Wednesday Roundup: Russell becomes 2nd 100-goal scorer this season for Fillmore, netting pair to fuel 6-1 Lady Eagles win over B-R; Lady Lions volleyball bounces back with huge 4-set win over Lady Wolverines
By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
FILLMORE — Ever since she stepped foot into the Varsity scene for the Lady Eagles of Fillmore, Hope Russell has become a giant lightning bolt on both ends of the field. Offense, defense, special teams, you name it. Russell has continued to up her game to even bigger heights as time goes on.
In the midst of what has been a phenomenally dominant season, one that has started catching the attention of Section V, the Fillmore junior has now found herself in front of a historic marker that one of her Eagles classmates has already reached this season in their prolific and explosive careers on the pitch.
Mitch Ward did it last week for the boys squad, and now after another multiple-goal evening for the Lady Eagles, Russell would then follow suit — by scoring 100 career goals.
With a 3-0 lead to control going into halftime against visiting Bolivar-Richburg, Russell was responsible for the first two goals — the latter helping eclipse the century mark of her illustrious tenure, becoming just the third Lady Eagle to reach that mark as she joins the likes of Casandra Mills and Allison Richter in the exclusive club in the midst of their 6-1 rolling of the Lady Wolverines on their home field on Wednesday.
“My congratulations go out to Hope, as she joins two big names in this program’s history with such an outstanding achievement,” said Lady Eagles coach Jon Beardsley. “It was also our Senior Night where we saw some more excellent contributions from all of them. Malory (DeRock), Madi (Geertman), CeCe (Schmidt), Kada (Frazier), Emma (Beardsley) and Karmen (Frazier). They were all honored before the game, and then led us out on the field towards a solid win. Your season goes based on your leadership from them, and they have been outstanding to help us through this special night.”
The Lady Eagles (15-0) would see the offense come to life in the first half of the opening half itself with Russell scoring her pair of goals to eclipse the historic marker, with her first coming at the 15-minute mark off a pass from CeCe Schmidt. The next being the big one, as she found the back of the Bolivar-Richburg net with her second off a pass in fitting fashion from her sister, Grace Russell, to branch out the team’s lead to a pair.
The siblings would help end the half with four minutes remaining, as they interchanged on the team’s third score with Grace scoring off an assist from Hope.
Two more goals would find their way into the Bolivar-Richburg (8-7) net in the first 10 minutes of the second half, in a three-minute span as Grace Russell and Malory DeRock continued the momentum for the offense. DeRock would get the assist on Russell’s second goal. In addition to Hope’s career marker, Grace would also reach one of her own by the end of the night, becoming just the third player in Fillmore girls soccer history to record 60 goals and 60 assists.
The shutout put on by the Lady Eagles would come to an end at the 52nd minute mark, as Teegan Sibble connected with the first and only goal for the Lady Wolverines. Madi Geertman would finish off the scoring with Fillmore’s final tally coming with 14 minutes left in the contest.
The six goals for the hosts in green came on 21 total shots, as they outshot Bolivar-Richburg on offense by a 21-7 count. Preslee Miller would make six saves in goal for the Lady Eagles to garner the victory, while Kyla Gayton made 15 saves for the Lady Wolverines.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 1, Friendship/Scio 1
FRIENDSHIP — Both goals scored between Genesee Valley/Belfast and Friendship/Scio were scored in a two-minute span during the first half of action. From that point forward, it would become anyone’s game going straight down to the finish line.
On Wednesday, the midfield battle would take over the remaining action the night would see in Friendship, as both teams would come together to record a 1-1 draw — the second for Genesee Valley/Belfast, and third for Friendship/Scio this season.
“I think we were able to catch them off guard and befuddle them a little bit, but it was a game that was centered around a lot of midfield battling,” said Friendship/Scio co-coach Eric Weinman. “It came down to playing a better midfield game and having the right defensive mindset. We contained a bit better, and most of their shots were from distance. We got the majority of our girls back in the lineup with Sectionals coming, and we gave them a game despite some limited opportunities of our own. Both teams played hard.”
Just past the 10 minute mark of the opening half, Friendship/Scio (3-10-3) was the first to open up the scoring behind the guidance of Nevaeh Ross, who dribbled around multiple defenders on her way into the offensive zone, finding the back of the net along the way. The goal was one of just two shots all game that the hosts would provide against a stout defense of Genesee Valley/Belfast.
The lead however was short lived, as Genesee Valley/Belfast (10-3-2) found their way onto the board themselves a mere two minutes later with Adison Grusendorf and her tally, taking possession and dribbling into the zone for a perfectly-positioned chip shot over Grace Drumm in goal and into the net to tie the game at one, ultimately for the remainder of the game.
From the 25 minute mark of the first half and forward, the game would remain tied at one despite some chances to try and break the deadlock. It would remain secure though after all 100 minutes of the battle were completed. The Genesee Valley/Belfast offense would record a 12-2 outshooting of Friendship/Scio on offense, with Ashley Burrows making one save while Drumm had 11 stops for the hosts..
Cuba-Rushford 5, Andover/Whitesville 1
ANDOVER — There’s no better time for the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford to jumpstart a big boost of energy going into Sectionals, than on Wednesday. In their road trip to visit Andover/Whitesville, their offense would provide an explosion.
Out of the six goals between both squads, five of them were scored right in a row by the visitors in white and blue, led by a two-goal night from Sofia Riquelme and a three-point night from Taylor Searle — two Lady Rebels who have begun to take center stage for the team’s ascension to the occasion, as they recorded their fourth straight win with a 5-1 triumph in Andover.
