These Cincinnatus girls just refuse to lose.
Facing a 2-1 deficit with no momentum at all, the Cincinnatus girls volleyball team battled back to win a tightly-contested fourth set and dominated the first-to-15 fifth set to pull out a 25-18, 15-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-7 win over Fabius-Pompey in a rematch of last season’s Section III Class D title match. Cincinnatus remained unbeaten at 6-0 with the win and has now won 17 straight matches, dating back to a 3-1 loss to Fabius-Pompey on Jan. 5, 2024.
The Lions appeared to be down and out through three sets, with Fabius-Pompey having dominated the second and third and controlling all the momentum. Cincinnatus was in a bad spot, but the girls were determined to come back and get the win.
Cincinnatus turned things in a flash, solving the service and communication woes that plagued it during the second and third sets. That allowed the Lions to pull out a tight fourth set and force the winner-take-all fifth.
Senior Allyson St. Germain and junior Lucy Finch took over from there, dominating the fifth to help the Lions stay undefeated.
“I think I just found my rhythm again,” St. Germain said. “I had great hits on Saturday, then I lost those. I just really needed to find what I’m good at and not put my head down like I was doing the second and third sets.”
Cincinnatus was really looking to close out the match after losing to the Falcons a season ago. Despite exacting some revenge in the sectional title match, the Lions were out to prove that wasn’t a fluke.
“It was the blood we were coming for from last year,” St. Germain said. “We beat them last year, but we didn’t want to play down and not win again.”
“There’s a big rivalry behind it,” senior setter Kaedance Latta added.
With her team looking worse than it had all season through three, Cincinnatus head coach Becky Merihew was proud of the way her girls responded to get the win.
“What I’m most proud of is that they turned themselves around,” Merihew said. “They mentally got back into the game, pulled it out and had some fun. When they have fun, they play so well. I’m so proud of them.”
The Lions jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first set thanks to some strong play at the net, both offensively and defensively. Maddie Pittsley, Hannah Ellerson, Ava Larrabee, St. Germain and Finch were all a part of that, slowing the Falcons’ offense down and letting their defense work.
“Watching film definitely helped to know what kind of hitters we were up against,” Pittsley said. “Me and Hannah on that right side, I think we’re both big enough where if we’re in sync and moving together as a unit, we throw them off and set ourselves up for a good block.”
Then came the second and third sets.
Cincinnatus couldn’t build any momentum, slamming a serve into the net or letting a ball land between two players whenever there was a chance to string together a few points. The let down after the first set has been a problem all season for the Lions, but Wednesday night showed that can’t happen against elite competition.
“It may have been the aftermath of what we did in the first set,” Latta said. “It’s been a trend –– not a good one. It’s one that we need to stop.”
“Once the adrenaline rush wears off and we settled in, I think we lost it for a second,” Pittsley added. “We had to pick it back up.”
St. Germain paced Cincinnatus’ offense with 17 kills, eight service points, three aces and 25 digs. Latta added 36 assists, 12 digs, seven service points, three kills, an ace and two blocks, Cassia Schuyler notched 33 digs, nine service points and two aces and Madison Stover chipped in with 23 digs and five service points. Payton Gerrard (17 service points, one ace, 13 digs), Larrabee (eight digs, two kills), Pittsley (four kills, three service points, two blocks, one assist), Finch (three kills, one block, two digs) and Ellerson (three kills, two digs) also contributed for the Lions.
Despite earning the win, Merihew didn’t think her girls played their best. She feels they can do much better the next time around against Fabius-Pompey.
“Is it wrong of me to say this is probably the worst match we’ve played,” Merihew said. “When I’m looking at my girls, they play with beautiful rhythm, they have a pattern, they trust each other, they’re confident with each other. (Wednesday), I feel like they lost a little bit of confidence with each other and mentally took themselves out of the game. I can’t say I’ve seen something excellent because I thought they struggled. Just the fact that they pulled themselves out of that deficit, which they’ve done before, is what makes the night so worthy.”
