Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Marissa Scott spikes over Albion’s Rylee Pearles during the host Lady Rams win this evening.

Clutch late rallies for wins in both the second and third sets earned Roy-Hart a 25-12, 25-21, 26-24 victory over visiting Albion this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League volleyball match.

Trailing 21-18 in the second set, Roy-Hart rallied for the win as Marissa Scott served up the final seven points in a row. The key run including two service aces along with two spiking kills by Samantha McIntyre and one by Alex Stern.

Albion had taken a 20-16 lead as Emily Graham served up points 18-20, a run which included kills by Alexa Gandy and Honesty Little.

Likewise in the decisive third set, Albion took a 21-18 lead on a run of three straight service points by Mya Knaak including an ace.

Roy-Hart’s Makenna Elsenheimer makes a set.

However, again Roy-Hart came battling back sparked by a key run of three straight points by Scott including two aces giving the Lady Rams a 23-22 lead.

Roy-Hart then took three of the next five points to claim the overtime win and the match.

Roy-Hart rolled to a 25-12 win in the opening set as Samantha Albright served up points 7-10 and 24-25 and Ava Brigham points 13-16.

Roy-Hart is now 2-3 and Albion 0-5.

Medina 25-25-18-24-25, Newfane 18-23-25-26-20

Medina outlasted visiting Newfane in five sets 25-18, 25-23, 18-25, 24-26, 25-20 to go to 1-2 in N-O competition.

Devin Griffin had 8 kills, Ianah Drisdom 6 and Anya Bloom 5 to lead Medina at the net. Grffin also had 9 aces, Sydney Watts 5 and Bloom 4 while Ki’Mani Poole chipped in with 8 assists and Evie Schultz 6.

Griffin served up points 9-13 to put Medina on top to stay in the decisive fifth set.

Medina next visits Albion on Wednesday evening.

Akron 25-25-25, Wilson 22-11-9

Undefeated (7-0) Akron opened up a two game lead in the N-O title chase by downing Wilson (4-2) 25-22, 25-11, 25-9.

Jessee Jonathan had 6 kills, 7 aces and 24 assists, Ella Hill 15 kills and 4 aces and Giahna LaFromboise 8 kills to lead the way for Akron.

Albion’s Emily Graham spikes as Ava Brigham defends for Roy-Hart.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, Medina is in the thick of the race for the top seed in the upcoming Section VI Class C football playoffs.

Just as was the case during the recent basketball season the top seed gets home field advantage throughout the playoffs including the title contest. Medina took full advantage of being the No. 1 seed for the basketball sectionals as the Mustangs scored three straight home court victories to capture the Class B2 championship.

The football playoffs will consist of only semifinal and final rounds. The four team field for the Class C playoffs will include the three division winners and the second place team with the most power points.

Currently, Medina leads the C North Division with a 3-0 record and 60 power points as the Mustangs have scored wins over their first three opponents by  margin of at least 20 points which is the maximum which can be counted for power points.

The Mustangs will visit Tonawanda (1-1) in the finale at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Medina is now tied for the all important seed determining lead in power points at 60 with Clymer/Sherman/Panama (CSP), which shares the C South Division lead with Southwestern at 3-0. Southwestern is close behind in the race for the top seed at 59 power points.

CSP will finish against 3-1 Fredonia while Southwestern will take on 0-3 Cassadaga Valley/Falconer.

Interestingly, Medina and CSP also share the lead in fewest points allowed (7) which is the first tie breaker if the teams finish the regular season with the same number of power points making defense as important as offense in the finales.

Eden/North Collins currently leads the C Central Division with a 3-0 record and has 41 power points.

Alden, which is only 1-0, still is in the C Central title and playoff berth chase  as the Bulldogs face both Eden/North Collins and JFK (1-1) this week.

No. 7 seed Kendall will visit No. 2 Bolivar-Richburg on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the Section V Class D2 volleyball playoffs.

The victor will face the winner of the No. 6 Cal-Mum vs. No. 3 South Seneca match in the semifinals on Friday.

In another D2 quarterfinal contest on Wednesday, No. 4 Byron-Bergen will host No. 5 York.

