Chautauqua Lake sophomore Karagan Fairbank sets a pass during CCAA D3 action on Wednesday.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
WESTFIELD — Last year the Chautauqua Lake volleyball program looked to be in a year of transition with only a few seniors and several young players taking on big roles. However, that transition year culminated with a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D championship.
Despite having four seniors, the crop from last year was instrumental in Chautauqua Lake’s ability to get the new core up to speed with how the Eagles play volleyball.
With only one senior this year, the youth has been able to uphold the high standard of Chautauqua Lake volleyball, and it was in full display again on Wednesday night when the Eagles swept Westfield 25-16, 25-22, 25-16 for another Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 win.
“It’s always nice whenever you’re playing a league game to get a sweep,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Joanne Meadows stated. “I don’t think that we did a lot of things wrong, but I think that we’re getting to where we need to be for playoffs. I’m glad that we’re not at our peak yet. I think we’re getting to where we need to be still and it was a nice win.”
Chautauqua Lake (9-2, 7-0) had some big shoes to fill this year and perhaps the biggest were those of setter Ava Olson who was named the tournament MVP at states.
Chautauqua Lake’s Brina Jacobson eyes the ball for a hit as Westfield’s Eva Gnadzinski, left, and Mackenzie Schumaker attempt to block.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
Taking on that role is sophomore Karagan Fairbank.
After working side by side with her last year when winning the state title, Fairbank has flourished running the offense this season. Against the Wolverines, she had 16 assists, five digs, three aces and two kills.
“I think Karagan Fairbank,” Meadows said about replacing Olson. “She set with Ava last year, so she has moved into that leader of a setter, kind of a quarterback of our offense. Brina Jacobson, who is only a seventh-grader, has stepped in to be our other setter and has done a great job.”
Then it gets even younger with seventh-grader Brina Jacobson also playing the setter role on the squad, but her versatility goes beyond that, leaping on the outside for kills and sending heat from the service line.
“It’s always great when you have a kid who is as strong and as good of a player as she is,” Meadows said about Jacobson. “She comes in not like an inexperienced seventh-grader, I mean it’s tough to think that you’re ever going to put a seventh-grader in a spot like that. But she plays with a lot of confidence and I think she’s getting better and better every game and I think her teammates have all the confidence in the world in her.”
Chautauqua Lake’s Makenna Smith goes to spike a ball past Westfield’s Mackenzie Schumaker, left, and Maddie Burgess during Wednesday’s CCAA D3 matchup.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
With Fairbank and Jacobson orchestrating most of the offense, hitters needed to be replaced on the outside and the inside after the graduation of First-Team All-State selection Brynn Engdahl and Breaunna Smith. Junior Jeanine Group returns to her role on the outside and in Wednesday’s contest she led with eight kills, added four aces and had two digs, but it is sophomore Makenna Smith looking to replicate Engdahl. Smith scored six kills, five digs and an ace on Wednesday.
Then in the middle is freshman Noli Paddock, who was named to the All-Tournament team at states as just an eighth-grader, sophomore Sydney Williams has filled into Smith’s spot and eighth-grader Kinslee Motter features there with a left-handed presence.
“Makenna Smith is kind of taking over what was Brynn Engdahl’s leadership role as a hitter last year,” Meadows added. “That’s been a fantastic addition. I have Sydney Williams, who has stepped into Bre Smith’s middle hitter spot. Those kids have done so great.”
While the offense is set for the future, so is the defense and it is anchored by eighth-grader Alice Scarpine entering her second season as the team’s libero. Not even a high schooler, Scarpine plays with the poise of a veteran, managing 10 digs in Wednesday’s sweep.
Beyond the usual starters the Eagles have plenty of depth, making for a bright future of a program that has already reached the top.
Chautauqua Lake’s Kinslee Motter spikes a ball during Wednesday’s match.
OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms
“We’re pretty deep,” Meadows said about Chautauqua Lake’s talent. “Our bench is pretty deep, I have Kinslee Motter who is an eighth-grader who hits middle and a lefty middle hitter that hits hard. We have some great defensive specialists, I just think it’s pretty solid. So we lost four seniors last year, three who were starters, but I feel we haven’t lost a lot of steps.”
However, that does not mean the Eagles do not have some growing to do still and each night they expect the very best from each team looking to knock them off.
In the second set last night, the Wolverines pushed Chautauqua Lake and even led for a while, but the Eagles fought back and with a couple aces from Group at the service line the momentum had swung.
“We are very, very young,” Meadows said about her team. “Most of my kids could still be on jayvee or modified, so for them to get these experiences, and I do try to put them in experiences where the pressure is a little different and they’re not up all the time by 10 points. When they’re this young and learn to fight back from those deficits, that makes me happy.”
Westfield’s (7-4, 4-3) effort on Wednesday was led by Maddie Burgess with 13 assists and two aces and Sydney Hotchkiss added five digs.
Chautauqua Lake’s sweep has it firmly on track for the league title that eluded it last year as the Eagles have yet to drop a set in Division 3 action.