Home of the Penfield Patriots
______________________________________________________
Congratulations to Allison Cappellino
for being named AGR Girls Volleyball
"Player of the Year"
Allison joins Stacey Yohannes (2007) as the second Penfield Girls Volleyball player
in five years to be named All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year
Congratulations to the following players on post-season accolades:
All-Greater Rochester - First Team
Allison Cappellino
Gaylen Fronk
All-Greater Rochester - Honorable Mention
Kacey Richards
Emily Richards
NYSPHSAA Class AA First Team All-State
Allison Cappellino
Gaylen Fronk
NYSPHSAA Class AA Second Team All-State
Kacey Richards
Monroe County Div. 1 - First Team All-County
Allison Cappellino
Gaylen Fronk
Kacey Richards
Emily Richards
Monroe County Div. 1 - Second Team All-County
Maureen Ball Rebecca Doser
Sara Madison
Prep Volleyball ranks Lady Patriots #100
in its year ending Century Club
"Top 100 high school teams in the country"
Congratulations on being nationally ranked!!
Lady Patriots are 2011 New York State Class AA Champions!!!
After twelve weeks of daily practices, league matches and grueling tournaments it all came down to the four best Class AA teams representing 11 sections from around the state. Just being one of the four finalists may have been enough for some teams but this group of young ladies would not be satisfied with just “making it there”. While some teams goals at the beginning of the season are to win sectionals or make it to regionals almost every one of the players goals that they set at the beginning of the season was “to win states”. A lofty goal considering the long, sometimes bumpy, road that lies in front of all teams during the season. Only one team, in the entire state, can be the champion and when you consider that there are just about 125 Class AA teams across the state, the odds are incredibly high. Well, these Lady Patriots cruised through their regular season, sectional & regional matches but the pressure of the state tournament is a whole different animal. Champions require talent, desire, heart, commitment and determination. Without any one of these, sometimes teams fall short of their dream. This weekend the Lady Patriots realized that dream. Below is a recap of their past three days.
The Journey……
The girl’s championship weekend began with a team brunch on Friday morning, at the high school, with parents and high school administrators present to give the girls a fitting send off. The girls had a quick bite to eat before packing the team bus, taking a few pictures and receiving some final “good luck” hugs from parents and siblings. After exactly three months of preparation and hard work the team was on its way to a weekend that, unbeknownst to them, would be one that they will remember forever!
The team arrived at their Glens Falls hotel around mid-afternoon, got situated in their rooms and then dressed for the tournament banquet which was held at the downtown Civic Center. At the banquet a team representative from each team (Gaylen Fronk for Penfield) spoke briefly about their team and how they got there. The teams then enjoyed a nice dinner at the facility and after that it was back to the hotel to prepare for the next days play and get a good nights rest.
Penfield’s first opponent, Smithtown East, brought a 19-2 record into the state semifinals featuring Long Island’s 2010 Player of the Year, D. Phillips. The coaches and players knew that starting out strong and winning both sets against this quality opponent was key in advancing to the finals. And that’s exactly what the Patriots did. The Lady Pats jumped out to a quick lead on good passing, serving, defense and all-around consistent play to win the first set 25-18. Set two started in similar fashion as the Patriots jumped out to a big lead and seemed headed towards a two-game sweep of the Lady Bulls. That’s when East hitter Phillips started to take over. Several front and back row kills from Phillips put East back into the game but with some nice defensive plays the Patriots pulled out the set, 25-21, to start the day out 2-0 in set play.
The next challenge was to take on the Class AA defending state champions, Baldwinsville. Penfield had only scrimmaged Baldwinsville early in the preseason and other than that the two had not crossed paths during the season or in tournament play. Baldwinsville, who brought in a perfect 16-0 record (also with no set losses coincidentally), appeared very confident as they started out the first set with precision serving and near-perfect passing. On the other side of the net the Lady Patriots struggled to get their game going. Trouble handling serves and an inability to successfully play defense against the Baldwinsville offense led to a sizeable deficit early in the set. This Penfield team has dug themselves into these types of holes before and typically has been able to climb out once they got their game together. Unfortunately, Baldwinsville never allowed that to happen as the Bees kept up their spectacular play. After a small run of points late in the set by Penfield, the Bees closed the set out at 25-18. Realizing that a split of the two games would probably be a pretty good outcome for this tough match-up the Patriots looked to rebound in the second set. Once again, the Bees executed almost flawlessly throughout the set as the Lady Patriots continued to struggle and never threatened, losing the set, 25-19, bringing their set record to 2-2.
