Baldwinsville's girls volleyball team was one set away from a heartbreaking end to their season, but the Bees rallied to win the final two sets and beat Cicero-North Syracuse, 3-2, on Monday night in the Section III Class AAA semifinals.
The second-seeded Bees won the first set but dropped the next two. Coach Danielle Sayler told her team after the third set that the team needed to defend its home court and not let any balls hit the ground.
"Most importantly, I told them we needed to play to win. We were playing not to lose," Sayler said. "Once we started doing that, we controlled the rest of the match."
Baldwinsville (11-4) won the final two sets, 25-18 and 15-12.
The Bees also were down to Cicero-North Syracuse 2-1 on Sept. 19 but rallied to win that match, too. The Bees are 4-2 in five-set matches this season.
Baldwinsville had to battle through injuries Monday: "I don't know if I've ever taken so many 30-second timeouts in my life," Sayler said.
She pointed to two players in particular who stepped up: Addy Garcia, who usually plays defense but had to play on the front row after the Bees' top hitter went down, and Mallory Offredi, who came up big both on the back and front rows.
"I'm very proud of the way the girls played," Sayler said.
Third-seeded Cicero-North Syracuse finished its season at 6-10.
"They played one of the best games they've played all season," Cicero-North Syracuse coach Melanie Stonebarger said of her team. "They did a great job of lifting each other up. We have struggled with injuries and illnesses all season, so it was really great seeing them play so well together."
