The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
First- time champions
kills, Hayley Brown tipped for a point and Sandy Clark had consecutive aces for the highlights. Brandow had an ace to cap a 6- 0 run by the Blue Devils ( 13- 6) toward the end, but LeBlanc had a kill to help M- E nail down the victory for a 1- 0 lead.
Dolgeville stayed even with M- E ( 17- 2) until it was 5- 5 in the second game then LeBlanc had an ace and Hayley Brown followed with a block to start a 9- 0 run that all but ended the drama in the game. Klein had six of her match- high 13 kills in the run.
“I wanted it so bad for the team,” the senior said. “This is my only sport. I didn’t want my season to end.”
Dolgeville had a sporting chance in the third game for awhile as Emily Young and Ashley Mettler had kills to stop the 3- 0 run M- E started with. Jessica Chandler had a kill to key a 4- 0 moments later for M- E then Dolgeville cut M- E’s lead to 7- 3 before the top seed pulled away in a hurry. LeBlanc had a kill, Chandler had two aces and Hayley Brown and LeBlanc had kills to push the lead to 13- 3. M- E’s defense remained steady throughout and setters Clark and Shelby Brown kept giving hitters the ball where they needed it to get the lead to 17- 9.
That’s when Klein took over with five kills in M- E’s title- clinching 8- 0 run. Shelby Brown capped it with an ace and M- E’s celebration began.
“We did awesome,” Shelby Brown said. “It was by far the best game we’ve had. We’re all good under pressure. We really wanted this.”
The teams met once during the year in pool play at Canastota’s tourney. Dolgeville won both games in close fashion. That was not the case at Chittenango High School.
“No one had a bad game,” Ellithorpe said. “( And) I was surprised with how many aces we had.”
M- E had 14 aces with four players having three. Klein had 13 kills to lead the offense and 15 digs to pace the defense. Shelby Brown and Clark teamed for 28 assists.
Mettler led Dolgeville’s offense with eight kills.