LADY WARRIORS KNOCK OFF ONEIDA 3-0-FINAL DATE WITH ESM NEXT
Whitesboro’s Janay Mucitelli (5) gets a big game one block.
Jeff Pexton-MHTS/PGI Photo
The Whitesboro Lady Warriors volleyball team swept the Oneida Lady Indians 3-0 tonight to win the Section III, Class “A” semifinal match at Chittenango High School.
With the win, second seeded Whitesboro improves to (15-1) and will advance to play the number one-seeded East Syracuse Minoa (18-1) on Saturday night. It took ESM five full games to defeat fourth seeded Carthage to reach the final.
Tonight’s match between Tri-Valley League co-champions Whitesboro and Oneida was the fifth time the two teams have faced each other this season.
Oneida won one of the meetings, while Whitesboro took the other four (two of which were in tournament play).
Whitesboro’s Mary Pastorelli (2) powers a game three kill.
Tonight’s three game sweep extended Whitesboro’s individual match unbeaten streak over Oneida to six matches.
In the first match tonight, Whitesboro asserted themselves up front as seniors Brandi Blaszak and Michelle Jones did an outstanding job offensively and defensively on the net, while fellow senior Carly Lonczak was her usual proficient self setting up the big Whitesboro hitters.
With the score tied at 19-19, Whitesboro went on an impressive 6-0 run to take game number one by a score of 25-16.
Prior to Whitesboro’s big run, the two teams were not separated by more than two points in the opening game.
The second game saw Whitesboro change things up a little but up front. Oneida seemed to be more prepared for the hard-hitting display Whitesboro’s front liners put on in the first game, so Whitesboro went to a more finesse styled approach in game number two.
Whitesboro’s Mary Pastorelli, Madison Kosuda and Lonczak seemed to be more inclined to misdirect the ball at the net instead of the vicious kills they were making in the first game.
The strategy definitely paid off as the Lady Warriors owned game number three from start to finish and winning it by a score of 25-17.
Trailing two games to none and facing the end of their season, Oneida hit the court in game number three with a renewed spirit and higher level of intensity.
The Lady Indians built a 21-14 lead in the third game, which caused Whitesboro coach Kelly Entwistle to call a timeout to calm her kids down. After the timeout, the two clubs traded points to make it 22-15.
Oneida’s Kati Relyea (11) hits a game one service ace.
From that point forward Whitesboro seemingly flipped a switch and found a higher gear, scoring the next seven points to tie the game at 22-22.
Oneida’s Mary Sheridan’s kill made it 23-22 and the Lady Indians were within two points of taking game number three.
Whitesboro, however, scored four of the next five points and won the game by a score of 26-24 and the match by a score of three games to none.
Carly Lonczak had a monster night for Whitesboro, recording a whopping 36 assists, 14 digs, 1 block and 1 kill.
Brandi Blaszek was also key for the Lady Warriors with 2 aces, 20 kills, 22 digs and 4 blocks.
Becca Geller and Mary Pastorelli chipped in 11 digs for the winners.
Whitesboro 3 Oneida 0
Box Score
1 2 3 Final
Oneida 19 17 24 0
Whitesboro 25 25 26 3
Whitesboro’s Brandi Blaszak (7) gets a game three dig as Madison Kosuda (12) looks on.