Looking to rebound in their third and final match of the day the Patriots faced a newcomer to the State tournament, Suffern High School (18-3). The Lady Pats could not afford to lose another set if they had any hopes of advancing to the finals and even though Suffern had yet to win a set on the day, any opponent that made it this far was here for a reason and could not be taken lightly.
The first set started out with points traded between the two teams until Penfield opened up a three-point lead. Although they were playing better these were not the same Patriots that started the day on fire with a big win over Smithtown East. The Baldwinsville loss seemed to extract some of the energy out of the Patriots and even though the Patriots were probably the better team, they struggled to take over the match against Suffern. At the end, the Patriots won both sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-19 giving the team a 4-2 set record for the day. Even the Lady Pats knew that this level of play would not be good enough to bring home the state title if they were fortunate enough to get a rematch with Baldwinsville. The Bees did help out the 4-2 Patriots by winning the first set of their final match against Smithtown East meaning that the best that Smithtown could finish would be 3-3. The final for Sunday was now set, Penfield vs. Baldwinsville.
While the first day of the tournament may not have gone exactly how the Patriots had hoped they had still played well enough to gain a spot in the finals on Sunday and nothing could have been more eye opening as the wake-up call that there is little room for complacency when you arrive at the state championships to play against some of the best teams that New York has to offer!
After a team dinner out on Saturday night the team returned to the hotel to review game tapes of the Baldwinsville match to see what they needed to do to adjust to the Bees offense and possibly throw them a slightly different look that they hadn’t seen before. Although the Patriots had been handled pretty easily by Baldwinsville on this day both the players and the coaches knew that Baldwinsville had not seen the real Patriots and on Sunday the Bees would see a totally different Penfield team!
The Destination…….
After Saturdays one-sided match with the Bees Coach Solomon’s hope was to come out in the first set and jump all over Baldwinsville right from the first serve to try and take away all momentum (and swagger) that the Bees might be carrying in from their match on Saturday. And that’s exactly what Penfield did. Penfield opened up an early 9-4 lead that they continued to extend and cruised to a first set 25-17 win. As the teams changed sides you could almost see a bit of shock on the faces of the Baldwinsville players (and coaches!!). This was definitely not the same team that they dominated just over twenty-four hours ago!
Unfortunately the Patriots did not keep up the momentum in set two and, as was the case on Saturday, dug themselves into an insurmountable deficit as the Bees took leads as large as 15 points. After an ugly 25-10 loss it was time for the Patriots to settle down and regroup.
Showing excellent composure the Patriots regrouped and reestablished their excellent play in the third set. With some key serving from Shannon Wright and defensive plays from Maureen Ball, Allison Cappellino and Madison Hoffman the Patriots took charge of the set. Gaylen Fronk continued to move the ball around to different hitters throughout the set keeping Baldwinsville off balance. One thing that the Patriots had not done successfully on Saturday that they were doing today was blocking! Kacey Richards and Rebecca Doser put up some huge blocks and all of a sudden the Baldwinsville hitters were hitting balls long or straight into the block. With Emily Richards providing some great line shots and Sara Madison continuing her masterful serving (0 missed serves for the weekend!) the Patriots rolled to a 25-18 win in the third set. The Patriots were now one set away from the state title!
The fourth set opened up well for the Lady Patriots. Through most of the set the Patriots maintained one and two point leads and it was looking like they could put the match away if they could gather a two or three-point rally. Baldwinsville, though, would not be that generous! The Bees stayed right on the tail of the Patriots right up until the Lady Pats had set and match point at 24-23. The Bees won the next rally to knot the set at 24. Once again the Patriots gained match point on their serve, 25-24, and again the Bees kept the next rally alive with some defensive gems to win the point and tie the set at 25 and deny the Patriots a fourth set celebration. The Bees then proceeded to win the next two service points to take the set, 27-25, and force a fifth and deciding set for the state title.
The question that most in the stands were thinking was how these young athletes were going to respond in the final set when they were so close to victory in set four. As we have seen from this group before, failure is not an option! Before Baldwinsville knew what hit them the Patriots had built a 13-4 lead in the deciding set as the two teams changed sides at mid-set. Oddly enough, the winner of each set had come from the side where the Penfield fans sat and now the Lady Patriots were finishing the set right here. The Penfield crowd of parents, family, friends and classmates were clearly the loudest group in the arena constantly throwing out chants of “PHS….PHS….PHS….” along with other chants of team support. Hopefully the girls would realize how much fan support was there for them and they would draw some energy from it. When play resumed the Lady Patriots continued to pour it on to build a 20-12 lead.
