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Blue Bombers top Cougars, fall to Red Storm

Lake Placid's Aubrey Hayes waits for a serve during a match against Northeastern Clinton on Oct. 14. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid varsity volleyball team defeated the Northeastern Clinton Cougars 3-1 on Thursday, Oct. 14.

Playing one of their last home games of the season, the team won by scores of 20-25, 25-9, 28-26 and 25-20. Prior to the match, Lake Placid honored seniors Melanie Megliore, Aunestie Carr, Piper Gibson and Aubrey Hayes.

“The seniors did great, they played with a lot of confidence and their experience really showed tonight,” Blue Bombers head coach Sandy Huber said. “I threw them into some new positions and everybody just went for it. Nobody complained, nobody questioned what was going on. Everybody just went with the flow with some lineup changes.

“We were able to get everybody quality playing time and it was really nice to see everyone get to contribute and try new things,” she added.

In the first set, the Blue Bombers came out sluggish. The team dropped the first set.

Lake Placid’s Julia Crawford makes a play on the ball during Monday’s match against Saranac Lake. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

Lake Placid had previously defeated Northeastern Clinton on Sept. 16, so the team knew that it could come out on top once again.

“When we played there, we started really strong,” Huber said. “They were a little bit off in the first set and they flipped a switch and just really turned on the heat and gave us a really big challenge. We knew that even if we got up by a few or down by a few it could swing either way.”

In the second set the Blue Bombers dominated — the team won the set by 16 points.

Following the second set win, Lake Placid went on to win the next two sets en route to the victory.

Seniors Hayes and Megliore had stand out performances. Hayes led the team with nine assists, while Megliore led the team with six digs.

Julia Crawford and Nadia Phillip were big factors in the win. Crawford had 13 points, seven aces, five kills, four digs and four assists. Phillip had 12 points, six kills, three aces, one dig and one assist. Gibson and Sydney Lawrence contributed on offense as well. The two had a combined 20 points.

On the Cougars’ side, Andrea Dapo led the way with a game high 13 assists. Northeastern Clinton’s Taylor LaValley had a strong showing as well. She had seven aces and five digs.

“It’s huge, we really needed a win,” Huber said. “This group of players is one of the most positive, fun groups I have gotten to work with. They usually don’t get very down after a loss. They can shake it off pretty well. It had been a few weeks since we had a win, so it’s great for morale tonight.”

Thursday’s win marks the third of the season for the Blue Bombers. The team will travel to take on an undefeated Saranac Lake team on Monday at 6 p.m.

Lake Placid falls to SL

SARANAC LAKE — A battle between two rivals on Monday, Oct. 18 saw the Saranac Lake varsity volleyball take the upper hand.

The Red Storm defeated the Lake Placid Blue Bombers 3-0. The team won at home by scores of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-13.

The win was the 12th of the season for the Red Storm, who remain undefeated. The Blue Bombers fell to 3-11 with the loss.

Saranac Lake got out to an early lead by winning the first set.

In the second set, the Blue Bombers and Red Storm traded points back and forth. With the game tied at 8-8, the Red Storm ultimately finished off the set. Saranac Lake also took the third set to win the match.

“We did okay. I think we made a few unforced errors,” Huber said. “It was more that Saranac Lake didn’t make any errors. It was hard to keep hitting and hitting and everything got dug. We just kept going, we did our best, but Saranac Lake is an excellent team this year.”

The two teams had previously met on Sept. 22 in Lake Placid. The Red Storm won that match 3-0 as well. Since then, Lake Placid has made some changes to improve.

“We didn’t let ourselves get shell-shocked by their hitting and serving quite as much this time,” Huber said. “We stayed in the game even when we’re down, we kept fighting. Last time we played them we got into a little bit of a mental hole. But this time we didn’t let that happen and we kept working at it and trying to dig away.”

Crawford had a standout performance for the Blue Bombers. Crawford finished with seven digs, four points, four kills, three blocks, two assists and one ace. Phillip and Lawrence had strong defensive performances. The two had eight digs each. Hayes contributed on defense with six digs. Hayes also had a team-high four assists.

Saranac Lake was led by its seniors. Isabella Burcume had a game-high nine points while Tailor Whitson nearly had a triple-double — she had 10 digs, seven points and seven kills. Sydney Leeret had a strong showing with eight points, seven assists, four aces, three kills and two digs.

Following the loss, Lake Placid battled against Beekmantown on the road Tuesday, Oct. 19. The team fell 3-2.

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