North girls volleyball still rebuilding
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

The rebuilding process continues for the Williamsville North girls volleyball team.

After nine matches, the Lady Spartans are 2-8 overall and 1-6 in ECIC Division I. North's wins came over Williamsville South, 27-25, 16-25, 25-13, 19-25, 25-18 and West Seneca West, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18.

"The wins are not there but we're playing good matches every night," said North coach Tom Sproull. "It's getting to the point where the kids are starting to learn to play in tight games. It's part of the process of building a program."

North hosted the Lady Spartans Invitational last Saturday and lost in the quarterfinals to Lake Shore. North went 4-2 in pool play, beating Amherst twice and splitting with Cheektowaga and West Seneca West. Clarence beat Cheektowaga, 25-13, 25-16, in the tournament final.

During the season, team leaders have been junior libero Leigh Schreiner (team leader in digs); senior middle hitter Amanda Holden (team leader in blocks); and senior and junior outside hitters Jen Pawlak and Emilee Slick (team leaders in kills).

Sproull also likes the play of freshman weak side hitter and setter Corrin Genovese.

"She does the little things well," said Sproull of Genovese. "She will say she's going to hit the ball whether it is hers to hit or not. She will not let it hit the ground."

Sproull said if his team focuses on the mental aspect of the game, the positives will follow.

"If they think negatively, then it's a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Sproull. "It all comes down to confidence. If they have confidence, they will be in the tight games."

Amherst Central

Consistency seems to be the Lady Tigers' problem, which sit at 3-2 in ECIC Division III, 6-3 overall.

"I think we definitely have to work on playing together and being aggressive and a little more focused on the court," said Amherst coach Jen Loretto. "We have to be ready to compete in every match."

Amherst's league wins have come over Tonawanda 25-11, 25-8, 25-18; Depew, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19; Pioneer 25-11, 25-19, 23-25, 25-10; and Kenmore West (score not available).

Loretto considers Pioneer as the team's best match of the season.

"Everyone got to play and our passing and hitting was good," she said.

Amherst's non-league wins have been over Williamsville North, 25-12, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15 and Niagara-Wheatfield, 26-24, 20-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17.

In tournament action, Amherst took third at Clarence and seventh at Williamsville North.

Leaders for the Lady Tigers have been senior outside hitter Amy Simon (kills); senior and sophomore middle hitters, respectively, Jenny Newhouse and Grace Mariani (blocks); and junior libero and outside hitter, respectively, Katie Szatkawski and Emily Kaufman (digs).

Amherst hosts Tonawanda on Wednesday and travel to Depew on Friday.

Amherst will be hosting a girls volleyball tournament on Oct. 13. North, Kenmore East, Holy Angels, Lewiston-Porter, Depew, Cleveland Hill and West Seneca East are invited.

Williamsville East

Lady Flames' coach Scott Wright said at the beginning of the season that his team would play better towards the second half, and that is still the thinking.

East is 1-5 in ECIC Division II, 2-6 overall, but Wright said all of the team's losses have been close.

"We lost to West Seneca East in four and three games, Sweet Home in three games, Williamsville South in five games after winning the first two and Iroquois in three."

Wright said inexperience is the reason why his team is not winning close games.

"I start two players from last year who started at different times but for the most part, I have five new full-time starters who are working hard and getting better very game," said Wright.

"I figured that we would have some tough losses in the beginning," he added. "My hope is that the experiences the kids have learned in tight games so far will help us in the second half of the season, where I feel we can pull them out."

East's wins are over Amherst, 25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 25-22, and Hamburg, 17-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-16.

Senior setter Mary McDaniel leads the team in assists. Juniors Taylor Klun and Brittany Rung at outside and middle hitter, respectively, lead in kills.

East hosts Sweet Home following the JV match at 6 p.m. on Friday.

"We're close to the wins," said Wright. "We just need to find out a little bit extra to turn the scores to our side."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com