Volleyball – Lady Lakers Earn Home Win over Onondaga in a Thriller
CANANDAIGUA – The Lady Lakers first home match of the season turned out to be a thriller last night. Finger Lakes went toe-to-toe with their visitors – Onondaga CC. Wednesday's match at Putt Moore Court went the distance in what was a best-of-five series.
The Lady Lakers (3-2 overall, 3-1 MSAC) and Lady Lazers ended up playing musical chairs in the conference matchup.
Finger Lakes took the opener in the series – 25-22. Onondaga proceeded to take the next game – 19-25. The Lady Lakers would counter the Lady Lazers in game three – taking it 25-20. Trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five, it was now Onondaga's turn to take a game, which they did by conquering game four – 19-25.
All tied up at 2 heading into the deciding game, the Lady Lakers and Lazy Lazers would go neck and neck in the finale. Game five would turn into a nail bitter of a match. The crowd wasn't disappointed. A winner needed to be decided. That winner would end up being the home team. The Lady Lakers would conquer the match by taking the fifth game – 17-15.
The victory last night was hard earned by Finger Lakes. It came via a team-wide effort – starting with the 21 kills, 10 digs and 3 aces that sophomore Jordan Smith (outside hitter) claimed. Smith was just a sample size of the large effort that the Lady Lakers received in the win.
Setter Conley Gayton provided Finger Lakes with 38 assists and 13 digs. Julianna Marcello (libero) owned the digs department for the Lady Lakers – finishing the night with 18 of them.
Meaghan McCarthy (middle hitter) and Courtney Bradish (outside hitter/setter) both added solid matches for Finger Lakes. McCarthy supplied the team with 9 kills, 3 aces, and 2 blocks. Bradish recorded 8 kills, 15 digs, and 3 aces in the team-wide effort. Lady Lakers sophomore Brittany Havens (middle hitter) chipped in with 7 kills and 2 blocks.
Finger Lakes will look to build upon the win when it hits the floor again this coming Saturday (9/8) for what will be a series of four matches – held at Alfred State College. In match one, they will take on SUNY Adirondack at 10:45 a.m. They will then follow with their next contest, which is scheduled against Hudson Valley CC at 12:30 p.m. After pairing up with Hudson, the Lady Lakers will take on Fulton-Montgomery CC at 3:45 p.m. The final opponent of the day for Finger Lakes will be Columbia-Greene CC. That match is slated to start at 5:30 p.m.