Purple Eagle spikers best Mustangs
Albion tuned up for Thursday’s key battle of the unbeatens against Roy-Hart by downing rival Medina 25-8, 26-24, 25-11 this evening in a Niagara-Orleans League volleyball match.
The victory boots Albion’s record to 4-0 while Medina slips to 2-3.
Roy-Hart likewise stayed perfect at 5-0 with a four set 25-17, 24-26, 25-16, 25-17 victory over visiting Newfane.
Albion made quick work of the opening set as Kelsee Soule served up points 1-3, including two blocks for points by Chanyce Powell, Powell points 5-10, including two aces, Sara Millspaugh 11-18, including two kills and a block by Soule, and Meghan Hurley 20-23.
Keeping the momentum, the Purple Eagles jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead in the second set as Olivia Neidert served up points 3-8.
However, Medina came battling back to rally into a 20-16 lead as Emma Ambrose served up points 3-5, Jenna Carpenter 8-10, Nicole Blount 16-17 and Ambrose 19-20.
Albion though weathered the storm and rebounded to claim an overtime 26-24 win as Soule had spiking kills for points 22 and 24 and an ace for the set winner.
Albion then closed out the win by leading wire-to-wire for a 25-11 victory in the third set.
Two aces by Soule and back-to-back kills by Hurley helped Albion grab an early 8-2 lead. A three point run of service points by Hailey Jakubowski helped Medina cut the deficit to 8-6 but the Mustangs could get no closer.
Two kills by Soule and an ace by Millspaugh helped Albion move back out to a 17-11 lead.
Jasmyn Smith then closed out the set and the match for Albion by serving up the final eight points in a row (18-25), a run that included two aces and two kills by Powell.
“We’re coming along,” Albion Coach Ann Capacci said. “We’re working on our chemistry.”
Soule had 9 kills, 7 digs and 3 aces, Neidert 6 assists and 5 digs and Powell 4 blocks for the Purple Eagles.
Carpenter, Blount and Ambrose each had 3 kills for the Mustangs and Jakubowski 9 digs.
Roy-Hart 25-24-25-25, Newfane 17-26-16-17
Justine Wittkop had 15 points and 8 kills, Eliza Schwab 9 points, 4 aces, 6 kills and 96 sets, Courtney VanBuren 8 points and 4 kills, Malissa Maines 9 points with 4 aces, Melanie Mikits 18 digs and Ayleen Brewer 26 digs to lead the way for Roy-Hart.
Wilson 25-25-25, Akron 16-15-18
Wilson evened its record at 2-2 by downing host Akron (0-4) 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 as Allby Bubar had 11 kills and Emily Lasher 17 assists.
Byron-Bergen 25-25-25, Lyndonville 15-16-18
Morgan Hungerford had 3 aces and 3 kills, Abigail Feldman 3 kills and Hayley Wetherbee 2 kills for Lyndonville in a three set loss to Byron-Bergen in a Genesee Region League match.
In other G-R action, Alexander defeated Holley 25-14, 25-20, 25-20.
N-O Boys Soccer
Newfane 6, Albion 0
Grabbing a 2-0 half-time lead, Newfane (3-1) went on to defeat host Albion (0-4) 6-0 this evening in an N-O contest.