The winner will take on the victor of the No. 8 H-A-C vs. No. 1 Pavilion match in Friday’s semifinal round.

The Niagara-Orleans League volleyball season will head into the stretch run this coming week as both Roy-Hart and Medina face a busy schedule coming off Covid-19 related pauses.

Medina will host Newfane Tuesday, visit Albion on Wednesday and Roy-Hart on Thursday and then host Wilson and Albion on Saturday.

Roy-Hart will visit Wilson on Monday, host Albion on Tuesday, Newfane on Wednesday and Medina on Thursday.

8-Man Division Football final matchup set

Top seeded Red Jacket will host No. 2 Pembroke for the Section V 8 Man Division football playoff title next Saturday.

In Saturday’s semifinals Red Jacket defeated No. 4 CG Finney 55-22 and Pembroke rallied from an early 30-8 deficit to outlast No. 3 Perry 74-66.

Running back Garrett Totten rushed for three touchdowns and caught passes for two more and quarterback Connor Peterson passed for 3 TDs and rushed for one to lead the way for Pembroke.

Contributed Photos – Medina’s Morgan Allis, left, and Albion’s Sierra Newton

A quartet of former Niagara-Orleans League players are helping the Niagara County Community College softball team get off to a 3-1 conference, 8-5 overall start to the season.

The local foursome includes sophomore first baseman Maddy Glenna and freshman outfielder/pitcher Ashley Hill from Roy-Hart, freshman outfielder Sierra Newton from Albion and freshman third baseman Morgan Allis from Medina.

Roy-Hart’s Ashley Hill, left, and Maddy Glena

Hill, who is hitting .387, has 12 hits including two doubles with 6 RBI and 12 runs scored.

Glena, who is hitting .625, has 5 hits including a pair of doubles, with 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Allis has had 7 hits, including 2 triples with 7 RBI and 10 runs scored and is hitting .280.

Newton, who has driven in 6 runs and scored 3 has 2 hits with a double.

All four players had multiple hit and or multiple RBI games during NCCC’s recent split of a four game series with Finger Lakes Community College.

Contributed Photo – Jacob Bruning

Making it three wins in a row, Roy-Hart graduate Jacob Bruning hurled Niagara University to a 8-5 victory over Marist Friday.

Bruning, who is a junior Marketing Major at Niagara, scattered 7 hits and struck out 4 over six and two-thirds innings in the win.

His previous two wins were narrow one run decisions. He went five and two-thirds innings in a 8-7 win over Quinnipiac giving up 7 hits with 8 strikeouts. He then went six and one-third innings in a 3-2 victory over rival Canisius scattering 5 hits and striking out 6.

He has pitched 27 innings to date this season allowing a total of 23 hits and striking out 25 in posting a 3-1 record on the mound.

It will be the first of its kind event for this area as the Rotary Club of Medina is planning to hold its First Annual Pickleball Tournament the weekend of July 10 and 11 on the Medina High School tennis courts.

Pickleball is a paddleball sport that combines elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, much like a wiffle ball, with 26-40 round holes, over a net.

Tournament Director Carl Tuohey believes this will become the biggest annual fundraiser for the Rotary Club.  “Pickleball is a fast-growing sport and this is the first tournament to be held in this area.

“This inaugural tournament will be a ‘fun’ tournament,” he added. “USPA rules will apply and players will make their own calls.  It will not be a sanctioned tournament this year but we hope to get to that point in the near future.”

While promoted as one tournament there will be four separate tournaments: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles.  The two Singles tournaments will be held on Saturday, July 10th with the Doubles tournaments on Sunday, July 11th.

There will be a limit of 32 total registrations each day, with eight slots reserved for the Men’s tournaments and eight slots reserved for the Women’s tournaments.  The remaining 16 spots will be filled in the order payment was received regardless of gender.

There will be food vendors onsite and spectators are encouraged to come watch.  “If you are unfamiliar with pickleball then this is your chance to see the game” said Tuohey.

Player registration is $15 plus $10 per event entered.  Registration opens on Saturday, May 1st.  It ends on either Wednesday, June 30th or when all the slots are filled.  Players need to register online.

In addition, the Rotary Club will be collecting canned goods for the local food bank.  These items can be turned in at the Information Table either Saturday or Sunday.

