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Saranac Lake tops Lake Placid in rivalry match

Saranac Lake’s Azra Michael gets ready to hit the ball during Monday’s match against Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

SARANAC LAKE — A battle between two rivals on Monday saw the Saranac Lake varsity volleyball take the upper hand.

The Red Storm defeated the Lake Placid Blue Bombers 3-0. The team won at home by scores of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-13.

The win was the 12th of the season for the Red Storm, who remain undefeated. The Blue Bombers fell to 3-11 with the loss.

Before the game, Saranac Lake honored eight seniors for their dedication to the volleyball program. The seniors were Alyssa Lapierre, Mia Sanford, Marley Small, Isabella Burcume, Tailor Whitson, Syndey Leeret, Allison Hewitt and Christina Harvey.

Red Storm head coach Mike Navarra said the seniors played phenomenally. All eight seniors contributed to the win.

Lake Placid’s Aubrey Hayes gets ready to serve the ball during Monday’s match against Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“I think they blended well. They all had to get into a little bit of a sync,” Navarra said. “They had to get their serves in to start with and kind of roll-on through from there. I think they did an excellent job.”

Saranac Lake got out to an early lead by winning the first set.

In the second set, the Blue Bombers and Red Storm traded points back and forth. With the game tied at 8-8, the Red Storm ultimately finished off the set. Saranac Lake also took the third set to win the match.

“We did okay. I think we made a few unforced errors,” Blue Bombers head coach Sandy Huber said. “It was more that Saranac Lake didn’t make any errors. It was hard to keep hitting and hitting and everything got dug. We just kept going, we did our best, but Saranac Lake is an excellent team this year.”

The two teams had previously met on Sept. 22 in Lake Placid. The Red Storm won that match 3-0 as well. Since then, Lake Placid has made some changes to improve.

Saranac Lake’s Isabella Burcume, left, and Tailor Whitson, right, talk before the ball is served during Monday’s match. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“We didn’t let ourselves get shell-shocked by their hitting and serving quite as much this time,” Huber said. “We stayed in the game even when we’re down, we kept fighting. Last time we played them we got into a little bit of a mental hole. But this time we didn’t let that happen and we kept working at it and trying to dig away.”

Lake Placid’s Julia Crawford had a standout performance. Crawford finished with seven digs, four points, four kills, three blocks, two assists and one ace. Nadia Phillip and Syndey Lawrence had strong defensive performances. The two had eight digs each. Aubrey Hayes contributed on defense with six digs. Hayes also had a team-high four assists.

Saranac Lake was led by its seniors. Burcume had a game-high nine points while Whitson nearly had a triple-double — she had 10 digs, seven points and seven kills. Leeret had a strong showing with eight points, seven assists, four aces, three kills and two digs.

“It was a great senior night, came away with a win which is awesome,” Navarra said. “I think now we are just gonna focus on the rest of the season and see what we can do. It seems like they were all in sync with each other.”

Both Saranac Lake and Lake Placid were slated to have away games against Plattsburgh and Beekmantown, respectively, on Tuesday.

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