By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
BOYS SOCCER
Craig Lawrence Tournament at Way-Co
Wellsville 3, Mount Morris 0
COHOCTON — With a torrential downpour putting a screeching halt to Wellsville’s debut in the Craig Lawrence Memorial Tournament at the Cohocton Sports Complex just 24 hours ago, the inclement weather had finally subsided for them to try their opening round battle with defending Class D2 champion Mount Morris again on Friday.
With the Lady Lions of Wellsville looking to close out their two-day tenure on the opposite field across the way at the same time, the boys squad was looking to begin theirs on the most positive of notes.
Aiden Cowburn would aid that cause by having a hand in all three goals for the Lions, two of them coming in rapid succession in the second half to bolster what was a 1-0 halftime lead over the Blue Devils, as Wellsville floored it straight to tonight’s Championship game with a 3-0 blank.
After some hard battling with Mount Morris across the midfield to begin the night, Wellsville (1-2) searched for an opening and exposed it near midway of the opening half, as Ethan Bailey connected with the back of the Blue Devils net off a header directly out front, with the first of three Cowburn helpers setting it up to open the scoring with a one-goal lead at the break.
The early stages of the second half saw the last two Lions goals come in a span of just two minutes from both Cooper Brockway and Kameron Dodge, with Brockway scoring off an indirect kick to the front of the net supplied by Cowburn. That came before Dodge trapped a ball with his body and directed it into the net just two minutes later to branch out the advantage at three, where it would remain pat for the remainder of the game.
The three Wellsville goals were part of a 14-shot offensive display against Mount Morris, while the Lions defense only allowed four to reach Gavin Haggerty in between the posts — all of which were saved by the senior to record the shutout.
The Lions will now turn right back around and return to the Cohocton Sports Complex tonight to finish off their two-day tournament stay with a Championship battle against the Naples Big Green beginning at 7 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Craig Lawrence Tournament Consolation
Wellsville 3, Wayland-Cohocton 2
COHOCTON — While the boys team was working hard to ensure their spot in the Championship round, on the opposite field, the Lady Lions of Wellsville were looking to close out their hard-fought tenure in the Craig Lawrence Memorial Tournament at the Cohocton Sports Complex on the highest of notes in the Consolation round.
To do it, they would have to outlast a relentless battle from the host Lady Eagles of Wayland-Cohocton across a second half that saw four of the game’s five total goals scored. Fortunately enough for the Lady Lions, their 1-0 halftime lead ultimately became the difference maker, as each team found the back of the net twice, which would see Wellsville come out victorious at the end of the night with a 3-2 squeaking of the Lady Eagles to split the two-day action.
The halftime lead would belong to the Lady Lions (2-1-1) with Caelyn Stevens jumping on the board first with her first of the season.
The next two goals in the second half were connected by Lauren Viglietta and Elizabeth Seely, with the latter of the two goals being put away with 10 minutes left in regulation to help officially lock up the win for good.
Wellsville recorded a 12-6 doubling up of Wayland-Cohocton on the attack, with both Madison Thompson and Lydia Kaye each seeing time in between the posts, combining to make four saves along the way.
The Lady Lions are back home Monday night for their home opener beginning at 7 p.m. against the Fillmore Lady Eagles.
Alfred-Almond 2, Andover/Whitesville 0
ALMOND — The Lady Eagles of Alfred-Almond and visiting Andover/Whitesville engaged across a defensive first half of play that saw just five combined shots come to fruition. Fortunately for the hosts in blue, they were able to garner an early lead to carry into the break.
In the last 40 minutes, they picked up the tempo against Andover/Whitesville, garnering multiple opportunities while holding their opposition to just one more shot on defense. As a result, the Lady Eagles picked up a second crucial goal to maintain their distance away from Andover/Whitesville to preserve a Friday night shutout at home by a 2-0 count.
“A-A played really well tonight. Coach (Brian) Hildreth does a great job with his girls. They took advantage of their opportunities and made it tough for us to get anything going,” said Andover/Whitesville co-coach Aaron Rawady. “We had a couple of solid individual performances but collectively, we were not clean at all. We need to get better in a lot of areas. It hasn’t been a great start to our season, but we think we have some girls that can respond and hopefully help turn things around.”
Both Alfred-Almond goals were scored at the 25 minute mark in each half against Andover/Whitesville (0-3), with the first being set up with the assistance of Isabel Jusianiec, as she fired a pass off to Alexis Kuhn to help break the ice with the early advantage in hand.
The lead would hold while the second half tempo for the Lady Eagles officially kicked into gear, as they ultimately fed off every bit of it with an unassisted marker from the foot of Olivia Flaitz with 25 minutes left to play, branching out the lead tremendously to maintain their distance from Andover/Whitesville all the way to the end to claim victory.
