Friday Roundup: Lady Lions reign supreme in annual Pink Out game, survive back-and-forth duel with Avon to claim 5-set thriller; And/Whi girls knock in 3 1st half goals to shutout Lady Rebels

WELLSVILLE — The Lion’s Den was a complete and utter electric factory, Friday night. With the color pink taking over as far as the eye could see, the Lady Lions of Wellsville were front and center on their home court for the first time in nearly two weeks with a massive showdown between two of the top teams in their respective classes in Section V.

The marquee matchup pinned the Lady Lions, currently seeded fifth in Class B, up against Class C1’s top seed: The Avon Lady Riverhawks, and the battle they conducted on the court went exactly as advertised.

During Pink Out festivities, the Lady Riverhawks and the Lady Lions laid it all out on the table and gave it everything they had. All five sets were needed to decide it all, as both teams went back and forth from the very first serve until the last point touched the floor in front of them. Early on, the Lady Lions had to fight their way back, scavenging two absolutely dominant outings of volleyball to put Avon on their feet — that included a fourth set that saw them tilt the momentum in their favor.

Despite another back-and-forth exchange of points, Wellsville would not be denied a big win in their first match back home since the end of September, as they survived a magnificent battle with the Lady Riverhawks by recording the match’s final three points in a row, rightfully claiming the five-set match win in the same swing by a 20-25, 25-12, 19-25, 25-8, 15-9 count.

“It went back and forth for a while and we had a couple of sets where we really dominated, but Avon dug in as well,” said Lady Lions coach Shannon Steiner. “Once the girls were able to build and keep their energy, there was simply no stopping them. Lindsay (Stuck) and her service during the fourth set really played a big part in that as well, she started hot and set the tone right away. It was so exciting. The crowd was very much into this game tonight, which I think helped the girls really feed off of that and get energized as well.”

There was an early back-and-forth battle between Avon and Wellsville (8-4) that settled in right away, with the Lady Riverhawks identifying a slight opening to traverse through and score four consecutive points following a 6-6 tie out of the gate. The quick and aggressive start for the visitors in green continued on by claiming a lead that reached as much as seven before the Lady Lions worked it right back down behind the guidance of Averee Palmatier, who collected back-to-back aces to cut the deficit down to a pair of points.

The back-and-forth pace re-established its connection going down the stretch in the opening set, but led by their hits hitting the correct areas of the floor, along with some key denials at the net to keep Wellsville off-balanced, Avon was able to put the finishing touches on a 1-0 match lead with a 25-20 first-set win.

Despite the defeat, the Lady Lions kept their composure and fought right back against the Lady Riverhawks, as they provided a rejuvenating and re-energized performance in the second set to take an early 12-8 lead and turn it into an insurmountable advantage, keeping the gas pedal down on a run that saw them score 13 of the set’s last 17 points to score a 25-12 win.

The Riverhawks delivered another jab right back at Wellsville in the third set, starting it off strong with a 7-2 lead that was ultimately cut down to one point at one point during the set. With a 12-11 lead on the board, it was an advantage that Avon never relinquished, as they remained in control to take the match lead right back again with a 25-19 win. But it would be their final time clinching victory for themselves, as the Lady Lions completely flipped the script to close out the evening.

In the fourth set, Wellsville assembled a volleyball masterclass, kicking off the action with a dominant 14-1 lead of Avon — 10 of those points coming in consecutive fashion, with Lindsay Stuck leading the charge from the service line. They would ultimately continue full steam ahead to deliver a match-tying performance with a 25-8 fourth-set win.

To close out the night, Wellsville survived one more back-and-forth trade with Avon in points, but found enough wiggle room with the last three points down the stretch, including a monster kill from Natalie Adams to officially put a bow on the action in the Lion’s Den, as the Lady Lions warded off one remarkable challenge from the Lady Riverhawks to capture the victory.

