Salamanca, Portville girls net state volleyball titles
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Fire trucks and police escorts welcomed the Salamanca and Portville girls volleyball teams back to their respective towns late Sunday night after both teams won New York State titles in Glens Falls.
In Class C, Salamanca capped a 20-0 season with a 25-15, 25-21, 27-17 win over last year’s finalists, I-Westlake.
Katie Auge had 12 kills, 20 digs and Ashley Abrams added 18 kills. Hannah Reynolds had seven kills and seven blocks while setter Brittany Haines had 37 assists.
“After winning the first game we felt if we kept playing like that we’d do all right,” said first-year coach Tom Roof. “We felt pretty good coming into today after splitting with them [in Saturday’s pool play.]”
In Class D, Portville beat XChateaugay, 25-22, 25-21, 14-25, 27-25, to win the school’s first state title in any sport. Named all-tournament were Lindsey Olson (21 kills, five blocks) and Demi Kauppinen (37 assists).
“We struggled in the fourth game honestly, we were down, 21-15,” said coach Aaron Decker, whose team ended 23-4. “And then I had one of my girls, Jenny Olson, went back and served eight points in a row to get us into the game. That was neat.”
Portville advanced to states after winning its first Section VI title since 1981.
In Class B, defending state champion Eden fell to I-Hendrick Hudson in five games, dropping the fifth game, 27-25.
Heather Henry of the Raiders, who injured her ankle at last week’s Far West Regionals, played well enough to make the all-tournament team, but was clearly not the same player.
“Her ankle’s not fully recovered. She was jumping 4 inches lower than normal,” said coach Stephen Pierce. “You take that element away from our game and instead of putting away teams we struggle with them.”
Stacy Smith was also named all-tournament for the Raiders, who finished 46-2.
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