Beaver River, Lowville, Carthage are FL volleyball champs

Senior Tamara Fidler believes that much of the Frontier League and Section 3 are waiting for her Beaver River volleyball team to lose.

They’ll have to keep waiting.

The top-seeded Beavers beat South Lewis in three games to win the “C/D” Division championship Saturday at Watertown’s Case Middle School, the program’s third straight league playoff title and 24th overall. They will enter this week’s sectional tournament undefeated for the first time in six years.

No. 1 Lowville came from behind in all three games to sweep No. 2 South Jefferson for the “B” Division playoff championship.

In the “A” Division final, regular-season champion Carthage won the last two games to beat Watertown in five.

BEAVER RIVER 3, SOUTH LEWIS 0

Fidler finished with 19 kills, and junior setter Cristen Davis provided 21 assists, 10 points, four kills and three aces, leading the Beavers to a 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 win over the Falcons.

Beaver River upped its record to 17-0, which Fidler said is a motivator as the team moves on to sectionals.

“I think everyone is going to be watching us, just waiting for Beaver River to lose,” Fidler said. “Even if they don’t make it (deep) into sectionals, their thing will be ‘Hey, we beat Beaver River, we beat Beaver River.’ We have to stay on our toes and keep our guard up.”

Ashley Brouty tallied eight kills and three aces, Samantha Hawksley had 17 digs and Megan Bush dished out 11 assists. All three are seniors.

“They’re tournament ready because they know it’s their last hurrah,” said Gene Sundberg, who won his 21st league playoff title as Beaver River’s coach.

Sophomore Madison Compton contributed 14 digs, seven kills and four aces for the Beavers, who jumped out to early leads and stayed aggressive to the finish in each of the three games.

“When you can put a lot of pressure on the opposing team, either from the serving line or the hitting, it makes the defense a lot easier to play,” Sundberg said.

Jen Strigle led the Falcons (12-6) with 12 assists, three kills and five digs, and Elizabeth Egnew added eight kills, two aces, five service points and two blocks.

South Lewis senior Sara Young was in the lineup, but limited, after missing three weeks with a severely sprained ankle. Falcons coach Ashley Gino said that Young is still fighting discoloration.

“At the beginning of the year, she was the best middle hitter in our division and probably in the league,” Sundberg said of Young.

LOWVILLE 3, SOUTH JEFFERSON 0

Ashley Capone finished with 21 kills and five blocks, and the Red Raiders fell behind early before rallying in each game to beat the defending champion Spartans, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22.

Lowville (15-1) overcame a 9-3 deficit in the first game and a 4-0 hole to start games two and three.

Capone had a hand in each of the comebacks, including the second game, where she either killed or blocked the ball on four consecutive volleys to turn an 11-9 hole into a 12-11 lead.

“You know the old saying, ‘make hay where the sun shines,’ ” Lowville coach Jim Rhodes said. “We really made sure we got a lot of points while she was in there on the front line.”

In the third game, Haley Zicari was the server during a five-point Lowville run that turned a 16-14 deficit into a 19-16 edge. Zicari generated 13 assists and 10 points.

Haley Riley, whom Rhodes referred to as the team’s “closer,” provided 10 kills and 14 points.

“We don’t go down very easily,” Riley said.

Nicole Roggie added 20 assists.

Kerri Keegan supplied 11 digs to lead South Jefferson (12-6). Brook Laisdell and Alex Mooney contributed five blocks and six kills, respectively.

CARTHAGE 3, WATERTOWN 2

Courtney Cunningham’s 16 digs, 10 kills and three aces helped the Comets knock off the Cyclones, 25-11, 23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, for the “A” Division playoff crown.

Carthage (10-7) jumped ahead early in each of the final two games, and held its lead on both occasions.

“What we did was something we needed to do all season, just talk and trust each other,” Carthage coach Angela Robbins said. “We didn’t give up.”

Claire Sauter supplied 18 assists, while Carly Sullivan contributed 23 assists and two kills for the Comets.

Soli Stevens-Ogaz had six kills and two aces to go with a team-high eight blocks. Cassie Birth and Kate Ashcroft added six kills apiece.

“We started the season 0-4 and we’re finishing it with a championship,” Robbins said. “This is a team that has really come together, as a team.”

Nemesis Ruiz led Watertown (9-9) with 17 kills, 15 digs, 11 points and two aces. Ruiz had a kill to give Watertown the win in game two, and provided a block for the team’s final point in the third game.

Jenna Hibbard generated 12 digs, 18 assists, six kills and five aces for the Cyclones, and Leah Rojas had 25 digs.