This was Cincinnatus’ first match against top competition this season, and the Lions passed the test. Latta thinks a tight match will only help going forward.
“If anything, win or lose, it makes us a better team,” Latta said. “It helps us communicate more. It just helps us getting into a match going point for point like that. In the moment, it’s stressful for sure.”
Cincinnatus will end its regular season against Fabius-Pompey on the road. It seems the two juggernauts are on a collision course for a third meeting in the postseason and Merihew enjoys the rivalry that’s developed between the two Class D powers.
“It’s a big rivalry and it’s a fun one,” Merihew said. “It’s always going to be competitive. It’s always going to have some stress factor to it. I just enjoy the fact that we have that competition and we have that stressful game to come to every time.”
The Lions will play again at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at home against Port Byron.
BOYS BASKETBALL
MCGRAW 65, BROOKFIELD 38
McGraw took a 22-3 lead after one quarter and cruised to its second win in three games. Mason Allen led the way with 13 points, nine rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Riley Van Liew added 10 points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block, Brennan Wilson contributed 10 points, two boards, three assists and five steals and Blair Mulcahy notched 10 points, an assist and five steals. Thomas Lea (nine points, one rebound, one assist, one steal), Calob Sutton (six points, three rebounds, two assists, five steals), Cody Ross (three points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal), Deacon Linn (two points), Easton Livermore (one point, five rebounds, one assist, two steals, two blocks), Owen Lea (one point) and Jacob Clark (four rebounds, one assist, two steals) all aided the Eagles’ win as well.
TULLY 57, HAMILTON 56
Connor Bastedo’s final point was his most meaningful, sinking the game-winning free throw with fiver second left to help Tully send Hamilton to its second loss in three days. Hamilton is No. 3 in the state’s Class C poll and was 8-0 at the time of the latest release, but the Emerald Knights have lost to No. 5 Cooperstown and No. 10 Tully since. Tully is now 1-1 against the top three C teams in the state, having previously lost to No. 1 Randolph.
Garrett Thompson scored 23 points on five made threes to lead the Black Knights and Bastedo and Sam Dando each knocked down two threes, with Bastedo going for 11 points and Dando 10. Sean Mize contributed seven points, Steven Pierce scored four and Nate Best had two. Tully also had to overcome a 36-point, eight-rebound effort from Drew Baker, Hamilton’s 6-foot-8 center.
STOCKBRIDGE VALLEY 50, DERUYTER 38
DeRuyter suffered its first loss of the season after getting down 11-4 after one quarter. The Rockets made it an 18-14 deficit at halftime, but Stockbridge Valley pulled away again with a 20-13 fourth quarter.
HOCKEY
CORTLAND/HOMER 4, NEW HARTFORD 2
Cortland/Homer beat New Hartford for the second time in three days thanks to a goal and two assists from Finn Thomas. The Golden Eagles won both the second and third periods 2-1.
Cooper Swartz, Bodey McGrath and Quinn Dodds also scored a goal each, while Owen Rizzo added an assist. Jack Medeiros made 30 saves in goal.
BOYS WRESTLING
JORDAN-ELBRIDGE/PORT BYRON 60, CORTLAND 8
Jackson Marks (138 pounds) and Henry Reeves (285 pounds) each earned wins for Cortland, with Marks winning by 15-0 tech fall in 3:19 and Reeves winning a 3-1 decision.
Devlin Riotto (131 pounds), Karter Bush (160 pounds) and Anthony Donnelly (190 pounds) were all pinned, while Jordan-Elbridge/Port Byron won by forfeit at 108, 116, 124, 145, 152, 170 and 215 pounds.
MARCELLUS/ONONDAGA 46, HOMER 23
Anthony Cicioni (131 pounds), Hunter Lines (145 pounds) and Jack Brown (285 pounds) all won by pin for Homer, but it wasn’t enough as the Trojans fell to 7-2 on the season. Lucas Barbieri (101 pounds) took the only other Homer win, securing a 22-4 tech fall in 4:40.
