Roy-Hart captures the Class B2 volleyball championship with a thrilling five set win

Contributed Photo – Roy-Hart players and coaches celebrate capturing the Section VI Class B2 volleyball championship with a thrilling five set win over Salamanca this evening at Cheektowaga.

No. 3 seed Roy-Hart outlasted No. 8 Salamanca in a five set thriller 25-9, 25-27, 22-25, 25-11, 15-12 in the Section VI Class B2 volleyball championship match this evening at Cheektowaga.

Trailing 10-9 in the decisive fifth set, Roy-Hart rallied to take the set and the match as Zoe Healey registered a spiking kill for point 10, Raegan Kern service aces for points 11 and 12, Grace Pearl a kill for point 14 and Ryleigh Capen an ace for the set and match winning 15th point.

“The girls were able to dig deep, trust each other and work together as a team to make that comeback,” said Coach Eliza Feocco. “Just incredible.”

The sectional championship is the first for Roy-Hart since 1996. The Lady Rams will next face the Class B1 winner (either Depew or Olean) for the Section VI Class B berth in the state tournament on Friday.

Roy-Hart also got off to a strong start taking the opening set 25-9 as Kern had a huge run of 11 straight service points (7-17) which included four aces.

However, Salamanca answered back to take the next two sets 27-25 and 25-22, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Mckenzie Crouse had a big run of 11 straight points (12-22) for the Lady Warriors in the second set.

Roy-Hart though rebounded to knot the match at 2-2 by taking the fourth set 25-11 as Lauren Snyder served up 6 points in a row (15-20) giving the Lady Rams a 20-5 lead.

That set the stage for the decisive fifth set for the Lady Rams which was highlighted by kills by Snyder, Kern and Pearl and aces by Kylie McOmber, Kern and Capen.

Pearl had a total of 13 kills, Snyder 8, Kern and McOmber 6 each. Capen led the Lady Rams in assists with 26.

Roy-Hart will now take an 18-1 record into Friday’s state qualifier match.