Stuck ultimately led all attackers for the Lady Lions at the end of the night, compiling a team-high 16 kills to go with seven digs and six aces. Averee Palmatier was not far behind, as she recorded 13 kills to go with five digs and four aces. In addition, Makenna Dunbar led the way on defense with 14 massive digs to keep the ball off the floor, chipping in 11 kills, two aces and a block along the way, while setter Lexi Irish handed out 41 assists, coupling them with three digs and a kill.

The Lady Lions are now off until Wednesday night, when they get set to take on the Bolivar-Richburg Lady Wolverines for a second and final time this season, at 7:30 p.m. right back inside the Lion’s Den.

BOYS SOCCER

Keshequa 3, Houghton Academy 2 (F-OT)

NUNDA — Keshequa’s Ian Hinrich has been widely regarded as an absolute game-changer. Every time he applies a touch to the ball on the pitch, big things happen. Behind 27 goals for the season, the Wildcats phenom has worked his way up to the very top of Section V as its leading goal-scorer. But he’s not alone.

Right behind him is another of Section V’s game-changers: Houghton Academy’s David Jatta, who was beginning his own ascent to the peak behind his 23 goals. In a matchup that pitted two Class D powers fighting for position in the middle of the pack for Sectionals together, it was a hard-fought duel that required just a little more extra time to settle the outcome at Kiwanis Park in Nunda.

After 85 minutes of soccer, the last word was provided by Hinrich and the Wildcats, as his election of a crucial penalty kick during overtime paid massive dividends at the end of the night, coming through the clutch with what served as the golden goal to propel Keshequa over top of Houghton Academy with a mammoth 3-2 home victory under the lights.

Rewinding back to the opening stages of battle, it was the kind of start Houghton Academy (9-5) earned right out of the gate, as Jae Masiza opened the scoring nearly four minutes removed from the kick at midfield, connecting with David Jatta and his pass to finish off the opening marker. The lead would hold until just after midway when the Wildcats tied the game off a Kayden Rodrigues score, courtesy of an Owen Pike pass with 16:13 remaining.

Hinrich would then find the ledger himself later on with 7:45 left in the half, as he scored the first of his two markers to give Keshequa a 2-1 lead going into the break.

For the majority of time ahead in the second half, Houghton Academy had to battle their way through thick and thin against the Wildcats defense to create some separation. As a direct result, Jatta found the back of the net for a 24th time this season in the most opportune of occasions with 13:26 left to play, deadlocking the game at two each side for the foreseeable future ahead.

After the Panthers essentially went on to force overtime, they had kept the momentum primarily in their favor during the dead heat into extra time. But with 5:32 left on the clock, the Wildcats were granted a free pass. It would witness the election of Hinrich to take the kick, and on it, the Wildcats phenom wasted absolutely no time, as he sealed the deal on a massive win for the hosts in black and orange after nearly 90 minutes of complete soccer.

The Panthers managed to finish the game with a 14-9 advantage in the shot department, with Jerry Pham making six saves in between the posts.

Coming up on Wednesday, Houghton Academy heads back home to welcome in Cuba-Rushford for battle at 5 p.m.

GIRLS SOCCER

Andover/Whitesville 3, Cuba-Rushford 0

ANDOVER — You want to talk about making the most of your opportunities? Andover/Whitesville had them.

Out of just five shots that the offense provided against what has been a stout Cuba-Rushford defense all season long, Andover/Whitesville managed to connect with three of them straight to the back of the net — two of them on special teams off direct kicks, as they made all the noise in the world in the first half to set the tone on what was a humongous 3-0 shutout of the Lady Rebels in Andover, Friday night.

“This was probably our most complete 80 minutes they have put together this season. It was really nice for our girls to really have some success tonight,” said Andover/Whitesville co-coach Aaron Rawady. “Their focus, effort and discipline were really high all game, and they needed to be. Cuba-Rushford is such a tough team and they are extremely well-coached by Aaron (Wight). We caught some lucky breaks that definitely helped us, but we also had some really strong performances across the board from everyone.”

