Johnstown sweeps past Gloversville
By JAMES A. ELLIS, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
JOHNSTOWN - In the second game of Friday's Foothills Council volleyball match against Gloversville, the defending Foothills Council and Section II Class B champion #Johnstown Lady Bills found themselves in an unfamiliar position, trailing.
The Huskies' sprinted out to a 7-1 lead on a six-point service run by Joni Johnson. Johnstown coach Michele Robinson quickly called a timeout and her team responded, rallying to secure a 25-13 second game victory to go with a pair of 25-12 wins to sweep the Huskies, 3-0.
"They were scoring points on our errors," Robinson said. "Scoring points is one thing but giving them points on our mistakes is another. They settled down after that."
The Lady Bills (2-0 overall, 2-0 Foothills) put Gloversville (0-3 overall, 0-2 Foothills) in a deep hole at the start of the first game with Danielle Nellis serving 10 unanswered points before missing long.
Johnstown kept the Huskies servers off the line and with serving runs by Brynn Hlozansky and Amanda Meredith, locked up the opening game 25-12.
Johnson stepped to the service line for the Huskies with the score tied at one. Maria McAllister and Katelyn Moore contributed strong hits for points to open a 7-1 advantage.
The Lady Bills chipped away at the Gloversville lead before Meredith connected for a pair of aces in a nine-point run to put Johnstown up 16-12. Ali Crankshaw drew the Lady Bills closer to victory with her seven-point service run before Nellis hit through a block attempt by the Huskies' Erica Blakeslee to close out the 25-12 win.
"We looked good at the start of the second game," Gloversville coach Stephanie Lott said. "I think deep down inside they need to get the confidence in what they can do. With each game we gain more confidence in our play and get that much better."
The teams played even early in the third game before the Lady Bills opened a 9-4 edge on the five-point, five-ace service run of Kassandra Busek.
McAllister served the Huskies back into the match to cut the Lady Bills lead back to 11-10.
Johnstown again got timely extended service runs from Angela Holliday and Kayla Dingman to win the final game 25-12 and secure its second Foothills Council win of the season.
"I have some power hitters on the team, but the heat in here made a difference today," Robinson said. "Gloversville served hard at us and I don't think we were ready for that."
Meredith finished with 16 service points, eight aces and six kills. Busek had five aces, three kills and a block, while Nellis and Hlozansky had four kills apiece for Johnstown.
McAllister led the Huskies with seven digs and two aces, while Moore had three kills and Johnson and Casey Palmateer had four digs apiece.
Johnstown will travel to participate in today's Queensbury Tournament, while Gloversville will return to Foothills Council action Tuesday at South Glens Falls.
Foothills Council
Broadalbin-Perth 3, Queensbury 2
BROADALBIN - Brittany Calvello had 29 points, 24 assists and 12 digs to lift Broadalbin-Perth to a Foothills Council win over Queensbury Friday.
The Lady Patriots won by scores of 25-27, 25-13, 25-20, 18-25 and 25-16.
Lauren Lysiak added 18 digs and 13 kills for B-P (2-0 overall, 2-0 Foothills), while Samantha Lysiak had 11 digs and three kills.
Kaitlyn Cartier had 27 digs for Queensbury (0-2 overall, 0-2 Foothills), while Maggie Zuhlke had 27 assists and 10 digs.
Jenna Wilson added 11 kills and eight aces for the Lady Spartans.
Western Athletic Conference
Fort Plain 3, Duanesburg 0
FORT PLAIN - Heather Voght recorded 11 kills for the Lady Hilltoppers to a sweep of WAC foe Duanesburg.
Fort Plain won by scores of 25-21, 25-12 and 25-19.
Faith Hayes recorded seven digs for Fort Plain (1-0 overall, 1-0 WAC), while Kelsey Hagadorn and Sephanie Searles contributed nine and seven service points respectively.
Ciera Holt had six kills and Aliza Fields and Gabby Hyrny had four kills each for Duanesburg (0-1 overall, 0-1 WAC). Kori Barton and Amy Colby had five assists apiece and Fields had three blocks.
Fonda-Fultonville 3, Canajoharie 0
FONDA - The Lady Braves got six kills and two blocks from Kendra Bush in their league-opening victory Friday afternoon.
The Lady Braves won by scores of 25-11, 25-9 and 26-24.
Brittany Pollard had a strong game for FFCS (3-0 overall, 1-0 WAC) with three kills, six assists, 11 service points and three aces, while Kayla Twardzik added 11 service points, and 10 assists and Katie Kietzmann had 11 service points.
For Canajoharie, Jane Boppert had four kills and Christine Ward two kills, while Nikia Lippman recorded seven service points.
Mayfield 3, Schoharie 0
MAYFIELD - Kacie Edwards had six service points and two kills for the Lady Panthers as they opened their WAC schedule with a win.
Mayfield won by scores of 25-11, 25-17 and 25-8.
Jenna Tomlinson had eight service points and Kelsey Henry five assists for Mayfield (1-0 overall, 1-0 WAC). Alyssa Wells, Christie Showers, Cassie Brancato, Brooke Mawery and Megan VanNostrand all had two kills.
For Schoharie (0-1 overall, 0-1 WAC) Sara Lamoureux had three kills, three digs and three blocks and Kierstin Hotaling had eight assists and one kill.