At this point the average volleyball fan would think that the match was pretty much over but anyone that is familiar with Baldwinsville volleyball, their coach and their tradition knows that it wasn’t by luck or by accident that Baldwinsville was playing in their third straight Class AA championship final!! This is a solid team that had not lost a set during the regular season and one that does not give up until the last point hits the floor. The Bees reeled off six of the next seven points to close the gap to 21-18 and all of a sudden the state championship seemed a little more than arms length away for these Patriots. But in Patriot fashion the team gathered themselves and with some strong serves and a perfectly placed tip by Sara Madison, the final point hit the floor for a 25-19 win and the state title was Penfield’s to bring home. The season long goal was not just a dream anymore. It was reality!!
After a mid-court celebratory team pile-on the girls lined up to receive their individual medals and the state championship trophy was presented to Coach Solomon. Solomon proudly raised the trophy high in the air as the team surrounded him with raised arms reaching for what they had worked so hard to obtain. This time the trophy was within their reach, as seventeen girls, grasped the ultimate award as one team.
No weekend stats are posted here for a reason. This year, in the end, it doesn’t matter who the stat leaders were for the final match, the weekend or even for the entire season. This championship was earned by the team regardless of the roles of each player. Months and years from now, few will remember who served the final point or who made the last pass or what the turning point in the match was. What will be remembered is that this TEAM won the state title and from this day on anytime someone walks by the trophy case at Penfield and stops they will read the following:
NYSPHSAA
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
CLASS AA CHAMPIONS
2011
PENFIELD PATRIOTS
Congratulations ladies!!
Monday Nov. 21, 2011
NYSPHSAA Girls State Volleyball Tournament
Glens Falls Civic Center
Semifinal Rounds - Sat. Nov. 19th
Championship - Sun. Nov. 20th (Noon)
Saturday Pool Play Schedule:
9:00am vs. Smithtown East (XI)
10:50am vs. Baldwinsville (III)
12:30pm vs. Suffern (I)
Good Luck Patriots!!!
Lady Patriots earn a spot in the
State Tournament!!
The first set of the Class AA regional matchup between Penfield and Section VI Champion, Orchard Park, must have appeared eerily familiar to the fans watching. In their first set of the sectional finals last week (vs. Fairport) the Patriots jumped out to an early 12-6 lead and then withstood a furious comeback by Fairport to narrowly escape the first set. On Saturday though, the Patriots started the match on the opposite end of the score as they fell behind the Lady Quakers by a very similar score, 13-6, and in similar fashion, the Lady Patriots mounted their own comeback! The Patriots reeled off seven straight points, mostly behind the serving of Junior Sara Madison, to tie the game at 13 before the Orchard Park coach decided that his team was overdue for a timeout. The two teams continued to trade points before the Patriots opened up a small lead and held on to win the first set, 25-20, after a dominating 19-7 point run.
Set two was all Patriots or maybe I should say All-Mo! Senior Libero Maureen Ball reeled off nine straight service points in the early part of the set to give the Patriots a substantial lead that they would not relinquish. Strong play at the net by Seniors Allison Cappellino and Kacey Richards provided for some big kills and even bigger blocks to shut down the Quakers standout outside hitter. The Patriots continued to control play throughout the set and win by a 25-14 score to put them within one win of the state tournament.
Set three started out even better for the Patriots as they built a seemingly insurmountable 17-7 lead and it appeared as if they would cruise to a third set victory. With a team loaded with sophomores and juniors and just one senior the Lady Quakers may be young but they sure didn’t show their youth for the remainder of the third set. Battling back from a ten-point deficit, in possibly their last set of the season, the Quakers scratched and clawed their way back to tie the set at 19 and eventually take the lead at 21-20! The Quaker fans that had been quieted by the Patriots dominating play for almost two sets regained life as they saw their girls make an improbable comeback. The next few points went back and forth between the two teams knotting the set at 23 points apiece. The Lady Patriots, however, would not allow the match to go to four games as they battled to win the next two points to end the set at 25-23 and earn a spot in the final four at the state championships!!
