GLENS FALLS — There are five seniors on the City Honors volleyball team: Natalya

Burgess, Alysia Negron, Carly Daniel, Naya Young and Brielle Sansone.

Let City Honors coach Deborah Matos tell you about them:

"Those five seniors have been with me since they were little girls. I've watched them

become young women," said Matos. "They're extraordinary, and they're hard-working, and they're

dedicated."

And on Sunday afternoon, they became state champions.

City Honors swept to its first state title in 16 years as it beat Section II (Albany area)

champion Loudonville Christian, 25-13, 25-20, 25-15, before an estimated 500 at the Glens

Falls Civic Center.

"The five seniors have been playing since we were in seventh and eighth grade, and states

has always been our goal," said Burgess, the starting setter. "Since we were little. For us to

make it here finally in our senior year, it's just incredible.

"We were told about [a state championship] every day from our coach. It seemed like a dream

world. And now we're finally here and it seems real."

It is the first championship for City Honors since it won three straight from 1991 to 1993

under 16-year coach and program constructor Drake Francescone (1980 to '95), and the first for

Matos, who continued keeping Honors among the best in Western New York when she took over in

1996. There were trips to states four times in five years (1995 and 97-99), but no titles.

"This is a day-in, day-out thing — since Aug. 23 to here we are now, Nov. 22 —

and they've been going six days a week and giving me all they've got," said Matos. "I'm just

so happy for the five of the seniors, and for all of us. We have a sophomore group that is

inexperienced, but they challenged us every day at practice, and that really helped the five

that needed to come and perform here and get it done."

Honors did not drop a game all weekend as it went 6-0 in Saturday's pool play. The

Centaurs' Natalie Southard, a junior middle blocker, was the MVP by dominating at the net

offensively and defensively.

"Throughout the whole game, I kept in mind that this was my last game with these five

seniors, in the state finals and there was so much on the line," said Southard. "I wanted to

play my best and block and hit my hardest — I kept that in my mind as I was doing

everything."

Sansone, the libero, was an all-tournament pick. Negron and Daniel consistently provided

strong, savvy play from the outside while Young joined Southard as a two-way force in the

middle.

The state championship squad also included juniors Lauren Heaney, Mckayla Mulhern and Nuri

Ricks and those aforementioned sophomores: Indica Young, Stephanie Glick, Kathy Tian, Davon

Martinez and Andrea Rojek.

Class D

Cattaraugus/Little Valley fell in the Class D title match — but not by much. The

Timberwolves lost, 25-20, to Section IV (Binghamton/Ithaca area) champion Edison in the final

game of a five-game match.

Cattaraugus/Little Valley had a 2-1 lead but Edison surged back, 21-25, 25-12, 20-25,

25-10, 25-20.

The Timberwolves followed their first sectional title with a win in the regionals and

earned enough points in Saturday's pool play — which included a split of two games with

Edison — to make the championship match. Sophomore Erin Crandall and freshman Sara

Crandall, daughters of coach Joe Crandall, were named to the all-tournament team.

"We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and two teams that are pretty much built the same

way," Joe Crandall said. "It's tough — to go down to a fifth game for a state

championship, it's hard to go over with the girls ofhow proud we are of what they've

accomplished and how proud they should be. It's been a fairy tale for us. A magical season."