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Girls volleyball playoffs begin for winter teams in Section 3

jon rathbun, times telegram
·6 min read

The Mt. Markham Mustangs swept three more games Monday to complete their fifth consecutive perfect regular season in the standings. They were rewarded Tuesday morning with the No. 1 Class C seed for Section III's winter volleyball playoffs.

Mt. Markham (16-0) and Beaver River (14-0) , the No. 2 seed in Class C, are the only remaining unbeaten squads as the playoffs begin. Four classes will decide their champions over the next 11 days.

Mt. Markham Mustang Haley Otis (2) tips the ball over the net against Dolgeville at the Blue Devils' annual Finale Tournament Saturday. Otis and the Mustangs are one of two unbeaten teams enterng the Section III tournament and the No. 1 seed for Class C.
Mt. Markham Mustang Haley Otis (2) tips the ball over the net against Dolgeville at the Blue Devils' annual Finale Tournament Saturday. Otis and the Mustangs are one of two unbeaten teams enterng the Section III tournament and the No. 1 seed for Class C.

The other No. 1 seeds are defending champion New Hartford (16-1) in Class A, Chittenango (13-2) in Class B and Town of Webb (14-3) in Class D.

The Mustangs and Beaver River's Beavers are at the top of Class C bracket in which three other teams have one or two losses and half of the field has three of fewer. Tully (17-1), the defending champion that beat Mt. Markham in last year's final, is seeded third with Canastota (17-2) and Cooperstown (15-2) as potential quarterfinal opponents at nos. 4 and 5.

Mt. Markham defeated Cooperstown 25-22, 25-19, 25-20 on the road Monday to complete its regular season and earn the Center State Conference's outright Division II title. The Mounties had previously beaten Cooperstown's Hawkeyes 3-1 at home in January, one of the team's two matches to go to a fourth game.

The Mustangs were also 10-0 in round robin play with five other schools Saturday at Dolgeville's annual Finale Tournament. Senior Trinity Bailey earned most valuable player honors at the tournament ahead of sectional play while junior teammates Paige Korosec and Haley Otis were picked for the all-star team. Bailey put down 12 more kills in Cooperstown and leads the team with 133. Korosec is second with 112 kills while Otis and sophomore Addison Jones, the team's main setters, have combined for 348 assists. The Mustangs serve 86.7 percent as a team and have five players between 50 and 70 aces in in 50 games played; they avarage 6.7 aces per game as a team.

The Mustangs have won five sectional titles under coach Terry McKane, the most recent in Class B in 2019.

Tight window

There is a quick turnaround on seeding; schedules were set Tuesday morning with the Round of 16 set for Wednesday evening. Three first round matches in Class C will be played Thursday instead of Wednesday. Quarterfinals are Friday with semifinals on Valentine's Day. The Feb. 18 finals will be played at Watertown's Case Middle School for the first time.

Classes C and D have the fullest brackets, each with 14 teams. They are also the largest winter classes with 18 C teams and 16 Ds. Four schools – Herkimer (2-18) , Pulaski (0-18), South Lewis (5-11) and the Utica Academy of Science (4-17) – opted out of the Class C tournament, eliminating the need for a play-in round. McGaw (2-13) and Brookfield (0-11) opted out in Class D.

Forty-six of the section's 54 remaining winter programs will be competing in an open format this year. Class B Sherburne-Earlville (4-14) and Class A Proctor (2-14) were the other schools that opted out.

Baldwinsville, Jamesville-DeWitt, Westhill, Skaneateles and Living Word Academy of Syracuse won fall titles in five classes in November. The state tournament is also played in the fall, along with all intersectional competition.

The byes

With eight entries, the Class A tournament starts with Friday's quarterfinals, and Class B has one first round match between Adirondack (7-13) and Holland Patent (2-13).

Rematches

Adirondack and Holland Patent met twice during the regular season with Adindack's Wildcats winning both matches by sweeping three games.

Lenna Comenale serves for New York Mills at the annual Finale Tournament Saturday in Dolgeville. New York Mills' Marauders travel to Van Hornesville for first round play in Class D against a team they beat twice in league play, Owen D. Yioung/Richfield Springs.
Lenna Comenale serves for New York Mills at the annual Finale Tournament Saturday in Dolgeville. New York Mills' Marauders travel to Van Hornesville for first round play in Class D against a team they beat twice in league play, Owen D. Yioung/Richfield Springs.

They are not the only first-round opponents who have met previously.

In Class D, No. 8 Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs (9-8) and No. 9 New York Mills (8-8) both compete in Division III of the Center State Conference where New York Mills' Marauders won both head-to-head matches in three games. Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs went 0-8 in league play and 9-0 against all other competition, including wins in all eight matches the Wildcats played against larger Class C teams.

Morrisville-Eaton (14-4) and Waterville (5-15) play in different Center State Conference divisions but played twice this season with Morrisville-Eaton winning both matches.

The 8-vs.-9 match in Class C is another division matchup from the Center State Conference. No. 9 Westmoreland (10-10) defeated No. 8 Sauquoit Valley (10-8) twice, more recently in four games at home Jan. 18. Westmoreland's Bulldogs were 3-0 winners in an earlier match at Sauquoit Valley.

Quarterfinals: Looking ahead

New Hartford's Makenzie Desmarais leaps high and serves the ball during a Jan. 12 match against Whitesboro. New Hartford's Spartans are Section III'e defending Class A winter champions and seeds No. 1 again this year.
New Hartford's Makenzie Desmarais leaps high and serves the ball during a Jan. 12 match against Whitesboro. New Hartford's Spartans are Section III'e defending Class A winter champions and seeds No. 1 again this year.

More:Section 3 girls volleyball scores for the 2022-23 season

There are additional rematches already booked for the quarterfinals and first round results could set up others.

In Class A, No. 4 Rome Free Academy (11-3) hosts No. 5 East Syracuse-Minoa (9-8) Friday. East Syracuse-Minoa, an Onondaga High School League school, competes in Tri-Valley League volleyball after opting not to switch the fall season. Rome Free Academy defeated the Tri-Valley League's secoind team of Trojans twice nine days apart in January.

Elsewhere in Class A, New Hartford's opponent wil be No. 8 Carthage (5-12) while No. 3 Whitesboro (14-2) opposes No. 6 Watertown (9-9). New Hartford, Whitesboro and Rome Free Academy have lost only against each other this season.

In Class B, Camden (11-8) and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (5-8) are seeded third and sixth and will meet for the third time Friday. No. 4 Clinton (8-11) and No. 5 Oneida (7-11) played five games in Oneida Jan. 11; Oneida won that match but the teams will play in Clinton Friday.

Mt. Markham's opponent will be the winner of Wednesday's match between Sauquoit Valley and Westmoreland, two familiar opponents from league play.

Cooperstown plays No. 12 Port Byron (5-15) in the first round and Canastota plays No. 13 Onondaga (3-12) in matches that determine one quarterfinal – Canastota would play at home if the Raiders advance – while Center State Conference Division I rivals Dolgeville (14-3) and Frankfort-Schuyler (2-17) are seeded sixth and 14th and coud meet if Dolgeville beats No. 11 Weedsport (5-11) at home and Frankfort-Schuyler snaps its 14-match losing streak at Tully.

In Class D, Town of Webb has four wins from league play against its potential opponents - Owen D. Young/Richfield Springs and New York Mills.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Mohawk Valley: Girls volleyball playoffs begin for winter teams