The victory celebration was brief as the Lady Patriots realize that this win was just another part of the journey on the road to their final goal. There is still much more work to be done before the girls can truly celebrate what they have accomplished and what still may be accomplished during this special season.
Leading the Lady Patriots were Seniors; Maureen Ball (11 Digs), Gaylen Fronk (28 Assists), Kacey Richards (6 Kills, 3 Blocks), Rebecca Doser (4 Kills), Allison Cappellino (17 Kills, 19 Digs, 4 Aces) and Sophomore Emily Richards (6 Kills, 11 Digs).
The Lady Patriots will continue their journey in Glens Falls this coming weekend at the NYSPHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships against three other regional champions from around the state (Defending AA State Champion Baldwinsville (III), Suffern (I) & Smithtown East (XI)
Best of luck ladies and “Bring it back”!!!
GO PATRIOTS!!!
Regional Finals vs. Section VI
Saturday, Nov. 12 (6:00pm)
@ Sweet Home High School
(1901 Sweet Home Rd., Amherst, NY)
vs. Section VI Class AA Champion
Orchard Park
Unfortunately, due to low interest, the fan bus has been cancelled.
**Come out to support the Lady Patriots' run to reach the state tournament**
Lady Patriots Bring the
Section V Title back to Penfield
The last time the girl’s volleyball sectional trophy was placed in the trophy case outside of the west gym three of the current Patriots were members of the team as eighth graders (Kacey Richards, Allison Cappellino & Maureen Ball). That was four years ago and the return of the sectional trophy has been a work-in-process. After two years of transition and a disappointing loss in last years finals, this group seemed determined to not let the title slip through their fingers. Even with having put together an undefeated regular season, in which they never lost a single set, these dedicated athletes understood that it was all meaningless unless they could finish the job on Friday night.
Set one started with the Patriots opening up a sizeable seven point lead and it appeared that the girls might cruise their way to the title. The Red Raiders were not going to make it that easy. Fairport fought back to close the gap to three points, 18-15, until a couple of big kills and serves put the Lady Patriots ahead to stay as they narrowly escaped the first set with a 25-21 win.
In set two, the Red Raiders jumped out to an early five point lead before the Patriots put together an 18-9 run to close out the second set, 25-19.
Set three was all Penfield as the Patriots took an early lead and never looked back winning the set 25-13 and finishing what they had hoped to accomplish, sectional champions. Seniors Kacey Richards, Allison Cappellino, Rebecca Doser and Sophomore Emily Richards all contribtuted big and timely kills throughout the night to lead the balanced attack. Senior Maureen Ball and Junior Sara Madison also contributed several important service runs and Gaylen Fronk masterfully distributed the ball around the court. It was a great team effort!
Allison Cappellino finished with 23 kills & 8 digs, Kacey Richards contributed 8 kills, Emily Richards chipped in 5 kills and 12 digs and Gaylen Fronk put up 42 assists. Named to the Sectional All-Tournament team were Gaylen Fronk and Kacey Richards and Allison Cappellino was named Sectional Tournament MVP.
The next step, the regional match versus the Class AA Champion from Section VI next Saturday at Sweet Home High School in Amherst, NY.
Congratulations ladies on “Bringing it Back”.
GO PATRIOTS!!
Sunday Nov. 5, 2011
Lady Patriots advance to
Sectional Finals!!!
It didn’t take a lot to get the Lady Patriots motivated for their semifinal matchup against Webster Schroeder last night. After all, these are the Webster Warriors that ended the Patriot's great year last November in the sectional finals. Well, maybe all of the faces aren’t the same as last year but to these Patriots, it didn’t much matter. A young team loaded with talent and one of the best coaches in Section V would not be taken lightly regardless of the Patriots two 3-0 wins during the regular season. You could see the determination in the Patriots faces as they walked onto the court for that first set.
The two teams battled back-and-forth for the first 20 points before multiple serving runs by Allison Cappellino, Shannon Wright and Sara Madison opened up a large lead that the Warriors would not be able to recover from as the Patriots took the first set in convincing fashion, 25-13.
Set two started pretty much the same as the first as the teams battled back and forth with multiple lead changes. This time the Patriots opened up a sizeable lead with big kills from Kacey Richards and Emily Richards and great defense by Maureen Ball. Once again, the big lead was too much for these young Warriors to overcome as the Patriots took the second set 25-15.
