The Churchville-Chili girls won their second consecutive Section V volleyball championship defeating Greece, Webster-Thomas, Pittsford Sutherland, and Irondequoit in Class A. The top-seeded Spencerport boys defended their crown on the boy’s side, sweeping Canandaigua, Irondequoit, and Brockport to take home the Class B title.
CHURCHVILLE-CHILI
The Saints rode junior hitter Camryn Karelus, sophomore setter Skylar Jehlen, freshman hitter Audrey Vogt, and senior libero Alyssa Rich to their second consecutive championship and first state tournament in program history after last year’s was canceled due to the pandemic.
“It was two years in a row which is something that has never been done in Churchville history in girls volleyball,” Karelus said. “The goal was to see how far we could go.”
“We’re definitely an emotional team; when we’re down, we fight to get back up,” Rich said. “I knew we had some freshmen coming up that would help us to be stronger than we were (last year).
“Audrey (Vogt), our freshman, puts her heart into every game. Cami also is amazing, and the girls on our bench; I don’t know where we would be without them.”
The Saints’ season ended in the Far West Regionals of the New York State tournament as they lost to Section VI champ and undefeated Niagara-Wheatfield despite winning one set and having the lead midway through two other sets in the 1-3 loss.
Karelus led the Saints with 208 kills this season, with Vogt adding 102, and senior Brooke McNamara 97. Jehlen handed out 366 assists, Rich led with 420 digs, and senior Grace Alessi added 31 blocks.
“It was awesome to do it (win) again and play a regional game, so it was nice to see a different level of competition,” Saints head coach Shelby Gear said. “This team is all heart, and they know when to dig in.”
SPENCERPORT
The Rangers have state title hopes after running through the Section V playoffs with little difficulty.
Senior and Tournament Most Valuable Player Sam Lane had 12 kills in the title match, while classmate Casey Jackson added eight kills and Conlan Shirley six kills to also be named to the All-Tournament Team.
“We won Sectionals last year, and that’s pretty much the expectation for us, and now we’re just ready to push to take it a step further each time,” St. Francis University-bound Lane said. “Once we win Sectionals, we want (to win) Regionals, and once we win Regionals, we want to win states, so for us, it’s about the bigger picture.”
“We know Regionals is the game because the best teams in New York for volleyball are Buffalo and Rochester, so that’s normally the state finals for us,” senior setter Sean Zaso said. “In 2016, we came in second, and we’re not going to let that happen this year.”
“These guys are ready to go on to win states and hopefully hit the goal we set out for at the beginning of the year,” Spencerport head coach and Class B Coach of the year Aaron Austin said.