Patrick Maslin (108 pounds), Garrett Carr (138 pounds) and Colin Murphy (170 pounds) all lost decisions, Daniel Hardesty (152 pounds) fell by tech fall and Owen Quaile (116 pounds), Cody Hall (124 pounds), Leland Donahue (160 pounds), Chris Slade (190 pounds) and Owen Burhans (215 pounds) all lost by pin.
SOUTHERN HILLS 46, COOPERSTOWN/MILFORD 14
Jacob Meyer (101 pounds), Gavin Sherriff (131 pounds), Blake Wilcox (138 pounds), Logan Sherriff (152 pounds) and Jerod Olrich (285 pounds) all won by pin to help Southern Hills pull out the dual win. Cash Homer (190 pounds) also won a 12-3 major decision and Sye Stanton (160 pounds) and Louis Bennett (170 pounds) both won by forfeit.
Logan Ryan (215 pounds) fell in an 8-4 decision, Levi Seemann (108 pounds) lost by tech fall and Trevor Moreno (145 pounds) was pinned.
BOWLING
HOMER BOYS 7, A-P-W 0
HOMER GIRLS 7, A-P-W 0
Tyler Seymour paced the Homer boys’ effort with a high game of 214 and a 574 series, while Kristen Combs led the Homer girls with a 189 high game and a 461 series.
Tanner Vogel (203 game, 560 series), Caleb Hamilton (212 game, 503 series), Chris McMullin (156 game, 456 series), John Holcomb (164 game, 161 game), Ivan Eaton (142 game, 154 game) and John Bishop (132 game, 138 game) also aided Seymour on the boys side.
Jaden Bush (149 game, 379 series), Addison Platt (132 game, 350 series), Annabelle Watkins (115 game, 314 series), Lucy Goodwin (127 game, 299 series), Abigail Biviano (93 game, 101 game) and Mikey Pittsley (85 game) also contributed for the Homer girls.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Homer at Institute of Technology, 7 p.m. today
Elmira Heights at Groton, 6:30 p.m. today
Dryden at Newark Valley, 7:15 p.m. today
Cazenovia at Cortland, 6:45 p.m. Friday
Moravia at Marathon, 7 p.m. Friday
DeRuyter at McGraw, 7 p.m. Friday
Groton at Southern Cayuga, 7 p.m. Friday
Madison at Cincinnatus, 7 p.m. Friday
Fabius-Pompey at Tully, 7 p.m. Friday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Morrisville-Eaton at McGraw, 6 p.m. today
A-P-W at Tully, 7 p.m. today
East Syracuse-Minoa at Homer, 6:45 p.m. Friday
Marathon at Moravia, 7 p.m. Friday
Southern Cayuga at Groton, 6:30 p.m. Friday
Newark Valley at Dryden, 7 p.m. Friday
HOCKEY
Cortland/Homer at Clinton, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Clinton Arena
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
McGraw at Cincinnatus, 7 p.m. today
Tully at Port Byron, 7 p.m. today
McGraw at Tully, 7 p.m. Friday
BOYS WRESTLING
A-P-W/Pulaski at Southern Hills, 6 p.m. today at Fabius-Pompey Jr./Sr. High School
Dryden, Moravia at Canandaigua, 3 p.m. Friday
INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Cortland, Tully, DeRuyter at Onondaga Community College, 4:30 p.m. Friday
Groton, Dryden, Moravia at Ithaca College, 5 p.m. Friday
BOWLING
Bishop Grimes at Cortland, 3:30 p.m. today at Cort-Lanes
Homer at Solvay, 3:30 p.m. today at AMF Strike N Spare Lanes
Groton at Odessa-Montour, 4 p.m. today at Harborside Lanes
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING
Watkins Glen, Odessa-Montour at Dryden, 5:30 p.m. today