You would think that a young team, down two sets to none, would pack it in at this point. One thing that a Coach Strege team will never do and that is quit! While the Lady Patriots may have let out a deep breath, the Lady Warriors were not quite ready to lie down and hand Penfield the match. Webster opened up leads of 5 and 6 points throughout the third set and no matter how hard they tried, the Lady Patriots could not close the gap. Webster freshman sensation Cassie Campbell kept the Patriots off-balance with her well-placed hits that gave the Warriors a seemingly insurmountable 22-16 lead. This seemed to be the point where the veterans on the team decided that there was no way that this match was going to a fourth set! Sara Madison’s pinpoint serves (5 aces on the night) and some big kills by the front line vaulted the Lady Patriots into the lead, 24-22, before Webster took their first point in nine straight rallies to cut the lead to 24-23. Coach Solomon used his final time-out to offer some last-minute instruction and attempt to freeze the Webster server. After the second free-ball, Gaylen Fronk put up a near perfect set to Allison Cappellino who put down the final kill to end the set and the match and give the Patriots a spot in the Class AA sectional finals.
The Patriots were led by Seniors Allison Cappellino (16 kills, 3 aces), Kacey Richards (8 kills), Maureen Ball (14 digs) & Gaylen Fronk (29 assists).
The Patriots will face the Fairport Red Raiders in the Class AA Sectional Finals this Friday (Nov. 4th) at 6:00pm at Gates-Chili High School. Good luck ladies in bringing the sectional trophy back to Penfield!!
GO PATRIOTS!!!!
Tuesday Nov. 1, 2011
Lady Patriots win quarterfinal match to advance to Semi's
Although they may have started out a bit slow, it didn't take long for the Lady Patriots to get back on track and take care of business in their quarterfinal match vs. #8 Rush Henrietta. The Patriots won by scores of 25-17, 25-9 & 25-12 to advance to the sectional semifinals next Tuesday. The Patriots were led by Seniors Allison Cappellino (15 kills, 9 aces), Rebecca Doser (4 kills) & Gaylen Fronk (23 assists). Also seeing their first varsity action from being called up for sectionals were Sophomore Meredith Ball and Freshmen Abby Beecher & Erica Cappellino.
The Patriots advance to the semifinals to face Webster Schroeder on Tuesday evening. Webster handily defeated Webster Thomas in their quarterfinal match on Saturday. These Warriors may be young but they are talented and relentless and the Patriots will have their hands full as the winner earns a spot in the sectional finals next Friday night.
Tuesday night will feature a double-header as the first semifinal match will pit #2 Hilton vs. #3 Fairport at 5:30 pm. The Penfield-Webster match will start at 7:30 pm.
Come out and cheer your Lady Patriots on as this will be the teams last home game regardless of the outcome. Sectional finals will be held at Gates-Chili on Friday November 4th.
GO PATRIOTS!!!!
Sectional Semifinal Match
Tuesday Nov. 1st (7:30pm)
@ Penfield High School
vs. #4 Webster Schroeder Warriors
(5:30pm - #2 Hilton vs. #3 Fairport)
Come out and support your Lady Patriots in their drive for the title
Lady Patriots clinch Monroe County Division I Title on Senior Night
Last Friday evening proved to be a special night in more ways than one.
Penfield players, family and friends celebrated Senior Night as the program recognized eight players that will be moving on after the season ends. Seniors Madison Hoffman (#7), Gaylen Fronk (#8), Allison Cappellino (#9), Maureen Ball (#10), Rebecca Doser (#11), Kacey Richards (#15), Kath Kowalczyk (#16) and Shannon Wright (#17) and team manager, Rachel Wilson, were honored by Coach Solomon, thier families/friends and fellow teammates. The senior girls were presented flowers as teammates read heartwarming speeches about each player.
It was a special night to be sure.
Following the festivities the Lady Patriots proceeded to go right back to work and hand the visiting Irondequoit Eagles a quick three-set loss. With that win, the Lady Patriots clinched the Monroe County Division I Title for the second straight year and virtually assured themselves the number one seed going into sectional playoffs.
The team's final regular season match is Tuesday (10/18) at Victor. Victor is currently in second place in the division and will pose a legitimate threat to the Patriots perfect divisional/overall record.
Lady Patriots Win
2011 Garden State Challenge
(New Jersey)
For the girls varsity volleyball team the word “TEAM” could not be a more fitting description of the Lady Patriots performance this past weekend.
