Cortland Standard .net

The Cincinnatus volleyball team improved to 3-1 in the Central Counties League and 4-3 overall Thursday with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-11 win over visiting McGraw.
Also on Thursday, DeRuyter beat Blessed Virgin Mary Academy 25-15, 12-25, 25-11, 25-19 in a non-league match at Cazenovia College and is now 6-2 overall.
Cincinnatus 3, McGraw 0: Junior middle hitter/blocker Kaitlin Manley led the Red Lions with eight kills, four digs, two blocks and an assist while senior outside hitter Sydney Sherman had six kills, six digs, two aces and an assist, junior middle hitter/blocker Kennedy Crothers five kills, three digs, two assists and an ace and senior outside hitter Cheyenne Nowalk three kills, four aces, two digs and a block.
In addition, junior setter Blake Crothers had eight assists, three digs and a kill and junior setter Cheyenne Phillips four assists and five digs.
“Finally breaking out of a recent slump, the girls came together to play a very solid match,” Cincy coach Macy Cobb said. “Our foot movement was better and we played with more confidence than in the past couple of outings. We worked on a few adjustments to our offense to take advantage of certain things, and although it has been a challenge to learn it, it really paid off. The whole team played strong with less unforced errors despite some solid play by Brooke Guernsey and tough serves by Sarah Leach from McGraw.”
Senior outside hitter Leach had four kills, six digs, two blocks and two aces for the Eagles (2-4 league, 2-5 overall) while senior middle hitter MaCayla VanWagenen had six kills and three blocks, senior libero Guernsey two kills, four digs and an ace and junior middle hitter Shirley Dougherty two kills, three digs and three blocks.
In addition, junior outside hitter Shelly Mauzy had a kill and eight digs and junior outside hitter Kathy Levitskiy four kills and two aces.
“The teams went back and forth in the first game,” McGraw coach Justin Teter said. “Cincy forced some errors on our part and that allowed them to take a slight lead and maintain that edge to capture the first set. Brooke had a strong service run to get us started and played hard throughout the match. The second set featured some solid play by the Lions. We struggled to maintain their serve and but stayed in the set with more good hustle and hard work. Shirley and MaCayla did a nice job at the net for us with some solid attacking hits and blocking as well. Sarah also contributed with some timely kills to keep it close.
“The Eagles couldn’t keep serve in the third set and struggled to get side-out. Sarah showed great hustle and made some nice digs to keep the play alive throughout the set.”
The Cincinnatus JVs shaded McGraw 2-1.
Cincy’s squads visit DeRuyter Tuesday while McGraw’s travel to Stockbridge Valley that same night, both starting with the JV match at 5:30 p.m.
DeRuyter 3, Blessed Virgin Mary Academy 0: “We got everything I expected from BVMA (now 0-5 overall), scrappy play returning anything we did not attack and some of those we did,” Rockets coach Gary Burdick said. “We did not play well as a team in the second set. We did come back with some key plays in the third and fourth sets and finished strong.”
Senior middle hitter Andrea Newton had 15 kills, six digs, six blocks and two aces for DeRuyter, while senior setter/outside hitter Ciara LaClair had 10 digs, 12 assists, three aces and two kills and senior setter Breanna Hare 10 digs, nine assists, four kills and two aces. Senior middle hitter Cassondra Henry had six kills, four digs and a block for the winners while sophomore outside hitter/middle hitter Emily Pelcher had four digs, five kills and two blocks and junior outside hitter/middle hitter Amanda Hare three aces, two kills and a dig.