ROUNDUP
OP boys volleyball finishes 34-0
The Orchard Park volleyball team had plenty to celebrate Saturday.
Not only did the Quakers win the Class A state regional tournament by beating Burnt Hills of Section II (Albany area) in three games, they finished the season with a 34-0 record.
OP coach Matt Lexner said the key to his team’s 26-24, 25-17, 26-18 win was the tough first game.
“To get that first game was a really big deal. If Burnt Hills would have won, it could have been a long night for us,” he said. “We got a couple key kills from Mike Stefani. Then the X-factor, Tom Comfort, took over. They just had no answer.”
In the Class B final, Cheektowaga lost to Victor, 25-17, 25-13, 25-16.
Field hockey
Williamsville North and Williamsville South each advanced to the state final four with victories over Section V opponents in Far West Regional games at Brighton High in Rochester.
North (18-1-1) defeated Webster Thomas, 2-0, to reach the state final four for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last six years.
Chelsea Smith and Allie Ahern scored and Holly Flanigan had both assists.
Meanwhile, South (15-3-1) claimed its first regional title since 1998 with a 2-1 victory over Eastridge. Sophomore Alison Ferenczy got what proved to be the winner in the second half with a tap-in.
Boys gymnastics
J. Z. Zirna won the all-around title helping Section VI win the state regional championship at SUNY Brockport.
The Clarence freshman, who was also the Section VI all-around winner, scored 53.850 points in the all-around. Runner-up was Nathaniel Roberson of Williamsville South in 50.650.
Section VI athletes swept titles in all of the individual events. Zirna captured the horse in 8.850 and the rings in 8.550. Roberson won the parallel bars in 8.000 and and the high bar in 9.200. Eric Niedermeier of Clarence won the vault scoring in 9.200. The title in the floor exercise was won by Noah Roberson of South in 9.400.
Girls volleyball
Far West Regionals: Section VI had three teams advance to next weekend’s state final four in Glens Falls — Eden, Salamanca and Portville — after winning at the Far West Regionals in Brighton.
Playing without the injured Heather Henry, defending state champion Eden (46-1) beat Palmyra-Macedon, 25-13, 25-6, 25-13, in the Class B game. Henry was taking her last swing in warmups when she landed on a ball that happen to be rolling under the net. Senior Janine Benkelman had 14 kills and junior Katie Eschner added nine.
First-time Section VI Class C champion Salamanca moved to 19-0 with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-15 victory over Nazareth and Portville advanced in Class D with a 25-23, 25-15, 27-25 win over Gananda. First-time Section VI champion Frontier was swept by West Irondequoit, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22, in the Class AA game. In Class A, Starpoint fell to Victor in four games to end the season 23-3.
Catholic states: Tournament host St. Mary’s of Lancaster, which is chasing its 11th state title, and Sacred Heart will meet in today’s 10 a. m. semifinals in a rematch of last week’s Monsignor Martin final. St. Anthony’s— which joined St. Mary’s at 6-0 in pool play — will face fellow downstate school St. Francis Prep in the other semifinal.
Girls soccer
Williamsville East prevented a Section V sweep in the Far West Regionals with a 2-1 win over Mercy. The Flames (21-1-1) will be the lone Section VI representative at next week’s New York State finals four in Cortland. It will be the first trip to the final four in Flames history. They’ll enter the weekend not having lost in 21 games.
Tara Kiernan scored the go-ahead goal 9:30 into the second half on assists by Katie Griffin and Morgan Begy. The teams traded goals in the first half. Kendra Durden scored 11 minutes into the game on an assist from Kiernan and Griffin. Mercy tied it with four minutes left in the first half when senior midfielder Jackie D’Antonio redirected Korinne Thorne’s 22-yard free kick a few yards in front of the far post.
In the Class AA game, Clarence lost to Fairport, 1-0, in sudden death. Senior forward Regina Nowicki’s goal in the 106th minute decided it. It was the Red Devils’ second trip to the regionals in three years.
In Class C, York edged Holland, 3-2.
• The Nichols girls soccer team will play for the Catholic state title today at noon after beating Kearney of Brooklyn, 14-0, in the semifinals. Eight different players scored as the Vikings improved to 21-1. Bri Smith had five goals giving her 58 this season. Nichols will host Sacred Heart of Long Island — which has won the title three of the last four years — in the final.
Girls tennis
Section VI singles champion Olga Khmylev of Williamsville East is lone local survivor after the first day of the state championships at Eastside Racquet Club in the Syracuse suburb of Manlius.
Khmylev, who received a bye in the first round, beat Shraddha Prabhu of St. Francis Prep, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round and will play in the quarterfinals today. The semifinals are also scheduled for today; the championships are Monday.
The only other Section VI representative to win a match was Caroline Bristol of Orchard Park, who won her first-round match but lost in the second round.
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