In possibly the most challenging test of the year, the Patriots traveled to Mahwah, NJ to compete in the two-day Garden State Challenge hosted by New Jersey girls volleyball power Immaculate Heart Academy (IHA). This was the final tournament of the year for the Lady Patriots before sectionals begin in two weeks. Before this weekend the Lady Patriots had played well in their other tournaments but had fallen short of winning the championship trophy all three times.
The invite-only tournament is annually attended by NY powerhouse programs such as Eden and St. Mary’s (Upstate NY) and Hendrick Hudson, Ward-Melville and Pine Bush from downstate. Add into the mix host IHA (2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 Non-Public Group A state champion), Our Lady of Good Counsel (5-Time MD/DC Private School Champion), Bogota (2007, 2010 Group 1 NJ State Champion) and several other strong New Jersey girls volleyball programs and this is one of the premier tournaments in the northeast.
Penfield started out their Saturday morning facing Williamstown and Watchung Hills from New Jersey and Hendrick Hudson from downstate NY. The Lady Patriots swept all six sets preparing them for NJ power Bogota High School. The Patriots quickly shutdown Bogota’s two outstanding outside hitters to win the match and finish the first round 8-0 making them the only team that did not drop a set during the first round of play.
Round two started in the late afternoon on Saturday pitting Penfield against Our Lady of Good Counsel (MD). The Lady Patriots easily defeated Good Counsel 12 & 14 to end their first day of competition. The girls enjoyed a nice dinner with family and fans on Saturday night to celebrate their success on Day 1.
The team’s first match on Day 2 was a familiar foe, St. Mary’s of Lancaster. In previous weeks St. Mary’s had eliminated the Lady Patriots in the semifinals of the St. Mary’s Invitational and the two split sets during pool play of the Eden Invitational so the Lady Patriots knew that this would be their biggest challenge of the weekend so far. After a slow start the Patriots pulled their game together and won both sets by the scores of 25-21 & 25-17. The Patriots then handed Ridge (NJ) a quick two-set loss before a rematch with Bogata whom they had faced in Round 1 play. While Bogota had ideas of revenging their first day loss the Patriots quickly ended those thoughts with the same game plan that worked the day before. The Patriots won the match 14 & 20 to finish the second round at 8-0 and as the #1 overall seed heading into the final four championship round.
The championship round featured three teams from Western NY (Penfield, Eden & St. Mary’s) along with the host IHA. The Patriots drew host IHA in the first semifinal match. IHA features 6’-2” sophomore sensation Nia Reed who is a highly recruited division 1 prospect. In the first set, the Lady Patriots seemed to be on the backs of their heels as the sophomore blasted shots near the ten-foot line resulting in the first set loss of the weekend, 22-25. In set two, the Patriots figured out how to deal with the IHA big hitter and cruised to a 25-15 win to force a third and deciding set and a possible spot in the tournament finals. In set three the Patriots turned up the offensive heat and added several defensive gems and prevailed in the deciding set, 25-20, to earn a spot in the finals against the St. Mary’s vs. Eden winner. St. Mary’s (Lancers) would eventually win the other semifinal match to force a second round rematch in the finals.
Possibly tired from a typical three-set knockdown, drag-out, match with Eden the Lancers are not the type of team to let down and give up. The Lady Patriots fell behind early but fought back to take the late lead which they would not give up as they battled to a 25-22 win in set one. The Lancers would not give in. In set two the Lancers again jumped out to an early lead before another late Patriot surge put them ahead to stay. The set ended with a 25-22 win and a tournament championship!!
The Lady Patriots finished the weekend undefeated with a 10-0 match record and an incredible 20-1 set record. An impressive record when you consider the competition that they faced over the two days.
This tournament win was truly a team effort. Outside/Rightside hitters Allison Cappellino, Kacey Richards, Emily Richards and Sara Madison all had an outstanding tournament. Cappellino played outstanding defense throughout the weekend and provided kills from everywhere on the court. K. Richards blasted balls from the rightside and middle spots that bounced to the back wall before the other team had a chance to react and consistently stuffed the other teams’ big hitters. Emily Richards wore out the line with her many kills down the line that the other teams could not defend and Sara Madison always came up with a big kill at very important times when the team needed a point. MB Rebecca Doser also had key blocks throughout the weekend as well as several big kills out of the middle. Of course the quarterback, Gaylen Fronk, continually kept the opponent befuddled by distributing the ball to different spots on the court to her arsenal of hitters. Maureen Ball passed the ball efficiently and had several big digs against some of the tournaments biggest hitters while Madison Hoffman provided key defensive plays in the back row. Serving specialist Shannon Wright did exactly that! She provided several key serving runs to get the team back into the game or increase their lead when out in front. There were also key contributions from Kath Kowalczyk, Emily Fronk, Anna Marcy and Emma Stoltz throughout the weekend. Mgr. Rachel Wilson provided support from the bench and did a great job distributing serving signals throughout the weekend, as aggressive spot serving against the highly talented opponents was key during the two days of competition.