All three goals for Andover/Whitesville (4-10) were planted within the first half’s final five minutes of play, as they hung tight right alongside Cuba-Rushford during their battle for possession across the stanza. The hosts would then begin to see the pitch open up its field of view even more when the ice was broken by Lilly Harrington, who scored off a fine pass sent along by the foot of Aine Brown.

The scoring did not stop there, as Andover/Whitesville added more damage on special teams, as Graci Lewis-Ellison and Julianna Phelps each connected with a direct kick to extend their lead to three, with Lewis-Ellison knocking hers in with 1:25 left to play, and Phelps netting hers with just eight seconds remaining in the frame to finish the first half on the strongest of notes possible.

Leigha Phelps was credited with an assist on the team’s second direct kick.

For the remainder of time in the second half, the Andover/Whitesville defense would be tested against the Lady Rebels (10-3-1). The visitors did everything in their power to catapult their way back into the game, managing to outshoot the hosts by a 7-0 count across the remaining 40 minutes of play. But the Andover/Whitesville defense, led by Olivia Waters in between the posts, never broke, as they secured their biggest win of the season in front of their home crowd.

Cuba-Rushford finished with a 14-5 outshooting of Andover/Whitesville on the attack — all 14 of the shots faced by Waters for the hosts, were resiliently set aside, as she scored the biggest shutout of her campaign.

As for the Lady Rebels, Annaleece Melton made two saves in net on the opposite end of the pitch. Cuba-Rushford heads back on the road tonight for a 4:30 p.m. visit to Allegany-Limestone.

Andover/Whitesville will hit the road themselves coming up on Tuesday, as they go to Scio to meet up with Friendship/Scio in a 6 p.m. first kick.

Fillmore 1, Friendship/Scio 0

FILLMORE — With her former team in town for a visit to Fillmore on Friday, Morghyn Ross wound up providing the difference maker in the early stages of the second half for the host Lady Eagles, as her goal held up as the contest’s lone score after a long and fierce battle with visiting Friendship/Scio across the midfield saw them claim a 1-0 victory to send their five seniors out swinging on Senior Night in Fillmore.

“Tonight was Senior Night and emotionally, we were a bit out of whack. I thought Friendship/Scio played a very intelligent game tonight, and they deserve credit for having such a quality game. We are looking forward to a few days of rest coming up. I congratulate all five of my seniors on a great career here at Fillmore.” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley.

With just six minutes removed off the clock in the second half, Ross unearthed gold from in front of the Friendship/Scio net, as the Lady Eagles junior connected with a prime opportunity off a corner kick supplied by Ryleigh Goodliff. At the place and at the right time, the Lady Eagles confirmed their victory behind the kick — one of 13 shots total they would supply against Friendship/Scio.

When it was all said and done, Fillmore advanced forward to claim a 13-1 advantage in the shots department.

In net, Grace Clark tallied another fine shutout performance to her resume, making the one stop.

As for Friendship/Scio (4-8-1), Hunter Hint made 12 stops in between the posts on their side of the field. The team hops right back on the field tonight with a 5 p.m. visit to Lima Christian up north.

Fillmore will now get some time off to rest before returning back to action Tuesday night with a 5 p.m. visit to the Lady Wolverines of B-R.

Genesee Valley/Belfast 7, Bolivar-Richburg 0

BELMONT — The Genesee Valley/Belfast girls assembled a second half blitz like no other this season. After fighting for possession alongside Bolivar-Richburg in the first 40 minutes of play, the second half was a vastly different story on Friday.

Almost immediately at the drop of the hat, Genesee Valley/Belfast went to work. With Hannah Southwick-Powers and Bayleigh Tallman — the team’s dynamic duo, helping lead the charge with five goals and two assists combined, they simply could not be stopped. After sending off all nine of their seniors in style with their final regular season win in Belfast the previous game, they put together a seven-goal second half to ensure a successful farewell on Senior Night at Judy Bliven Field in Belmont with a 7-0 win over the visiting Lady Wolverines.