“We hope and believe the people and businesses in the area will support this” says Tuohey.  “Rotary will be seeking sponsors, volunteers and pickleball nets in the coming weeks.”

Participants will need to register at www.medinarotary.org/pickleball.  For more information visit the Rotary website or contact the Rotary Club at medinanyrotary@gmail.com.

A fourth quarter rally came up just short as Albion dropped a narrow 26-21 decision at Olean this evening in a B2 Division game.

Trailing 26-7, Albion came battling back in the final quarter scoring two touchdowns on a 10 yard run by quarterback Amari Jones and a 12 yard pass from Amari Jones to Javon Jones but could get no closer than the final five point margin. Amari Jones passed to Chris Shabazz for the two point conversion after the first TD.

Amari Jones had a 35 yard pass completion to highlight the first TD drive and completions of 19 yards to Tyler Gibson, 17 to Javon Jones and 10 to Bailey Blanchard on the second .

The Purple Eagles other touchdown came in the second quarter on a Amari Jones to Gibson 39 yard pass play as DeClan McCue again added the extra point kick.

Amari Jones completed 15 of 23 passes for 232 yards and the two TDs on the evening. Gibson caught 7 passes for 107 yards. Javon Jones 3 for 64 and Shabazz 3 for 42.

Capitalizing on a pair of Albion turnovers, the host Huskies jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and extended the advantage to 26-7 at the half.

Olean is now 3-1 and Albion 1-3. The Purple Eagles will next host Lake Shore next Friday evening at 7.

In another B2 contest, Depew improved to 3-1 by blanking Maryvale (1-3) 21-0.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Holley’s Kayleigh Neale spikes the ball over Lyndonville’s Lorelei Dillenbeck during the Lady Hawks win over the host Lady Tigers this evening.

Closing out the Genesee Region League volleyball season on a high note, Holley bested host Lyndonville 25-15, 14-25, 25-20, 25-14 this evening.

Leading 20-15, Holley closed out the first set as the Lady Hawks regained possession on a spike kill by Tia Hoffarth and then Rachel Kinsey served up the last four points in a row.

Lyndonville though answered back with a second set win to tie the match, a win highlighted by a big run of nine straight service points by Lorelei Dillenbeck (3-11), a run which included three straight aces.

Lyndonville’s Ella Lewis spikes against the Holley duo of Tatum Gagne (7) and Rachel Kinsey (8).

Gracie Johnson added points 13-15 and Chloe Stinson 18-20 before Cianna Button served up the final three registering an ace for No. 25.

Holley regained the lead for good by taking the third set which was tied 10 times before Rachel Howard served up four in a row (18-21), including two aces, to put the Lady Hawks on top to stay at 21-17. Grace Mckeon added kills for points 22 and 23 and Hoffarth a kill for No. 24 to help the Lady Hawks close out the set.

The Lady Hawks then closed out the win by taking the fourth set which was highlighted by a big run of seven straight service points by Hoffarth (14-20), including three aces, giving Holley a 20-10 lead.

Howard then had a kill for point 22 and Mckeon a kill for No. 25 to lock up the set and the match for the Lady Hawks.

Hoffarth finished with 5 kills for points, Mckeon 4 and Kayleigh Neale 3. Howard had 3 aces and Halee Passarell, Hoffarth and Kinsey 2 each.

For Lyndonville, Johnson had 4 kills and Ella Lewis 2 while Lorelei Dillenbeck had 4 aces, Button 3 and Johnson two.

Holley’s Grace Mckeon spikes against Lyndonville defender Gracie Johnson.

Sparked by an overtime win in the opening set, Kendall bested Oakfield-Alabama 27-25, 25-23, 25-13 Thursday night to finish second in the Genesee Region League Division 2 standings and lock up a berth in the upcoming Section V playoffs.

Lauren Pilon had 8 kills, 8 aces and 6 digs; Madison Shonitsky 11 assists, 5 aces and 4 kills and Shelby Kruger 6 digs, 4 assists and 3 kills to lead the way for Kendall which finishes the regular season at 7-6.

In another G-R match Friday, Attica defeated Holley 25-18, 25-23, 25-16.