The two goals came on eight total shots for Alfred-Almond, as they recorded an 8-3 outshooting of Andover/Whitesville. In goal for the visitors in white, Olivia Waters would make six saves.
Andover/Whitesville will return to the field on Monday in Whitesville, as they prepare for a visit from the Lady Wolves of Arkport/Canaseraga at 5 p.m.
Fillmore 10, Friendship/Scio 0
FILLMORE — Seven different Lady Eagles all recorded at least a point, with five of them finding the back of the net along the way to set up shop for another tremendous night for Fillmore, as they claim their fourth straight victory to open the season on Friday with a 10-0 home shutout over visiting Friendship/Scio.
Igniting the team’s stalwart offense once more was Hope Russell, who navigated her way to the Friendship/Scio cage four times to record a four-goal night to pair alongside a trio of helpers, capping off a monster 11-point night for the Lady Eagles (4-0). Grace Russell followed with two goals and two assists of her own, while Allie Mills furthered the team’s cause with two goals herself.
Tenlee Miller and Rachel Hatch each had a goal and an assist, while Julia Beardsley and Amelia Rose jumped into the fray with one assist each. The 10 goals for Fillmore came on 23 total shots applied against their visiting opposition while the defense allowed just one to reach Preslee Miller, who made the stop to record the shutout in goal.
On the other side for Friendship/Scio (0-2), Grace Drumm made 13 saves.
The Lady Eagles are back on the field after the weekend Monday night, as they prepare for a 7 p.m. visit to Wellsville, while Friendship/Scio gets set for their first home game of the season on Wednesday, hosting Genesee Valley/Belfast at 5 p.m. in Friendship.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Wellsville 3, Fillmore 0
FILLMORE — Game one on the season for the Lady Lions of Wellsville was one of brilliant success on Friday, as they hit the road for Fillmore and returned home victorious with a sweep of the action against the host Lady Eagles inside The Rock, starting strong and never looking back on what was a 25-10, 25-17, 25-19 decision.
The Lady Lions (1-0) were paced by some strong service from Averee Palmatier, as she posted 11 big aces to pair alongside five digs, three kills and a block. Natalie Adams helped make sure the ball remained off the floor behind her eight digs, adding three kills and two aces of her own along the way.
Morgaen Howe added in four kills and four aces, while setter Maddy Parks handed out 12 assists and dished in two aces from the service line herself.
“I could not be happier with how the girls played for their first game of the season,” said Lady Lions coach Shannon Steiner. “Some of them are learning new positions and they did excellent tonight, showing how far they have come from learning them. I am really looking forward to how much more we can do for the rest of the season.”
Despite the defeat, some solid offensive outings for the Lady Eagles (0-2) were collected by the likes of Savannah Hosmer and Jenna Austin, as the two Fillmore attackers recorded seven, and six kills respectively while combining to serve up four aces from the back line. In addition, Brianna Santiago led the team’s service with six aces, while setter Sawyer Pomeroy dished out 14 assists.
Fillmore will now get set to hit the road for a visit to Warsaw on Monday, beginning at 6 p.m.
After the Lady Lions return home from tournament action at Campbell-Savona this afternoon, they will resume regular season play with their home opener on Monday, hosting Arkport/Canaseraga in a 7:30 p.m. first serve.
Cuba-Rushford 3, Bolivar-Richburg 0
BOLIVAR — After a phenomenal second set comeback energized a straight-set sweep over the Lady Huskies of Olean back on Wednesday, the Lady Rebels of Cuba-Rushford would bring out the brooms and do it all over again on Friday, this time to their County rival Bolivar-Richburg over the road behind a strong start to take care of business with a 25-14, 25-21, 25-15 victory.
Lilah Stroud and Lauren O’Keefe were the two driving forces behind Cuba-Rushford’s (2-1) strong attack, with Stroud’s five kills and three blocks leading the way. O’Keefe followed up with four kills of her own to go with three aces and a dig, while setter Kendall Tompkins raced around the front of the net to hand out 15 assists, pairing them with three kills, three aces and three digs.
On the other side of the net, Brena Walp delivered an excellent night of defense for the Lady Wolverines (1-1) with 11 digs to go with two aces. Kori Thomas provided seven blocks to pair alongside four kills on the attack, while Joey Danaher tallied six service points, four kills and a block.
Tournament action over the course of the weekend will be had with the Lady Rebels traveling to Houghton College, and Bolivar-Richburg heading for Falconer beginning this morning.
