Lakers Win a 5 Set Thriller Against Genesee

CANANDAIGUA, NY-- The Lakers won an exciting five set match over Genesee Community College. The Lakers took a 2-0 set lead in the match (25-20, 25-22), only to lose sets three and four (21-25, 14-25). The Lakers battled with the Cougars in set 5 and prevailed by a set score of 16-14.

During set one, Genesee ran out to a 13-10 lead before a Ryenn Smith kill stopped it. Finger Lakes' leading server Jessie Blumenfeld would win three straight service points to draw the set even at 16-16. Mary Beth Schram would convert three serves to increase the lead. Ali Dier got a kill off of a Blumenfeld set to make it 22-20 and Bridget Whitehair would serve the set out for the Lakers to win it 25-20.

In the second set, the Cougars used strong serving to grow an early lead, but the Lakers would storm back behind the serving of Bridget Whitehair. The freshmen from Victor would serve her number as the Lakers would win nine straight points. The serving run gave the Lakers a 16-11 lead. Later on in the set, an Ali Drier block would make it 21-13 in favor of the Lakers. Genesee fought back in the set and brought the score to a two point difference at 24-22, the Lakers would break the serving run of the Cougars and win the second set 25-22.

A trend continued in the third set with Genesee continuning to use effective serving to take an early lead in the set. A block by Bradish and Drier would stop the Cougars run at 11-8. Finger Lakes would win six of the next ten points and make it a one point game, 15-14. Ryenn Smith would find the back corner of the court on a kill to even the score at 16-16. The serving of Jessie Blumenfeld would convert three straight points for the Lakers and gave them a 19-16 lead. Tied at 21, Genesee would win the final four points to win the set 25-21.

Genesee would put together an early run to take a 11-6 lead in the fourth set. Finger Lakes would break the streak, but the Cougars would put together another five point run to extend the lead to 16-7. The pattern would continue as the Cougars would take the fourth set to force a fifth and deciding set.

The teams would trade early points in the fifth set before Genesee built a 4-1 lead. Finger Lakes fought back and scored on four straight points all started by Morgan Carr serves. Finger Lakes would lead 8-7 at the mid-set switch. A kill by Ali Drier would give the Lakers an 11-9 lead. The Lakers then fought to a 14-10 lead that was stopped by a Cougars kill. Tied at 14, Jessie Blumenfeld would tip the ball over for a point that led to set point for the Lakers. Ryenn Smith would end the set and match on a kill by a score of 16-14.

Smith and Bradish led attackers with 14 and 11 kills respectively. Jessie Blumenfeld contributed 24 assists. Denniston led all defenders with 21 digs. Bradish and Smith also contributed 20 and 17 digs a piece. Bridget Whitehair led all servers from the Lakers with 3 aces.

The Lakers return to action on their home court for a conference match against Broome Community College on Wednesday, October 2nd at 6 p.m.