With the game tied at 15 Madison Fariello stepped to the service line to start a six-point service run that was accentuated by three-straight booming kills from Eliana Fraser to break the game open and power the Lady Patriots to their first Class B volleyball championship with a 3-0 sweep of five-time defending sectional champion Hudson Falls Saturday at Saratoga Springs High School.
“It feels so good to finally beat them after finishing second to them two years in a row,” senior captain Cassy Bown said. “This means a lot especially since it is my senior year.”
With the victory, the Lady Patriots advance to regional play and will face Section VII champion Peru at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School.
Peru advanced with a 3-2 victory over Beekmantown Saturday.
“They wanted it. It is something we talked about from day one, was getting to this night,” Broadalbin-Perth coach Renee Gillen said. “I think a big part of them wanted it to be them [Hudson Falls] because they wanted that rematch. So when we found out it was going to be them, they were psyched and were ready for it. We will see happens Tuesday night. These girls want to go to states.”
Broadalbin-Perth used extended service runs from Sydney Rogers and Lilly Mitchell and strong net play from Bown, Fraser and Sophia Rogers to put game one away 25-17.
The Lady Patriots continued to roll in game two with Sydney Rogers hamming home the final point of the game for a 25-14 win and a 2-0 advantage.
The defending champion Tigers did not go away and kept pace with Broadalbin-Perth through the early points of the third game and posted their first lead of the match on the opening point of the game with a kill from Meghan Marchese.
The Tigers broke out to an 8-5 advantage before Bown got her team back in contention with a pair of kills and a block to help tie the game at 10.
Broadalbin-Perth took the lead 15-13 before Hudson Falls battled back to tie the game at 15.
After getting a side out and retaking the lead 16-15, the Lady Patriots got back into the rhythm they had in the opening games.
Fariello put the ball in play and picked up the kill for the first point of the decisive run and followed it up with an ace before Fraser put the ball on the floor for a 19-15 lead that lead to Hudson Falls coach Sarah Carney calling a time out.
The Lady Patriots kept the momentum on their side of the net with two more solid kills from Fraser before the Tigers Olivia Milligan got the side out off a block.
““Once we got started again we kept going. We just needed to get out of that funk we sometimes get in,” Fraser said.
Broadalbin-Perth got the service back on the net point with Mitchell faking a set before turning quickly toward the net and placing the ball in an opening for a 23-16 lead.
Sophia Rogers served up the ball and Bown finished the play with a kill to put the game at match point. Rogers put the ball in play and the return sailed deep over the end line to give the Lady Patriots a 25-16 victory and the Class B championship.
“We set the tone early. We were ready. We were practicing our defense a lot,” coach Gillen said. “They caught us a couple of times on that back corner but we were really focused on getting the hits. We gave up the corner to get the stuff in the middle tonight.”
Bown finished with 13 kills, three blocks and 12 digs, while Fraser had 22 digs, three aces and eight kills. Mitchell added 30 assists and four kills, while Sydney Rogers and Fariello had 30 digs apiece.
