The Eagles turned a 3-1 semifinal loss a year ago into a sweep of the Golden Falcons, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 in nonleague action at Falconer High School.

“We went independent this year, so we’re not in a league anymore,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Joanne Meadows stated. “So all of our games are really pretty great games. This one, I’m happy to play these guys right at the start because they’re obviously well coached. It’s a great team that beat us last year to end our season.”

Chautauqua Lake (1-0) pulled away from Falconer in the first set, jumping to an early 12-3 lead with Kinslee Motter on the service line.

“Anytime in volleyball — it’s such a momentum game — anytime you can get momentum like that, not only does it help you in that set, but mentally it gives them a mental edge,” Meadows said. “We pulled ahead so far in this first one, it does kind of give you a mental edge thinking you have a bit of an advantage in the match then.”

Chautauqua Lake’s Noli Paddock attempts to spike the ball past Falconer’s Kaylee Green, left, and Hannah Melquist during nonleauge volleyball action on Tuesday. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

Falconer (0-1) looked better as the match went on, but it was already too late for the eventual 25-16 result.

The gradual improvement showed in the second set as Falconer even managed a 20-19 lead, but the Eagles showed their experience and took home the 25-23 win.

“We made too many mistakes in the second and third sets,” Falconer head coach Marah Micek said. “But we’re right there with them. A few little mistakes and we’re right there. I’m doing a new lineup this year and we’ll work at it and, hopefully, we’ll continue to get better.”

Chautauqua Lake looked to pull away with another early lead at 15-9, however Falconer was relentless in the match, battling to make a very close sweep 25-22.

With plenty of tournament experience this season, Chautauqua Lake began sectional play on a strong note against a fine opponent with many more to come since going independent.

Noli Paddock, left, and Kinslee Motter protect the net for Chautauqua Lake. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

The Eagles were led by Karagan Fairbank with two kills, an ace, five digs and 16 assists, Brina Jacobson scored seven kills and 10 digs, Kinslee Motter had eight digs, five kills, five aces and two blocks and Alice Scarpine added 22 digs.

“We have mostly our same team from last year. I graduated one senior,” Meadows said. “It’s kind of the same team we had. We added a couple pieces, we switched our offense a little bit, we’re running a different defense, too. We’re mixing things up a bit to try and challenge them because I do feel like these kids are good. … The more they’re challenged, the more they step up. If I challenge them at a low level, they’ll compete at a low level, if I challenge them a little higher I feel they step up to that.”

In its first action of the year, Falconer put itself to the test with Chautauqua Lake and will continue to find its groove as the year goes on. The Golden Falcons were led by Mylie Zaranek with 10 digs, four kills and an ace, Hannah Melquist made 10 assists, nine kills, two aces and eight digs, Nylah Sharpe had 14 digs, three assists and two aces, Reagan Trask provided 13 digs, seven assists and three aces and Emily Zaranek had 12 digs and four blocks.

“We didn’t lose too much from last year,” Micek said. “But I’m starting two freshmen, so obviously those are new faces. We haven’t really played together all summer and we’ve just been practicing. Hopefully, as we play more and more games, we’ll find our groove and get some wins.”