“We knew Andover/Whitesville is better than their record shows,” Lady Rebels coach Aaron Wight said. “They’re tough to break down, and they don’t give up many goals. Unlike earlier this year, I’m glad we were able to put this game away in the second half and we didn’t let it run down to the wire. They’ve been tough, especially these last four, five games.”
After a midfield battle through nearly half of the opening half, Cuba-Rushford (8-6-1) found their way onto the board with Shae Maples and her goal off a pass from Taylor Searle to break the ice. The lead would hold until Searle found a way to extend it with 10 minutes left to play, capitalizing on a solo rush into the Andover/Whitesville zone.
The hot streak on offense carried on in the second half with three more goals from the Lady Rebels offense, as Sofia Riquelme scored a pair of goals off two assists from Harlie Jones, with the first coming just four minutes after the opening kick, and the last serving as the team’s penultimate with 16:29 left to play in the game.
Sandwiched in between was a goal from Jen Tuttle at the 27:52 mark, finding the back of the net off a Cloey Larabee helper entering the zone. Andover/Whitesville (1-11-3) would eliminate the shutout being put on by the Lady Rebels with Graci Lewis-Ellison’s score stemming off a pass provided by Gabby Terhune with under eight minutes left.
The Lady Rebels would lead the way in the shot department with a 15-10 advantage over their visiting opposition, with Tara Duvall garnering the win behind nine saves. Olivia Waters would make 10 saves for Andover/Whitesville.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Wellsville 3, Bolivar-Richburg 1
BOLIVAR — 24 hours removed after seeing their hot streak extinguished by Cuba-Rushford, the Lady Lions of Wellsville would not waste the opportunity to bounce back and pick back up right where they left off. With a trip to Bolivar-Richburg, the host Lady Wolverines would give them all they could handle, but in the end, Wellsville came away victorious after a strong finish in the fourth and final set, taking the 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15 win on Wednesday.
The first two sets were used by the Lady Lions (10-2) to push Bolivar-Richburg towards the edge early on, with the first set seeing both teams exchange early pleasantries on their way towards an 18-18 tie in the late stages. The finish was gathered a short time later with seven of the final nine points going Wellsville’s way to earn the icebreaking win.
The momentum shifted into the next set with another fine start against the Lady Wolverines (8-4) — one that evaporated quickly, as the hosts fought back with an 8-1 run after a 13-9 lead was garnered by Wellsville. But the lead would not hold, as the Lady Lions clawed back one final time to take a 2-0 lead with another strong finish.
Bolivar-Richburg would not go away just yet. With what momentum was built during their second set stand, they would use it to create an early lead, extending it later on in the midst of the action, reaching as high as seven points at one point before another resilient rally was countered by the Lady Lions to push the game towards its last two points in a 23-23 tie. Fortunately for the Lady Wolverines, they were able to grab them right in a row to survive and eliminate the possibility of a straight-set sweep.
But the Lady Lions were able to finish off the match in its entirety after a mid-set lead grew larger with a game-ending 9-2 run of the Lady Wolverines, including seven straight points, to steal away a 25-15 win in the fourth and final set to officially complete their bounce back evening.
Wellsville was led by Bryanna Moultrup on offense with a team-high 10 kills. Emma Dunaway and Lindsey Stuck (two aces) helped further the team’s cause with six and five additional kills, respectively. Morgaen Howe contributed some help from the service line, collecting six aces to pair with her one kill, while Maddy Parks was busy at the front of the net handing out a whopping 27 assists.
On the other side, the Lady Wolverines were propelled by Haley Mascho from the back line, earning 11 service points behind six aces to pair with eight digs on defense. Kori Thomas followed behind with 10 more digs on defense, along with nine blocks and six kills, while Brena Walp had six more service points to record off four aces, and five kills on the attack to add. Bolivar-Richburg will look to get back on track Friday night back on their home floor in a 6 p.m. contest against Houghton Academy.
Houghton Academy 3, Fillmore 1
HOUGHTON — The two neighboring schools in Fillmore and Houghton Academy came together one final time in the regular season before Sectionals officially kicks into gear in just a short period of time from now.
On Wednesday, reminiscent of their matchup earlier this season, the two foes went after one another in an opening set war to determine who would have the upper hand to work with. Out of it, came the Lady Eagles who survived the battle with the two-point win at the very end.
But for the Lady Panthers, they would use that defeat as a big piece of motivation going forward.
Just how massive? Try a reverse sweep for size.
Houghton Academy might have been down after the night’s first set, but they went on to prove that they were never out of it, as they came right back with three explosive haymakers against the Lady Eagles — the biggest blow coming in the fourth set where they would cap off an incredible comeback in dominant fashion to steal away the four-set win and the season sweep of Fillmore by a 23-25, 25-13, 25-14, 25-16 count.
Fueling the team’s fire throughout the course of the night were their star-studded senior captains on the front lines: Jess Prentice and Jessica Adenuga. Prentice took charge of the attack for the Lady Panthers (6-6) as well as on defense, scoring 26 digs, 23 kills, five aces from the back line and two blocks. As for Adenuga, she would also have a helping hand in keeping the ball off the floor, garnering 22 more digs of her own to pair with 10 additional kills and five more aces.
Houghton Academy’s setter, Abby Reitnour handed out 28 assists at the front of the net to her teammates to set everything up for the offense, adding eight more digs and a pair of aces along the way.
Genesee Valley/Belfast 3, Hinsdale 0
HINSDALE — For the first time this season, Genesee Valley/Belfast has found their way into the win column after a road trip to Hinsdale on Wednesday, as they hung onto victory after a close quarters battle with the Lady Bobcats by a 25-22, 25-21, 25-21 count.
