Nine seniors were called out one by one prior to Spencerport’s final home girl’s volleyball match of the season to meet their families and pose for pictures before battling Greece Athena in a four-game set.
The Rangers had trouble generating points from their offense in game one—a 25-14 loss—and most of game two. Down 21-12, the Rangers rallied late aided by an ace from Paige King and a block by Megan Laubacher during a 5-0 run before falling 25-21.
They used the momentum from that rally to score 11 kills and three aces in the third game alone.
The Trojans led by as many as five points in the early stages of game three, but Maya Voelkl, Lilly Phengsomphane (2) and Sierra Kegler knocked down consecutive kills during the comeback. Alyssa Falbo had consecutive aces to later put the Rangers up by three.
Athena rebounded to tie the game 21-21. Phengsomphane again had consecutive kills to put Spencerport ahead 24-22, but again the Trojans came back and were one point away from the sweep at 25-24. But Phengsomphane tied the game 25-25 with a kill just inside the left sideline, Falbo had her serve hit the top of the net and drop in for her third ace of the game and an Athena error gave the Rangers a 27-25 win.
The fourth game was a see-saw affair through the early going before, tied 11-11, the Trojans went on a 5-0 run and later led 21-17. The Rangers would rally again on kills by Laubacher, Jennifer Michaels and two by Phengsomphane to close to within a point at 24-23 before the match ended on a long serve.
The Rangers, with one win on the season, will be on the road for the first round of next week’s Section V playoffs.
“There are a few teams at the top,” Spencerport head coach Ed Patt said. “We have a similar seed as last year when we made it all the way to the semi-finals because all the rest of the teams are so close.”
Co-captains Taylor Goodman, King and Kylie Tozer along with Janisa Phromsiri, Phengsomphane, Kegler, Grace Walsh, Michaels and Alexis Dzus all played their final home volleyball match.
