Lake Placid’s Ellie Evans gets ready to hit the ball during a game on Oct. 20 against Northeastern Clinton. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — Backed by a sea of construction workers — or a student section that looked like them — the Lake Placid volleyball team powered through the Northeastern Clinton Cougars 3-0 on Oct. 20.

The Blue Bombers swept past the Cougars on their home court by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-23. The team has now won three out of their last four matches.

“I think we’re just playing with confidence and we’re playing together,” Blue Bombers head coach Sandy Huber said. “The crowd has been great and the fans have been really supportive. Having that positive energy in the corner has really helped make it really fun. It motivates them to get those big diving digs and the great kills. Just to have that support there helps a lot.”

The Lake Placid students packed the left side bleachers, while wearing neon yellow and orange — some even wore hard hats.

“That was the theme for the night,” Huber said. “They’ve been having themes for the student section. I don’t know who chose it but it worked. I think they are having fun with it.”

While each set was close on the scoreboard, the Blue Bombers never seemed to lose momentum. The team dug themselves out of each hole that they found themselves in, including a 13-7 deficit in the second set, which resulted in a 18-6 run by Lake Placid.

“I think they did really well,” Huber said. “Senior night, it’s always a little bit emotional and sometimes that can hurt us but I think that they — instead of being sad — just appreciated each other and being able to play and used it to play well.”

Senior Julia Crawford led the charge for the Blue Bombers with 21 kills, eight digs, six points and four aces. Sophomore Norah Galvin was the team’s top setter with 23 assists. Galvin also had 10 digs, eight points, two kills and one ace.

Junior Nadia Phillip also had a solid outing for Lake Placid, finishing with 10 digs, five kills, two assists, one block, one point and one ace.

Senior Sydney Lawrence led Lake Placid on the defensive side with 11 digs, while also contributing nine points and two aces. Senior Abbey Gavin chipped in nine points, seven digs and two aces.

Following the win, the Blue Bombers fell to the Beekmantown Eagles, 3-1. The team is now 8-8 with one game left in the season. The last time the school’s volleyball team had a .500 or better record was in 2015.

“It feels great,” Huber said. “We started the season 3-0 and we really surprised ourselves. We got used to the idea that we can and should be winning games. That’s a great feeling after how hard these girls have worked.

“A lot of them have played as sophomores in the spring of that COVID year — in that half season,” she added. “We didn’t have a JV team that year, so our current seniors were sophomores and they played in a weird, odd season. I think choosing to play that year made us stronger now that we’ve built on that experience.”