A-L spoils Lady Wolverines home opener with straight-set victory; Wellsville boys fall to Addison in opening round action

Bolivar-Richburg coach Demi Elliott, middle, helps break the huddle during a timeout in the action of Tuesday night’s season opener at home against Allegany-Limestone. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Jianna Nix returns the ball back over to Allegany-Limestone during Tuesday’s season opener in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

Bolivar-Richburg’s Carmen Crowley prepares for service to Allegany-Limestone during Tuesday night’s season opener in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

The Lady Wolverines come together to celebrate scoring a point on the floor of Tuesday’s season opener against Allegany-Limestone, in Bolivar. [Chris Brooks/WellsvilleSports.com]

BOLIVAR — The wait is over. The time has come in Allegany County, as the return of high school sports officially kicked off Tuesday night with a pair of contests inside, and outside to start the new year.

Indoors, the Lady Wolverines of Bolivar-Richburg returned to the volleyball court looking to build off of last season which saw them split the County’s League Championship three different ways with both powerhouse Cuba-Rushford, and Houghton Academy.

Their first task at hand was a powerhouse in their own right off to the west — Allegany-Limestone.

The Lady Gators, despite some late stage pressure from the Lady Wolverines in all three sets, were able to grab the momentum they needed to remain one step ahead the entire way, as they spoiled Bolivar-Richburg’s season opener with a straight-set sweep over the road by a 25-19, 25-22, 25-19 count.

The first set saw Allegany-Limestone jump out to as big of a lead as nine points at one point, but Bolivar-Richburg (0-1) managed to mount a late rally to chip away at their deficit. After closing the gap, it was extended back out further and for good to give the visitors in green the victory after closing out with four straight points.

Set two on the other hand was a back-and-forth battle that continued to escalate as the action progressed. After trailing the Lady Gators by as much as five, the rally was on behind the guidance of senior Jianna Nix, who provided fine service from the back to start up a lead change sparked by seven straight points to take a 13-8 lead midway.

Nix led all Bolivar-Richburg scorers with a team-high 11 kills, eight aces and a block at the net.

The team’s lead did not hold for much longer, as the Lady Gators clawed their way back after a timeout on the floor, providing a run of their own to tie the game back up once more. Both teams would butt heads in a 17-17 tie and continue to exchange back-and-forth points until the end when the visitors from Section VI came away with three consecutive points to close out a comeback win to push the Lady Wolverines to the brink.

In the final set of the evening, the momentum garnered by the Lady Gators was put to full use to provide a solid 9-3 start to grab the upper hand. The lead held by Allegany-Limestone never went below six points, despite Bolivar-Richburg making one last push to trim down the deficit, netting seven of the next 11 points after an established 20-12 lead by the Lady Gators.

But time and space would run out on Bolivar-Richburg, as Allegany-Limestone held off the hosts with the game-ending point at the front of the net to close the door on the rally, and the match-ending sweep.

Helping further the cause on the floor for Bolivar-Richburg was Brena Walp, who added in five kills of her own. On defense, Haley Mascho tallied seven digs, while setter Kaitlyn Graves dished out 17 assists up front.

The Lady Wolverines are now off until next week, as they take time to prepare for their next match right back on their home floor next Thursday night when they welcome in Genesee Valley/Belfast in a 7:30 p.m. first serve.

BOYS SOCCER

Addison Tourney: Addison 7, Wellsville 0

ADDISON — The Knights of Addison wasted no time getting their season off to the right foot, as they turned up the heat right in the first half of play scoring five of their seven goals in the opening 40 minutes of play to roll their way toward a 7-0 shutout over visiting Wellsville in first round action of their home tournament, Tuesday night.

Addison collected 32 total shots on the Lions (0-1) cage across 90 minutes of play, with Brayden Bills, Trent Watson and Zane Wheeler all scoring a pair of goals each to fuel the offense. The Knights would start with a 1-0 lead just 2:30 into the game, and would add their last four in the first half in a span of 10 minutes to pull away for good.

No statistics for Wellsville were provided upon publication.

Wellsville will return to action back in Addison on Thursday in the Consolation round. The Lions will open up their season at home next Tuesday night with a 7 p.m. first kick under the lights against Andover/Whitesville.