With a scoreless stalemate on the scoreboard to rewrite, Genesee Valley/Belfast (12-1-1) wasted no time, as they scored three goals in the first 15 minutes to set the tone, with Southwick-Powers connecting on the team’s first pair off passes from Tallman and Ava Aronson within the first 10 minutes of play.

Tallman then followed with one of her own at the 25:24 mark — the first of two off her foot in the game.

The two would alternate once again on the next set of scores to navigate to the back of the Bolivar-Richburg (4-9) net, as Southwick Powers and Tallman went back-to-back in a span of 3:46 to continue extending the Genesee Valley/Belfast lead, with Tallman handing out her second assist on Southwick-Powers’ hat trick-clincher just eclipsing past the midway mark.

In addition, Addisyn Ely and Madison Yackeren finished off the scoring in the last five minutes of play, each knocking in passes sent by Kate Calanni and Makenzie Turybury.

The seven goals stemmed off 21 total shots on goal for Genesee Valley/Belfast, as they outshot the Lady Wolverines by a 21-0 count. In net, the shutout belonged to Morgan Yackeren, who did not make a save to preserve the shutout. In net for Bolivar-Richburg, Rylee Whiting made 14 saves.

Both teams will re-emerge for games on Tuesday, with Genesee Valley/Belfast prepares to play host to the Wellsville Lady Lions in a 7 p.m. first kick, while Bolivar-Richburg heads back home to Dunsmore-Latimer Field to host Fillmore in a 5 p.m. contest.

GIRLS TENNIS

Class B2 Semifinals

No. 1 Wellsville 5, No. 5 Lyons 0

WELLSVILLE — There was purely no denying the Lady Lions of Wellsville and their trip back to the Class B2 Finals, which was waiting on the other side of their Semifinal bout with No. 5 Lyons, as they took advantage of all five matches on the court to come through with a 5-0 shutout of the No. 5 seeded Lyons Lady Lions to punch their tickets back to the big dance this weekend.

All five matches were granted to Wellsville (15-1) in dominance, as the three singles competitors of Samantha Bidzerkowny, Hanna Miles and Peyton Cawley all kept their feet straight down to the floor with straight-set triumphs, with Bidzerkowny claiming a 6-1, 6-2 win at first, Miles scoring a 6-0, 6-1 win at second, and a 6-0, 6-0 shutout pitched by Cawley at third.

The momentum flowed all throughout the court, ultimately working its way to the doubles department, where the first doubles tag team of Caitlin Bittel and Sarah Mattison kept Wellsville’s winning ways flowing with a 6-0, 6-1 win. As for their second doubles counterparts, the duo of Shayla Cowan and McKenna Wonderling helped round off the Class B2 Semifinal match — their very last match on their home court this Fall, with a 6-0, 6-0 straight-set shutout.

This afternoon in Dansville, the Lady Lions will now proceed to go for all of Section V’s glory for a second straight year, as they renew their 2023 Class B2 Championship matchup with the No. 2 Avoca-Prattsburgh Lady Titans, once again with the brick hanging in the balance. First serve between both teams is set for a 1 p.m. commencement.

Singles

1. Samantha Bidzerkowny (WLSV) def. Sam Figueroa (LY), 6-1, 6-2.

2. Hanna Miles (WLSV) def. Megan Taylor (LY), 6-0, 6-1.

3. Peyton Cawley (WLSV) def. Felisha Santoro (LY), 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles

1. Caitlin Bittel/Sarah Mattison (WLSV) def. Chloe Corbett/Addesyn Haskins (LY), 6-0, 6-1.

2. Shayla Cowan/McKenna Wonderling (WLSV) def. Braehlynn Damato/Carrigan Gould (LY), 6-0, 6-0.