Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s Michela Hanlon and Holley’s Matt DeSimone will be among the local players competing for the Genesee Region League at this weekend’s senior soccer games.

Holley and Kendall will both be represented on the Genesee Region League teams that will compete in senior soccer games this weekend.

The G-R boys squad will face the Wayne County League seniors at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hilton.

The G-R girls team will take on the Finger Lakes East seniors at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at SUNY Geneseo.

The G-R boys squad will include the Holley threesome of goalie Patrick Bower, midfielder Matt DeSimone and midfielder Jacob Downey along with the Kendall trio of forward Chris Butlin, defender Jeremy Browe and midfielder Miguel Aguirre.

The G-R girls team will include Holley goalie Madison Papaj along with the Kendall trio of forward Michela Hanlon, defender Lyndsay Wright and midfielder Taylor ReQua.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Je’ne Brown tips the ball over the hands of Alden’s Shelby Kersten during the Mustangs loss to the Lady Bulldogs this evening in the Section VI Class B-2 championship match at Daemen College.

A powerful spiking attack powered top seeded Alden to a four set 25-13, 20-25, 25-15, 25-20 victory over No. 2 Medina in the Section VI Class B-2 volleyball championship this evening at Daemen College.

Shelby Kersten, a 6-2 junior, pounded home 25 spiking kills for points to spearhead the Alden attack which also got 8 kills by sophomore Emma Wlostowski.

Je’ne Brown led Medina at the net with 10 kills.

Maddie Williams returns service for Medina.

Kersten had a huge opening set with 8 kills, 1 block, 1 tip and 1 service ace to account for 11 of the Lady Bulldogs 25 points in the 25-13 win.

Medina though did battle back to even the match by taking the second set highlighted by 5 kills by Brown.

Leading by a narrow 12-11 margin, the Mustangs saw Maddie Williams serve up points 13-16, including 3 aces, and Elle Gross 18-22, also including 3 aces, to key the victory as Grace Masse also registered an ace for point 24.

Two kills by Williams, along with one by Camri King, helped keep Medina within two at 12-10 midway through the pivotal third set but the Mustangs could get no closer.

A three point run of service points by Wlostowski opened up a little breathing room for Alden which got 8 kills and 2 blocks for points from Kersten in the set which the Lady Bulldogs claimed 25-15.

Medina though again came battling back to take leads of 12-7, 13-10 and 15-14 in the fourth set as Leah Sheelar served up points 4-7, including an ace, and Williams points 11-12 with an ace as Brown added 3 kills and a block for points.

However, Alden outscored Medina 10-5 down the stretch to lock up the set and the match.

Kersten had 6 kills and 2 blocks and Wlostowski 5 kills to spark the Lady Bulldogs in that set.

The victory advances Alden to a Monday meeting with B-1 champion East Aurora for the overall Section VI Class B title and a berth in the state playoffs. East Aurora downed Maryvale in three sets to claim the B-1 title.

The championship match was the first for Medina since 1995 when the Mustangs ironically defeated Alden for the B-2 title.

Section V Class C2

Byron-Bergen 25-25-25, Letchworth 20-19-19

Laurne Burke had 12 kills, Madison Farnsworth 9 aces and 6 kills and Catherine Brumsted 3 kills and 2 aces to lead undefeated Byron-Bergen (18-0)  to a straight set win over Letchworth in a Section V Class C2 match.

B-B next faces Geneseo at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Bloomfield.

Medina’s Camri King blocks a spike attempt by Alden’s Emma Wlostowski.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Akron’s Abby Stone gets past Barker defender Casey A’Hearn during the Lady Tigers Section VI Class C title win over the Lady Raiders this evening at Williamsville North.

Top seeded Akron rallied with two quick goals late in the second half to edge past rival No. 2 Barker 2-1 in an all Niagara-Orleans League Section VI Class C field hockey championship game this evening at Williamsville North.

Trailing 1-0, Akron pulled even on a goal by Abby Stone off a corner opportunity with just 12:09 remaining.

Bolstered by that tally, the Lady Tigers then quickly scored what proved to be the game winner on a shot by Lydia Blueye with 10:17 to go off another corner opportunity.

The Lady Raiders had two corner opportunities in the final four minutes but could not capitalize.

Barker had taken a 1-0 lead on a goal by Katrina Clare just 42 seconds into the second half.

