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Cream of the crop

Chautauqua Lake coasts past Westfield in state-ranked battle

By Christian Storms 5 min read

MAYVILLE -- In the first New York State Sportswriters Association volleyball rankings of the year, Westfield came in at No. 1 in Class D and Chautauqua Lake No. 3 in Class C.

The two undefeated teams met in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 3 action Monday and it was the hosting Eagles showing why they remain the team to beat in league competition with a quick 25-15, 25-10, 25-13 sweep.

"I think that this is probably the most well-rounded team I've had," Chautauqua Lake head coach Joanne Meadows said. "They play offense really well, they play defense really well; I think they work really hard. There is never a time even in practice that they're not focused on the next step. I think they have high expectations for themselves and I definitely do. They have been playing in some big tournaments and that's helping us and I think that's kind of the culmination of what is showing up."

Even with the strong start to the season for the Wolverines it was Chautauqua Lake (6-0, 5-0) showing why it is one of the top programs in the area and Westfield (7-1, 4-1) left with plenty to work on as it builds for the playoffs.

"At the end of the day I like that we get to play Chautauqua Lake at the end of the year to get us ready for playoffs," Westfield head coach Greg Birner said. "It's obviously a very good team, that Kinslee Motter is a stud, all day long she is amazing. From beginning to end they have a nice solid lineup. But at the end of the day we need to get ready for playoffs and we started finding our game here and there. We've done some winning without playing our best game, it's games like this that make us better. I look forward to the next time we play them."

Westfield began strong in the opening set, but Chautauqua Lake was too overwhelming without a hole in its lineup and secured the opening victory 25-15.

"Even with Chautauqua Lake, we're big minnows in a small puddle," Birner said about his team. "It's Class D and Class C volleyball in Chautauqua County, but at the end of the day it's a fun game. It's a place to get our girls out of the social media and the stuff that happens online and for that I'm appreciative. As far as volleyball goes, you can always get better and even with that nice start we had we're still looking for our best volleyball which we've played in spots and we've got to get it consistent."

Once Chautauqua Lake found its groove it was just a race to the finish and in the second set the Eagles opened on a five-point run with Karagan Fairbank on the service line that was too much for Westfield to rally back from.

Chautauqua Lake finished the second set strong with a four-point run and a five-point run securing the 25-10 win.

"I don't think there are many times on many teams where you can say your whole bench could probably be starters on most of the other teams around," Meadows added about the quality of her team. "I really have a solid team all the way through, 12 solid kids that can play multiple positions and step in at different times. I've put sophomores in to serve on a game point that I thought they could do and they never question it. I put kids that are 5-foot-3 to play middle hitter sometimes because I need to say something to a middle hitter and they are just so focused on what they're doing."

The Eagles went on to secure another dominant 25-13 win to finish off the sweep and standing out in the wins was hard-hitting sophomore Kinslee Motter who hammered nine kills and three blocks.

"She's a leader," Meadows said about Motter. "When you have a player like that on your team, I think we do have some good hitters not just Kinslee, but when she's hitting that hard sometimes it pulls the defense and that opens Alice, Sydney, Brina, Kara and Evie Woodis. It just opens up some of those other kids a lot and Kinslee is a special player, she is definitely gifted and it gives the kids on our side of the court a lot of confidence knowing they have her on our team."

Motter's booming spikes opened up the game for her teammates and Alice Scarpine led with 11 kills and seven digs. Brina Jacobson provided eight kills and four digs; Sydney Williams scored five kills and three aces; and Fairbank dealt out 32 assists along with her four aces.

Even with the Chautauqua Lake win being more lopsided, the contest highlighted the quality of volleyball in the area.

"It is a tight league," Meadows said about Division 3. "Going into this I know Westfield was 7-0, I am not sure all of the teams that they've played. Last year we went independent and played some fantastic games before playoffs and this year the state denied our request to be independent. In this area we have played Gowanda at a tournament and that team is very good, Portville is always very good, so I think there are some great teams in this area and it is nice to see. When I first started volleyball was not fantastic and it has changed so much recently that it is nice to see."

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