Sweet Home loses in quarterfinals of own tourney
Girls volleyball
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home's Kayla DiBello reaches to block a shot during the Sweet Home Invitational on Saturday. The Lady Panthers lost to Clarence, 30-27, in the gold division quarterfinals. Photo by Patrick McPartland Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

A slow start in the quarterfinals led Sweet Home out of its own girls volleyball tournament last Saturday.

The Lady Panthers, who took second last year, trailed Clarence, 13-7, and would up losing, 30-27, in the gold division quarterfinals. Sweet Home finished sixth overall.

"We started off really slow," said Sweet Home coach Breean Trapasso. "We must have missed at least four serves in a row."

Trapasso said after a timeout, her team rallied to tie the game up, but Clarence got a crucial net play to go up 28-26.

"Once the girls stepped up their play, we were fine," said Trapasso. "But as a team, we have to limit unforced errors."

Sweet Home beat Sacred Heart and Newfane twice and split games with City Honors to advance to the quarterfinals after a 5-1 record in pool play.

Sacred Heart's Courtney Conway bumps the ball during the Sweet Home Invitational. The Sharks lost to Orchard Park, 30-20, in the gold division quarterfinals. Conway has been one of the Sharks' offensive and defensive leaders this season. Photo by Patrick McPartland Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Junior middle hitter Ellie Allen was named to the all-tournament team.

"She had a great day," said Trapasso. "Kelsey (Maving) kept feeding her passes and she was getting a lot of kills in the middle."

Sweet Home has competed in two other tournaments, finishing seventh at Frontier on Saturday, Sept. 15 and winning the bronze bracket at Burnt Hills in Albany on Saturday, Sept. 8.

The Lady Panthers finished 4-2 in pool play at Frontier but lost to Starpoint, 11-30, in the gold division quarterfinals. Maving, who sets in the back row and hits on the right side, was named to the all-tournament team.

At Burnt Hills, Sweet Home lost a tiebreaker in pool play to a team from Paramus, N.J. to determine which would be the second team from their bracket to advance to the gold division. Only the top two teams from each bracket advanced to the gold division. The loss dropped Sweet Home into fourth place in pool play and into the bronze division.

In ECIC Division II league play, Sweet Home is 4-0 and 5-1 overall. They've beaten Williamsville South, 25-7, 25-15, 25-16; Williamsville East, 26-24, 25-12, 25-18; Iroquois 25-16, 25-15, 25-12; and Lake Shore 25-21, 25-12, 25-12. Sweet Home also defeated Niagara-Wheatfield, 25-12, 25-16, 25-15, in a non-league game which pitted Trapasso coaching against her sister, Brandi.

"We had fun," said Breean Trapasso. "I know her team. My team was definitely good competition for her team."

Sweet Home's only loss was against Frontier, 24-26, 25-20, 12-25, 13-25.

"Frontier played good defense and serve-receive broke down," said Trapasso. "Then they overpowered us."

Trapasso said Allen, Maving and junior outside hitter Deborah Conti lead the team in kills. Senior libero Carol Skoney leads in digs.

Trapasso said if her team passes well, her team is tough to defend.

"As soon as our passing breaks down, we start to drop a level," said Trapasso.

Sweet Home, ranked fifth among Western New York large schools, played at West Seneca East on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They play at North Tonawanda on Wednesday, host Hamburg on Thursday and compete at the Eden Tournament on Saturday.

"If we're going to three-peat, we're going to have to increase the speed at which we play and catch teams off guard," said Trapasso.

Sacred Heart

The Sharks are earning its third-place ranking among Western New York small schools every game.

"It's been a phenomenal team effort so far," said Sacred Heart coach Chris Jank. "Our defense has come through in tough matches containing team's top hitter, and our blocking has gotten better."

The Sharks are 3-1 in Division I of the Monsignor Martin Association with its biggest win coming at fourth-ranked small school Nardin last Friday. Sacred Heart won 21-25, 25-18, 14-25, 25-22, 25-18.

"Nardin is a tough team but playing at their gym is even more difficult," said Jank. "Beating them really put a bull's-eye on us for other opponents."

Sacred Heart also beat Nardin, 31-29, in the gold division semifinals at Frontier.

Sacred Heart has also beaten Mt. Mercy 25-11, 25-13, 25-16 and Mt. St. Mary's 25-20, 25-21, 25-13 and in a non-league match, seventh ranked large school Kenmore West, 18-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-19.

The Sharks' only league loss came last Wednesday against MMA leader St. Mary's of Lancaster, 25-19, 25-27, 12-25, 16-25.

Sacred Heart has also fared well in tournament play. The Sharks beat Kenmore West, 25-23, 25-17, to win the gold bracket and take fifth at St. Mary's, lost 25-23, 24-26, 18-25 against Lockport in the gold division final at Frontier and were edged by Orchard Park, 30-20, in the gold division quarterfinals at Sweet Home.

"The Orchard Park match was the best we played the entire tournament," said Jank, whose team went 3-3 in pool play. "That tournament has always high-caliber teams like Lancaster and I consider us to be a competitive force with those schools."

Jenk said his team placed tenth out of 24 teams at the Frontier tourney, a high finish for a Catholic small school.

Senior outside hitter Kelly Nowak was named to the all-tournament team at St. Mary's. Jank said Nowak and senior outside hitter Courtney Conway led the team in offensive and defensive categories. Junior setter Paige Schultz has also taken on a large role running the offense, said Jank.

"She's come a long way since last season," said Jank. "I think lot of it has to do with her play during the club season. She's been a big reason for our success."

Sacred Heart faced Holy Angels on Tuesday but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com