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Red Storm bounce back

Saranac Lake’s Nora Glover sends the ball over the net while Lake Placid’s Grace Crawford leaps while attempting to block during Monday’s match in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID — The Saranac Lake volleyball team rebounded solidly from its first league loss of the season, taking down Lake Placid in straight sets Monday on the Blue Bombers’ court.

The two-time defending Class C champion Saranac Lake was coming off an upset loss to AuSable Valley, and got the job done quickly against the rival Blue Bombers, winning by scores of 25-11, 25-10 and 25-18. The Red Storm improved to 3-1 in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference with the victory while Lake Placid dropped to 1-4.

Saranac Lake got a well-rounded performance in the win, with multiple team members making contributions from the net to the back court. Six Red Storm players served up two or more aces, three players hit double-digits in points, and senior libero Sydney Andronica had another big night on defense, finishing with 19 digs.

Red Storm co-captain Mia Sanford, a sophomore, said Thursday’s loss to the Patriots may have taken some pressure off her team, and added that the match against the Blue Bombers was all about rebounding.

“At the end of the day, AuSable outworked us,” Sanford said. “We had to bounce back. That was one loss under our belt. We wanted to come in here and beat them 3-0. We did really well communicating and we did really well with our game plan; setting our outside hitters, our most dominant hitters, and getting more kills.

Dylan Bashaw plays the ball for Lake Placid while Saranac Lake’s Madie Gay (10) and Sydney Andronica (1) focus on the action from the other side of the net in Monday’s match. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“The core girls are doing really well. I’m so proud of them,” Sanford added. “I know I was really upset after losing our first varsity game, but like my father said, you need that experience, you don’t want to feel that pain again.”

Meagan O’Brien and Katie Gay led Saranac Lake in points with a dozen each, and O’Brien also dropped in a match-high five aces. Kelsey Leeret added 10 points, Andronica finished with nine points and Madie Gay chipped in seven points, as well as five assists and four kills.

Grace Crawford, a junior, paced Lake Placid’s defense, finishing with 15 digs to go along with her four kills. Karis Hudson recorded nine digs and Sara McKillip finished with eight digs and a team-high three aces.

Dylan Bashaw was Lake Placid’s top setter with seven assists.

“I think AuSable put our backs against the wall and tested our composure,” Saranac Lake coach Mike Navarra said. “I think it’s hard to bounce back from a loss like that because people could be pointing fingers because it’s a team effort.

“Tonight, we served well and we played good defense, overall, by everyone. The ball wasn’t dropping,” Navarra continued. “But mostly, we had a game plan. There’s a strong side for a reason and you want to attack from the strong side, which is the left side. That’s where we put our big hitters, and it’s all about getting the ball to our big hitters like Madie Gay and Kelsey Leeret. You have to find out who’s on fire and who’s able to put the ball down and mix it up, and that’s what we did tonight.”

“We just weren’t putting the ball down, and a lot of that was Saranac Lake dug everything,” Lake Placid coach Sandy Huber said. “Nothing hits their floor. They have a scrappy defense and even if they mishandle the first ball, there’s always three kids chasing it. They fight for every point.

“We just need to be more confident,” Huber added. “Sometimes we just doubt ourselves, ease up on the swing. We need to play more aggressive. We need better passing so we can set to the right spots, instead of having to panic and throw it up in the air. We need to get it to our hitters, and our hitters need to get up there and swing with confidence.”

The Red Storm and Blue Bombers are back in action Tuesday, both hosting strong opponents at home. Saranac Lake will take on Plattsburgh High and Lake Placid hosts Beekmantown. Both matches are slated to start at 6 p.m.

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