each had two of the aces for the victors.

Payne finished with 35 assists, five kills, four digs and two blocks, while Ratzel chipped in with 15 kills. Wiesinger contributed 10 kills, three digs and two blocks, while Matt Sausen finished with nine kills.

“Our passers were very solid for most of the night, but in set two we struggled in serve receive, which made us not be able to set an in-system ball. But, our pin hitters came up big for us; they all swung smart and found high hands off the block.”

Clarence (12-5 overall) returned to action Tuesday at Orchard Park, but information about that contest was not available at press time. The Red Devils close out their week Friday by traveling to Hamburg.

“Overall, we’re playing great and continuing to get better every day, but we could still stand to learn how to play with a lead and not be comfortable with a lead so that we can just finish teams off,” Hill said. “Once you have a team down, you can’t let them get life back in them, because once they do then they have all the momentum going in their favor.”

Kenmore West girls volleyball showing improvement
by TAYLOR NIGRELLI Reporter, Ken-Ton Bee
Wednesday, October 3, 2018

The Kenmore West girls volleyball team has shown steady improvement over the first month of the season. The team is 6-4 with some big wins in Niagara-Frontier League play. The girls who returned from last year have picked up where they left off, while the new girls have stepped into their roles well.

“Overall, I think we are going on a steady incline up,” Kenmore West coach Brittany Lis said. “We’re improving and learning from our mistakes. We have a good chunk of returners coming back this year. We have a couple girls that are coming into starting spots that are young and they’ve done a nice job stepping into those spots. All my girls are taking on a leadership role. They’re all doing a really good job coming along and learning and helping each other through it.”

The team is led by a talented quartet of seniors in setter Sam Veronica, libero Chloe Moor, outside hitter Rachel Valente and middle hitter Sarah Denman. Each of the girls has provided leadership in their own way.

“Each of them bring a little bit different form of leadership,” Lis said. “Two of them really lead by example, they are very vocal. They support the girls really well. Three of the four are my captains this year and they really know how to get the girls motivated and they know how to encourage them and help them through adversity. That’s really what I’m looking for in my leaders on the court. That’s one of their strengths. They helped the team build a strong camaraderie.

The girls playing four different positions allow the Lady Blue Devils to have experienced players all over the court; it provides balance for the team. The girls have all improved at playing together throughout the course of the season.

“As far as the playing goes, they each play completely different positions,” Lis said. “They’ve come a long way since the beginning of the year learning how to be smart with the ball and to always have a purpose for what they’re going to do, whether it’s setting or defense or hitting,” she said. “That’s what I like to see – they’re always thinking of the next step.”

The team has two games this week, against Kenmore East and Lockport. They defeated the Lady Bulldogs in the first match they played, but are expecting a tough effort from their rivals.

“We beat them in three, but they were really close games,” Lis said. “They’re definitely a scrappy team. They’re our rival so we are always looking for a high-energy game that is really intense, and point-for-point. Hopefully we can just get out on top and win the game and not let them get in our head.”

The Lady Blue Devils lost to Lockport the first time around, but are hoping to come out with a better outcome this time. They don’t think they played their best match when the two teams met last month.

“We came out flat and didn’t really play our game,” Lis said. “I’m hoping that we can get back at it right away. We’ll show them who we really are and be able to step it up against them.”

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