Bulldogs fall in state volleyball

GLENS FALLS — The Chateaugay girls volleyball team found themselves in a very familiar position Saturday.

Just like last year, the defending state finalist Bulldogs played in a one-game playoff format, in the Class D state semifinals for the right to advance to the state title game.

This time Chateaugay came up short as T.S. Edison claimed a 25-21 victory at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

"We gave it our all, but we just couldn't pull the one out we needed," said Bulldogs coach Chris Reynolds. "They had just pulled off the split with Cattaraugus and had the momentum. But we battled until the last point, but we just didn't get it done."

The Bulldogs had to play three one-game playoffs in last year's Class D Final Four to advance to the state title game.

Chateaugay, which had split with T.S. Edison to open pool play, hung around and kept its hopes alive of another state championship game with three straight points in the playoff to pull within four before running out of time on a mis-hit at the net that sent the Spartans into the finals.

"What hurt us was we had Edison on the ropes in our second set in our first match, but we let them claw back into it and steal the set," Reynolds said. "We didn't put them away and that is the difference."

Chateaugay ended up in the playoff after three teams — Chateaugay, T.S. Edison and Cattaraugus-Little Valley finished pool play with 4-2 records.

According to the semifinal rules, if there are three teams tied for the top spot, head-to-head play is the next tie-breaker. Since all three teams split with each other, it went down to point differential to decide who moved into the finals and who played in a one-game playoff.

Cattaraugus Little-Valley ended pool play with a plus-30 point differential, giving it the top seed and the automatic bid into the state finals. That left Chateaugay (plus-23) and T.S. Edison (plus-22) to battle for the final spot.

"It is hard to have something right in front of you and then have it taken away. It just stings right now," Reynolds said.

Chateaugay came out firing in the opening game of pool play against T.S. Edison. The Bulldogs sprinted out to a 17-10 advantage before allowing the Spartans back into the game at 23-23. Stephanie Boyea closed out the game with two straight points for the first set win.

Chateaugay once again built a lead on T.S. Edison in the second as it carried a 17-13 lead into the late moments. But the Spartans rallied to tie the game and pull off a 25-23 victory of their own to split the match.

Annie Smith led the way with 13 kills for Chateaugay, while Erika LaBombard dished out 16 assists to go along with two kills.

In their second match of the day, the Bulldogs trailed in the first set to Cattaraugus-Little Valley and just couldn't get things going in the 25-16 loss.

Facing a sweep at the hands of the Timberwolves, the Bulldogs grabbed the lead at 7-6 and never relinquished it. Chateaugay looked to have the game completed at 25-20, but a disputed call by the referee gave Cattaraugus-Little Valley life and coach Reynolds his first career yellow card for disagreeing with the call.

However, the Bulldogs finished off the Timberwolves on the next point to take the set 25-21.

Smith once again had 13 kills, while Boyea chipped in with another five.

LaBombard and Cindy Harrigan (one kill) handed out 13 and six assists, respectively.

Chateaugay then needed little time to dispose of Shelter Island with victories of 25-12 and 25-10 behind another 10 kills from Smith.

Chateaugay sat at 4-2 in pool play with the final match between Cattaraugus-Little Valley and T.S. Edison to help decide the finals. Both teams were 3-1 heading into the showdown. A sweep by either team and the Bulldogs were in.

Cattaraugus-Little Valley jumped out quickly and sealed at least a spot in a three-team playoff for the state title with the win in the first set.

However, T.S. Edison went on to take the second set and leave three teams tied at 4-2 after pool play with Shelter Island finishing 0-6.

"We were sitting in the stands and after the first game, it looked like Cattaraugus was going to pull off the sweep (against T.S. Edison) and (then) we were in the finals," Reynolds said.

CROSS COUNTRY

CAMPANIAN 33RD AT FEDERATIONS

Victoria Campanian of South Lewis highlighted area finishers at the state Federation championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappinger Falls.

Campanian crossed the finish line 33rd out of 251 runners in the girls race, while Aimee Beaudette and Sophie Goobic of Canton were 51st and 116th, respectively. Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall was the winner.

In the boys race, Jon Eng of Norwood-Norfolk finished 58th, while Matt Cheney of Beaver River was 124th, and Andy Tupper of Canton finished 211th. Max Straneva of Chenango Valley crossed the finish line ahead of the 253 other runners.