Ballston Spa girls into SII final
STILLWATER, N.Y. » The Ballston Spa girls volleyball team swept Bethlehem Central 25-12, 25-15, 25-18 in the Section II Class AA semifinals Wednesday night at Stillwater High School and advanced to its second straight title game, but for the Scotties to capture their first title since 2006 they’ll have to get past Shenendehowa.
The two squads met earlier in the year at Ballston Spa where the Plainsmen made quick work of the night a 3- 0 win, but the Scotties front line has greatly improved since then.
“We’ve been working on that for a long time strengthening our attacks and they were really clicking tonight,” Ballston Spa Coach Heather LaSalvia said. “The sets were perfect, right in the strike zone for them to be successful. They’ve really been putting in a lot of hard, it’s definitely showed.
They’re being smarterwith their attacks.”
The No. 3 seeded Scotties were led by junior captain Megan McMahon’s nine kills and three blocks who also came up with 10 assists, combining with senior JillNitchman who had nine kills.
Ballston Spa’s runs in the first set gave the Scotties confidence in the Class AA semifinal, jumping out to a 10-5 run, extending it to asmany as 10 points late, 20-10 before closing out the opening stanza 25-12.
The Eagles rallied in the second and produced their own opening run, 8-3 and LaSalvia remained confident in her squad and refused to call a time out. The strategy worked as the Scotties battled back to cut the lead, 8-7, forcing a Bethlehem time out. After the break the Scotties run continued, turning into a 5-1 run and forcing another Eagles break.
Ballston Spa stretched it out to a 23-12 lead and eventual second set win, inching one step closer to its second consecutive Section II final.
In the third Ballston Spa opened up the final stanza with an 8-1 run, but sawthe Eagles battle back, trading points and cutting the lead to 18-15 before the Scotties took over once again for a 20-16 lead and eventual 2518 final set win.
Sophomore Paige Davis produced from the back line for Ballston Spa Wednesday night with 18 service points as senior Madi Amico came through with 13 service points of her own with five aces.
The Scotties defense kept the points alive with Lauren Kersch coming through with 13 assists and Ang Stile coming up with nine digs.
No. 7 Bethlehem knocked off No. 2 Guilderland, 3-2 in the quarterfinal round coming in with momentum, but that didn’t deter the Scotties.
“We always just try to tell them to play your game no matter who’s on the other side, have thatmentality of playing for every point so it doesn’t reallymatter who is on the other side, just play your game,” LaSalvia said.
The play of the Ballston Spa front line held the Eagles at bay, the fruits of the Scotties labors.
“We’ve been working on that for a long time strengthening our attacks and they were really clicking tonight,” LaSalvia said. “The sets were perfect, right in the strike zone for them to be successful. They’ve really been putting in a lot of hard, it’s definitely showed. They’re being smarter with their attacks.”
Next up for Ballston Spa will be a rematch of last year’s AA final with Shenendehowa, a threeset winner over No. 4 Columbia. The Plainsmen dismissed the Scotties in three sets on Sept. 20, but LaSalvia said her Scotties are ready.
“This is some of the best volleyball I’ve seen from them individually and as a team, so they are working very hard,” LaSalvia said. “Shen is just so good and they deserve to be in the place that they are and we know we have to come in fighting for it.
“They’re not really going to hand it to us. The girls are excited, they’re motivated, they’re going to give it everything they got and we’ll see what comes out of it.”
The two squads kick off the volleyball tripleheader at Saratoga Springs 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The Class A championship is scheduled for 5 p.m. with the Class C title match at 7 p.m.