Lady Gophers pass tough test against Chautauqua Lake to advance to girls volleyball 'Final Four'
The beat goes on for the Pavilion Lady Gophers.
Coach Rex Eighmey’s team this afternoon advanced to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association “Final Four” with a hard-fought, straight set victory over Chautauqua Lake in the girls volleyball Class D Far West Regionals at Le Roy High School.
By winning 25-23, 25-10 and 26-24, Pavilion kept its perfect season intact as it has yet to lose a set in compiling a 25-0 record.
But it wasn’t easy, Eighmey said, as the Lady Gophers had to rally from a 19-15 deficit in the first set and survived a late charge by the Lady Thunderbirds in the decisive third set.
Chautauqua Lake, which suffered its first loss in 18 matches, was Pavilion’s toughest opponent this season, Eighmey said.
“Oh yeah, by far yeah,” he said. “They’re really good. They're the most athletic team and have a couple good hitters. But we kind of kept things under control. Our girls played out of their minds and it was fantastic to watch.”
With the score tied at 23 in the opening set, Chautauqua Lake missed on a serve, turning the ball over to Sara Laurie, who served the winning point. Pavilion dominated the second set, and then took a 17-12 lead in the third set before the Lady Thunderbirds came back to go up 22-21.
Pavilion called a timeout and, after their opponentsmissed on another serve, scored two points to go up 24-22. Chautauqua Lake rallied to tie it again at 24, but missed on another serve. From there, Paige Landers took the serve and her teammates came through for the final point.
The statistics were distributed across the team with Karlee Zinkievich getting four kills and 10 digs, Shea Amberger tallying five kills and two blocks, Adeline Milligan recording nine kills and eight digs, Lauren Kingsley contributing 12 kills and eight digs and Shannon Campbell posting 23 assists and four digs.
Eighmey said his team’s balance seem to wear down Chautauqua Lake in the second set, but he did give the Section VI representative credit for making the third set close.
The Lady Gophers now move on to the four-team, round-robin Class D state tournament next Saturday afternoon in Glens Falls. Each team will play three two-set matches with the squad with the best record earning the championship.