Each team will return to regular season action after the weekend at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with Cuba-Rushford playing host to Genesee Valley/Belfast, and the Lady Wolverines hitting the road again to visit Fillmore.
Houghton Academy 3, Genesee Valley/Belfast 1
BELMONT — The Lady Panthers of Houghton Academy were on the button in the opening set, scoring back-to-back wins out of the gate against host Genesee Valley/Belfast on Friday. Despite being pushed to the brink, the hosts would remain alive with a third-set win to cut the deficit in half.
But the Lady Panthers had other plans in store for the remainder of the game, as they bounced back after the third set to claim victory in dominant fashion, scoring a 25-10, 25-14, 20-25, 25-10 win over Genesee Valley/Belfast.
Leading the charge for the Lady Panthers (2-0) was Liberty Stevens and her excellent night of service from the back line, as she recorded 12 humongous aces to pair with six digs and two kills. Following up was Abby Reitnour, who was unbelievable on the defensive front by keeping the ball off the floor with her 21 digs, coupling them with five aces, three kills and three assists. Bella Stevens rounded off with 11 more digs, pairing them with five aces and three kills.
Individual statistics for Genesee Valley/Belfast (0-2) were not made available to report upon publication. The hosts will return to the floor this morning over the road with an 11 a.m. visit to Keshequa.
As for Houghton Academy, they now get set for a 4:30 p.m. road trip in store on Monday to face the Rochester School for the Deaf.
GIRLS TENNIS
Wellsville 5, Fillmore 0
HOUGHTON — Among the highlights for the Lady Lions of Wellsville was a first career Varsity win for Peyton Cawley at third singles on Friday, as she raced fast and furiously by her opponent hailing from Fillmore to assist in setting up what ultimately turned out be a 5-0 shutout, Friday night.
Cawley provided magnificent play for the Lady Lions from within her third singles match with Fillmore’s Spencer Hopkins, rolling towards a dominant victory by a 10-2 count. Meagan Riley and Sarah Mattison each followed behind to help complete a sweep of all three singles matches for the Lady Lions, as both competitors knocked off Claire Schilke and Molly Mahoney, with a pair of 10-3 wins each respectively.
In the doubles department, the momentum shift continued for the Lady Lions (1-0), as both doubles teams each recorded 10-0 shutout victories. At first doubles, the team of Hanna Miles and Caitlin Bittel put a stop to Fillmore’s Kira Morley and Indigo Knapp. Later on, McKenna Wonderling and Kelsey Seely finished off the match with a 10-0 blank of their own over Kirra Bentley and Lena Tucker for Fillmore.
Up next, the Lady Lions are back on their home floor with a 10 a.m. first serve against Olean forthcoming.
Singles
1. Meagan Riley (WLSV) def. Claire Schilke (FIL), 10-3.
2. Sarah Mattison (WLSV) def. Molly Mahoney (FIL), 10-3.
3. Peyton Cawley (WLSV) def. Spencer Hopkins (FIL), 10-2.
Doubles
1. Hanna Miles/Caitlin Bittel (WLSV) def. Kira Marley/Indigo Knapp (FIL), 10-0.
2. McKenna Wonderling/Kelsey Seely (WLSV) def. Kirra Bentley/Lena Tucker (FIL), 10-0.
SWIMMING
Wellsville 160, Bath-Haverling 111 (Thursday)
BATH — The defending 3-Peat champions of Section V — the Wellsville Lady Sea Lions picked right back up where they immediately left off from a season ago, as their 2023 campaign in the water could not have gotten off to a better start on Thursday, using 10 first place finishes to set the tone immediately in their 160-111 victory at Bath-Haverling on Thursday.
Three different Lady Sea Lions (1-0) — Allie Bidzerkowny, Morgan Mattison and Grace Kinnicutt, all recorded at least a pair of individual wins in the water to help get their title defense rolling, with Bidzerkowny racing towards glory with winning times in the 200 freestyle and later on, in the 500 freestyle. Mattison followed up with wins in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, while Kinnicutt placed first in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.
The team would also collect a pair of relay victories from the same team — Kinnicutt, Mattison, Hayden Waldon and Kaylee Oswald, as the four swimmers sped away towards triumph with winning times in the 200 medley relay to help kick off the meet against the Lady Rams, and later on past the midway point, in the 200 freestyle relay.
Waldon, along with Ashley Oswald, helped round off a dominant display in the water for Wellsville with the team’s last two individual victories, with Waldon claiming gold in the 200 individual medley relay, while Oswald recorded the best score off the Diving board.
The Lady Sea Lions will now get set to host their home opener on Thursday, as they welcome the Wayland-Cohocton Lady Eagles to town for a 5 p.m. battle.
