BY CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
AVOCA — The Lady Lions of Wellsville, since the inception of their campaign, have been on fire indoors on the volleyball court. On Monday, a dominant conclusion to the evening over the road allowed them to keep igniting it behind a straight-set sweep of host Avoca/Prattsburgh, taking the 25-19, 25-10, 25-8 decision to record their sixth win in first seven games.
Propelling the Lady Lions (6-1) towards great success was a nice night on offense from Natalie Adams, who recorded a team-high five kills to pair with two aces from the service line. Averee Palmatier was excellent in service, garnering five aces of her own, while Lindsey Stuck chipped in with three kills and three aces. Setter Maddy Parks handed out 16 assists to keep the offensive rhythm moving towards a dominant finish in what was their fifth straight win.
Stats for Avoca/Prattsburgh were not made available to report upon publication.
Wellsville will continue their road swing on Wednesday, visiting Fillmore in a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
Fillmore 3, Hammondsport 1
FILLMORE — Before the red hot Lady Lions of Wellsville come to town on Wednesday, the Lady Eagles of Fillmore wanted to make sure they were more than ready for the next task at hand.
Despite a first-set loss to the hands of visiting Hammondsport, Fillmore’s bounce back would become even greater by scoring victories in each of the next three sets of gameplay to bring the action to a close, as the Lady Eagles strolled past the Lady Lakers with a four-set, 21-25, 25-18, 25-11, 25-17 triumph inside The Rock on Monday.
On the attack, Savannah Hosmer was excellent for the Lady Eagles (4-4), recording team-highs in aces with nine, and kills with five to fuel up the engines. Skylar Gaddy helped the cause with seven aces of her own to go with two kills, while Jenna Austin had three kills.
On defense, Abby Engler was clutch keeping the ball off the floor, tallying 10 game-high digs, while setter Zoe Hubbard fed off the momentum with 16 assists to hand out at the net.
The Lady Eagles will face Wellsville back inside The Rock come Wednesday night, beginning promptly at 7:30 p.m.
Houghton Academy 3, Archbishop Walsh 0
HOUGHTON — Jessica Prentice was simply lights out for the Lady Panthers of Houghton Academy, as her offensive presence would provide a big impact from start to finish against visiting Archbishop Walsh, allowing them to roll away towards victory by a 25-12, 25-10, 25-17 count to record the straight-set win on their home floor on Monday.
Prentice was on fire all game for the Lady Panthers (4-2), collecting a game-high 10 kills to pair alongside two aces and a block. Helping further the cause was Jessica Adenuga, who chipped in with a strong defensive effort with six kills, adding them alongside five aces and two more kills on the attack. Setter Abby Reitnour had seven assists to hand out, five aces and one additional kill.
Houghton Academy is now off until they return to their home floor again on Wednesday, hosting Genesee Valley/Belfast at 6 p.m.
Olean 3, Bolivar-Richburg 0
BOLIVAR — Some strong finishes in the late stages for Olean on the volleyball court would help pay some major dividends in their road trip to Bolivar-Richburg on Monday, as the Lady Huskies exited town and back home to the west with a straight-set win over the Lady Wolverines in hand, taking the 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 decision in its entirety.
Sandwiched in between two dominant early stage runs from the Lady Huskies was perhaps Bolivar-Richburg’s (3-3) best chance to tie the match up, as they forced a 13-13 tie right near the midway point of the second set. After some back and forth battling between the two teams, Olean was able to find the opening they wanted to pull themselves away and out of reach of the Lady Wolverines to hang on, en route to the straight set win.
Despite the loss, the hosts saw a strong night of offense from Brena Walp, who recorded a team-high six kills, five digs and three aces from the back line. On defense, Kori Thomas (two blocks) and Haley Mascho (one ace) both chipped in digs of their own to keep the ball off the floor, recording seven and six respectively.
Bolivar-Richburg will now hit the road Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. first serve inside the Wighthouse, as they visit the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford.
Cuba-Rushford 3, Hinsdale 0
CUBA — The first set was all the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford required to make their impact known almost immediately on Monday, as they issued three straight dominant sets against visiting Hinsdale to cement a straight-set win inside the Wighthouse, garnering it with wins of 25-7, 25-8 and 25-11 to move their way back above .500 on the young season.
Bri Green was sublime on the frontlines for the Lady Rebels (4-3), as she posted a game-high 12 kills to pair with two aces from the service line. Helping further those efforts was a solid night of service from Jordyn Radomski on the back line, as she posted six aces to pair with two kills.
Emma Retz would follow suit with five aces of her own and one kill, while the team’s setter Kendall Tompkins dished out 17 assists to set alongside four more aces.
On the other side of the net for Hinsdale (1-6), Jaylee Jimerson recorded six team-high kills to pair with two aces. On defense, Alex Goodyear collected 10 digs, four service points and two aces, while Hannah Sutton added in six more digs to go with five kills and one ace to round off the Lady Bobcats, who are now off until Saturday afternoon with a 12:30 p.m. first serve against Wellsville back home.
Cuba-Rushford will remain inside the Wighthouse for their next battle on Wednesday, hosting Bolivar-Richburg in a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