Congratulations to the girls and to Coach Solomon for an unbelievable win and great weekend. It was a great team effort.
Go Penfield!!!
Lady Jr. Patriots Win Second Straight Tournament
Coming off of a strong performance at the Penfield JV Tournament and a 5-0 start in league play, the Lady Jr. Patriots were eager to keep things rolling and defend their 2010 Eden Tournament title.
It took a little warming up after the long bus ride but once the Jr. Patriots got going they cruised through pool play to finish the morning 6-0 and tops in their pool.
The semifinal matchup placed the Jr. Patriots against host Eden. Penfield had little trouble disposing of the Raiders in two straight sets to earn a spot in the finals for the third straight year. The other semifinal match pitted Clarence against Lancaster. Clarence prevailed in three sets to earn a rematch with Penfield. Penfield had beaten Clarence in pool play earlier in the day but this Clarence team appeared to be determined to get revenge for the early day loss.
Clarence started the match with some strong serving to give the Red Devils an early 8-1 lead. Penfield returned the favor with their own serving run to take a 9-8 lead. The Jr. Patriots struggled with their normally excellent ball control and fell behind 23-16. This young team would not give up though. Freshman Gabby Sumey, just returning from a concussion, started a serving run that would eventually tie the match at 23 and then finish it off, 25-23, for an amazing comeback win.
Set two started the same as set one as Penfield dug itself into a 9-point deficit but in similar fashion, the girls battled back to win set two and the championship for the second straight year!!
The Jr. Patriots will attempt to make it three straight when they travel back to the Buffalo area to compete in the Lancaster JV tournament on Oct. 8.
Congratulations and great job ladies!!!
Lady Patriots Finish Strong at
St. Mary's Invitational
The Lady Patriots traveled to Lancaster, NY last weekend to compete in the annual St. Mary’s Invitational featuring some of the best teams from Section VI including perennial powers Eden, St. Mary’s and Frontier. Penfield was the only Section V representative at this year’s tournament and was looking to improve on their second place finish in last year’s tournament when they lost a thriller to nationally ranked Eden in the finals.
The Lady Patriots started the day with a tough matchup in Williamsville North featuring 6’-3” Maryland-bound Nikki Attea. The Patriots struggled in the first set but recovered nicely in the second set to earn a split with the Vikings and earn the advantage in point differential.
Next up was Class AA power Frontier High School. The Patriots jumped out to big leads and held on to win both sets against the Falcons. The final pool play match of the day placed the Patriots against Sacred Heart. The Lady Patriots had no trouble coasting through the match to finish 5-1 for the morning and earning the #3 seed and a replay of last years semifinal against host St. Mary’s.
Penfield came out strong in the first set winning 25-22. St. Mary’s grabbed a big lead in set two and never looked back winning 25-16 and forcing a third and deciding set. Once again the Lancers jumped out to a big lead to start the match. Penfield battled back to tie the set at 23 but St. Mary’s won the next two points to put away the match and advance to the finals.
All-in-all, it was a great day of volleyball against some excellent competition from Section VI. The Lady Patriots will get another shot at some of the same teams when they return to the Buffalo area to play in the Eden Invitational on Oct. 1. Great job ladies!!
Congratulations
2011 Penfield Varsity Volleyball
Tournament Winner:
Our Lady of Mercy Monarchs
Second Place:
Pittsford Sutherland Knights
All tournament team:
Emily Smith (Victor)
Allison Cappellino (Penfield)
Luisa Schirmer (Pittsford Sutherland)
Tanya Krapf (Pittsford Sutherland)
Therese Cannon (Mercy)
Gabby Vetere (Mercy)
Tournament MVP: Emily Costello (Mercy)
Congratulations
2011 Penfield JV Volleyball Tournament Winner:
Penfield Patriots
(sixth consecutive title)
2nd place: Pittsford Sutherland Knights