Roy-Hart spikers outlast Medina in 5 sets

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Roy-Hart’s Aspen Moore spikes the ball over Medina defenders Molley Gross (10) and Emily Kams (9) during the host Lady Rams five set win over the Mustangs this evening.

Coming from way, way back, Roy-Hart rallied from a two set deficit to nip visiting Medina 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20 this evening in a key early season Niagara-Orleans League volleyball match.

The decisive fifth set was a mirror image of the back-and-forth nature of the entire marathon match.

Roy-Hart jumped out to a 13-4 lead as Victoria Stanczyk served up points 2-5, Olivia Vorholzer 7-10 and Bea Bacon 11-13. Bacon also had 3 spiking kills for points during that stretch.

Medina though came battling back into a 13-13 tie as Lexie Sargent served up 8 straight points (6-13). Je’ne Brown had 2 kills and Emily Kams 1 to highlight that run.

The Lady Rams answered the challenge by moving back out to a 22-15 advantage as Brianna Brewer served up points 15-16 and Aspen Moore 19-22, a run she capped off with an ace.

Medina did battle back to within 22-19 after a three point run of service points by Leah Sheelar but the Mustangs could get no closer.

The Lady Rams then took three of the next four points to close out the set and the match as Vorholzer served up the winner.

“They showed a lot of desire and heart,” said Roy-Hart Coach Bill Holahan of his Lady Rams come-from-behind win.

Roy-Hart is now 2-0 and Medina 0-2 in early season N-O action.

Medina’s Maddie Williams spikes over Roy-Hart’s Bea Bacon.

Medina took the opening set 25-19 by winning 7 of the final 8 points. Lexi Neuman served up the final 4 points as a spiking kill by Gross polished off the set winner.

The lead then changed hands 13 times in a see-saw second set before Medina emerged with a slender 25-23 win as a kill by Brown polished off the set winner.

Roy-Hart though came battling back as an early run of 8 straight service points by Stanczyk (2-9) ignited the Lady Rams to a 25-18 win in the third set. A kill by Skyler Christopher earned the set winning point.

The Lady Rams then knotted the match by taking the fourth set 25-19. Brewer served up the final 4 points as kills by Christopher polished off points 24 and 25.

Earlier in the set Brewer served up points 6-8 and Stanczyk 12-16 to help Roy-Hart build up a 19-13 lead.

Medina did rally back to within one at 20-19 after a four point run of service points by Neuman but the Mustangs could get no closer as Brewer’s four point run closed out the set for Roy-Hart.

Albion 25-25-20-15, Wilson 11-19-25-8
Defending champion Albion bested Wilson in four sets to improve to 1-1 in N-O action.

Kiara Smith had a big night at the service line for Albion scoring a total of 22 points, 6 of which were aces. She served up points 4-18 in the decisive fourth set.

Chanyce Powell added 9 kills, 8 digs and 3 aces for the Purple Eagles as Caitlynn Snook had 7 kills and 5 digs, Sierra Newton, Kaitlyn Van Skiver and Haley Smith 3 kills each,and Emilie Barleben 2 kills and 18 assists.

Wilson is now also 1-1.

Medina’s Molley Gross goes up for the block attempt against Roy-Hart’s Brianna Brewer.