Akron, which has now claimed the Class C title two of the last three years with wins over Barker, advances to the Far West Regional on Saturday afternoon at 2 at Williamsville North.

Akron and Barker, which shared the N-O title with identical 11-1 records, split a pair of regular season meetings by the same score of 2-1.

Barker’s Katrina Clare works to bring the ball up field against Akron defender Heather Cummings.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Breanna Islam, shown her spiking a return backed up by Alyssa Beyer, and their Mustang teammates will face Alden for the Class B-2 volleyball championship this evening at Daemen College.

Looking to end a 20 plus year drought, No. 2 seed Medina will face top seeded Alden in the Section VI Class B-2 volleyball championship match this evening at 8 at Daemen College.

Medina last captured a sectional title in 1995, ironically with a victory over Alden. In fact, the Mustangs bested the Lady Bulldogs for the Class B-2 title in both 1994 and 1995.

The Mustangs advanced to the title match with a four set victory over Niagara-Orleans League foe No. 6 seed Newfane in the semifinals while Alden ousted No. 4 Springville in five sets.

The victor will then face the B-1 champion (either No. 1 East Aurora or No. 2 Maryvale) on Monday at Daemen for the overall Class B title and a berth in the state playoffs.

Field Hockey Final Tonight
N-O rivals Akron and Barker will meet for the Section VI Class C field hockey championship at 6 this evening at Williamsville North.

It marks the fourth year in a row and the eighth time in the last nine years that the two teams have met in the title contest.  Barker scored a narrow 1-0 win in a shootout last year while Akron won by a 3-1 margin in 2015.

N-O co-champions at 11-1, Akron and Barker split a pair of regular season meetings by the identical score of 2-1.

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Newfane’s Kayleigh Daniels heads for the goal against Akron defender MacKenzie O’Brien during the Lady Panthers Class B title win over the Lady Tigers this evening at Williamsville South.

A two goal scoring burst midway through the second half earned Newfane a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Akron in an all Niagara-Orleans League Section VI Class B girls soccer championship game this evening at Williamsville South.

Trailing 1-0, Newfane pulled even when Meghan Mietlicki scored on a rebound off a direct kick shot by Sarah Milczarski with 27:48 to go in the second half.

The Lady Panthers then had a shot hit off the crossbar three minutes later before netting the game winner four minutes after that when Kayleigh Daniels got past the Akron defense and tallied with 20:02 remaining.

Akron had grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Jenna Robnett scored just 3:33 into the game off a nice centering pass from Kara Sequin.

The Lady Tigers later had a shot hit the crossbar with 4:45 to go in the opening half.

The victory earns Newfane a second straight Class B title and trip to the state playoffs. The Lady Panthers will next face Section V champion Aquinas in the Far West Regional on Friday evening at Williamsville South.

Last year Newfane defeated Palmyra-Macedon 2-0 in the Far West Regional to advance to the state semifinals where the Lady Panthers dropped a narrow 1-0 decision to Chenango Forks.

Newfane advanced to the sectional final by edging past Albion 1-0 in the Class B-1 championship game last Saturday while Akron blanked Wilson 3-0 in the Class B-2 title contest.

Newfane and Akron had split a pair of regular season N-O meetings by the identical score of 2-0.

Akron’s Kara Sequin looks to go up the sideline as Macy White comes in to defend for Newfane.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Akron and Barker will renew their rivalry for the Section VI Class C field hockey championship for the fourth year in a row on Wednesday. Akron’s Kayla Wdowka and Barker’s Haleigh Mason are shown here battling for control of the ball during a recent regular season meeting between the teams.

Perennial Niagara-Orleans League field hockey title contenders Akron and Barker are also perennial Section VI Class C title contenders as the Lady Tigers and Lady Raiders will meet for the crown for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last nine years at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Williamsville North.

Akron is seeded No. 1 and Barker No. 2 as the result of a coin flip after  the teams finished the N-O season as co-champions with identical 11-1 records having split a pair of 2-1 decisions.

Both teams advanced to the finals with one goal wins in the semis, Akron 1-0 over No. 4 Holland and Barker 2-1 over No. 3 Roy-Hart.

