Fillmore girls volleyball completes Fall Trifecta, overcoming first set fall to defeat No. 3 Houghton Academy with four-set victory to capture first Class D3 title in 26 years
LEROY — What a time it is to be a Fillmore Eagle.
The fun all began last weekend when both the boys and girls soccer teams came away with their second Section V, Class D1 championship in three years. Right around the time when both teams took it one step further by advancing to this weekend’s Far West Regional, the Lady Eagles indoors, all of a sudden, found themselves in a premier position.
A spot to complete an achievement that doesn’t come around very often — completing the seasonal Trifecta.
The Lady Eagles volleyball team sat one victory away from claiming it all, and to do so, they had to defeat a very familiar opponent for the third and final time this year. That being their crosstown rival separated by just a five minute drive down the road in third-seeded Houghton Academy, with each team splitting a five-set decision in regular season play entering Friday night in LeRoy.
The Lady Panthers and top-seeded Lady Eagles fought tooth and nail down to the end. In the opener, it was a start that Houghton Academy wanted to provide, grabbing the upper hand in a two-point win over Fillmore. Then, the Lady Eagles would provide a mirroring win of their own to tie the match.
From the third set forward, it was a matter of whose impact with the balance of power became greater. And after a second-set triumph, the Lady Eagles kept it in their favor and used every bit of it, as they found their rhythm in the final two sets the evening would see, winning them both to capture the game-set-match to win the program’s first Section V, Class D3 Championship since 1995 with a 3-1 win over the Lady Panthers by a 23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 count.
“I can’t even begin to describe how I feel. It’s amazing, and I cannot believe we did it,” said Lady Eagles coach Lacie Fuller. “It feels great with all the success we have going on around here, and we wanted to add to that. It feels great, and when we looked at the bracket, we were confident in our chances. Now, we have a lot of baby blue Sectional shirts wandering the building. It’s great to be a part of something special. I can’t remember a time where we had three titles in a season, but it’s awesome to be a part of the experience. It’s a great time to be an Eagle.”
It was right around the middle of the season where the Lady Eagles (12-6) began to find their groove toward success. After a 4-2 start to their season, the Lady Eagles went on to score four more wins in their next five games including massive wins over Arkport/Canaseraga, and Houghton Academy the last time the two Class D3 Finalists met one another back on October 8.
After three straight defeats to the hands of Cuba-Rushford, Wellsville and Bolivar-Richburg, the Lady Eagles made sure they went into the Sectional tournament on a strong note, collecting the number one seed after defeated Genesee Valley/Belfast to enter Sectionals.
In this postseason, Fillmore has put on dominant displays of volleyball to weave their way toward the Finals, with straight-set wins over Elba and Arkport/Canaseraga to claim their spot in the Finals, where they would ultimately overcome a slow first set start over Houghton Academy (12-7) to win the championship brick.
Fuller said it was something that gave them the confidence they needed to win it all.
“About midseason, they thought they could do something special. They thought it was doable. They made a point halfway through the season to step up and go for it,” she said. “Sometimes, you wait until Sectionals to get focused, but being with Wellsville and Bolivar-Richburg, they’re two great volleyball teams. Fortunately for us, they’re a different class than we are, and that helped us prepare for these matches. These girls got into gear, and they certainly don’t give these things away.”
After falling to the hands of the Lady Panthers in a narrow first set defeat, Fillmore dug their way back in, scoring three straight wins led by a 25-23 win of their own in the second set to force a one-all tie entering the third. In the remaining two sets, it gave the Lady Eagles an opportunity to build off their new-found momentum and then some, as they came away with big victories in the last two sets of the night to finish rewriting history in the school’s books with their first title in 26 years.
“In the first set, both teams had a lot of nerves, and it led to a lot of mistakes,” Fuller said. “It came down to the wire, and after that set, we told them that we lost it, and if we can clean it up, we would be alright moving forward. They came out, and played outstanding. All three sets were tight, and there was never a comfortable moment. When they felt comfortable, they gained their confidence and they started to play their brand of volleyball. The girls have peaked at the right time to make this happen.”
The Lady Eagles saw Emma Cole come alive, as she earned Class D3 MVP honors at the end of the night behind a dominant 19-kill, six-ace, three-block evening for the Lady Eagles to pace the title win. Jadyn Mucher’s assistance on the offensive end proved to be massive as well, recording 10 kills and four more aces. Setter Zoe Hubbard dished out a whopping 28 assists to pair with two kills, and one ace of her own.
Mucher and Hubbard would add in All-Tournament selections for Class D3 along the way for the top seeds.
“I am certainly proud of everyone, especially for Emma and Jadyn being the Senior leaders that they are. Emma eats, sleeps and breathes volleyball, and it’s a nice culmination of kids to celebrate for their Senior year with this,” said Fuller. “Hopefully some more will come. Emma was lights out again tonight, and Zoe was putting every pass on the net to them, and Jadyn was her steady self with her performance to help us through.”
Stats for the Lady Panthers of Houghton Academy were not made available upon publication, as the team finishes their incredible ride through the 2021 season. The Lady Panthers will graduate just two Seniors at the end of the year, in Nicole Torraca and Noelle Keeler.
With their first Sectional championship in 26 years now secured, the quest to add more will reboot after the weekend, as the Lady Eagles will now take on Class D1 champion Alexander in the pre-Qualifier round to earn the right to face Class D2 champion and unbeaten Pavilion for a spot in next week’s Far West Regional.
First serve between Fillmore and Alexander is tentatively slated for a 6 p.m. start at Pavilion.