Barker scored a narrow 1-0 win in a shootout in last year’s Class C title contest to avenge a 3-1 loss to Akron in the 2015 final.  The Lady Raiders in fact have taken 7 of those last 8 title meetings with the Lady Tigers and have captured the sectional crown 12 of the last 15 years.

Barker has featured a balanced attack this season with six players having scored at least 5 goals including Katrina Clare (12 goals 2 assists), Ciara Gregoire (9g, 4a), Natalie Menz (8g, 10a), Lena Fazzolari (6g, 2a), Rachel Hurtgam (5g, 2a) and Casey A’Hearn (5g, 1a).

The Akron attack has been led by the trio of Abby Stone (17g, 9a), Rebecca Breymeier (14g) and Alexis Bell (13g).

Sacred Heart broke the deadlock for first place by edging past Legion 36-34 Monday to take a two point lead atop the Medina Euchre League standings.

Sacred Heart is now 189-161 on the season, Legion 187-163, Vets Club 166-184 and JR Wilson 158-192.

JR Wilson trimmed Vets Club 36-34 in the other match.

League competition continues on November 6 with Legion at Sacred Heart and JR Wilson at Vets Club.

Photo by Mike Wertman – Medina Coach Chris Horgan

Medina High tennis Coach Chris Horgan received his state Coach of the Year award October 15th at the Buffalo Tennis Night Awards Dinner held at Transit Valley Country Club.

This past June Horgan was named the New York State Coach of the Year for boys’ tennis by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.  This is his 18th year as coach at Medina.

Medina  is the defending Niagara-Orleans League champions and they have won the title five of the last six years.

“It is personally a great honor to receive these coaching awards,” said Coach Horgan.  “But they are also a recognition of the program and competitive success our players have had over the years.  These awards are only possible through the commitment made by the fine individuals it has been a privilege to coach.”

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Camri King spikes over Newfane’s Faith Morgan during the Mustangs four set sectional semifinal victory over the visiting Lady Panthers this evening.

Advancing to the finals for the first time in over 20 years, No. 2 seed Medina outlasted visiting Niagara-Orleans League foe No. 6 Newfane in four sets 25-18, 21-25, 25-8, 25-22 this evening in the semifinals of the Section VI Class B-2 volleyball playoffs.

Medina, which last reached the finals in 1995, will now face the No. 1 Alden, a five set victor over No. 4 Springville in the other semi, for the B-2 championship at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Daemen College. Ironically, the Mustangs captured the B-2 title in both 1994 and 1995 with victories over Alden.

Maddie Williams had 10 spiking kills and 7 service aces to lead the way for Medina as Je’ne Brown had 8 kills, Camri King 3 kills, Grace Masse 5 aces and Elle Gross 4 aces.

Alyssa Beyer returns service for Medina.

The opening set sea-sawed back-and-forth with 5 ties and 4 lead changes, before Medina moved on top to stay at 18-15 after Williams served up points 16-18, a run which included a block by Masse and a tip by Brown for points.

Acss by Gross for point 20, Masse for point 22 and Leah Sheelar for point 25 then polished off the set for the Mustangs.

Newfane though battled back to knot the match by taking the second set as Olivia Beilein had a key late run of 4 straight points, 21-24, including a pair of aces.

However, Medina answered back with a lopsided win in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Williams sparked that win for the Mustangs as she served up the first four points, including an ace, and later had a big seven point run (17-23), including 4 aces. She also had 4 kills in the set.

Gross then closed out the set with an ace.

The clincher though proved to be much closer as the fourth set was tied no less than 12 times.

Trailing 21-20, Medina got key back-to-back kills by Williams and King to regain a 22-21 lead.

The Lady Panthers which got 2 kills by Faith Morgan and 2 each by Mackenzie Perry and Erin Harrington in the set, did pull even one more time at 22-21 on a side out but the next three points, the set and the match belonged to the Mustangs.

Alyssa Beyer served up the final two points for the Mustangs as a tip by Williams polished off point 24.

“They came though when the game was on the line,” said Medina Coach Tim Lincoln.

The Mustangs had also defeated the Lady Panthers twice during the N-O season, both times in four sets.

In Class C-1 semifinals, No. 1 Akron defeated No. 4 Wilson and No. 2 Eden downed No. 6 Roy-hart, both in three sets.

Medina’s Faith Henning sets over the hands of the Newfane duo of Mackenzie Perry and Sydney Watier.