Prep Talk

Here are some additional details from a tremendously busy weekend in fall sports (read the roundup from the paper here).

It was a great day for Williamsville field hockey. While Williamsville North continued to show that it is one of the top programs in the state, Williamsville South enjoyed a return to the state final four.

South won its first Far West Regional game since 1998 by beating Eastridge, 2-1. The 1998 team was led by Julie Gentner, who attended Saturday's game at Brighton with her daughter, Ella.

Senior Ashley Ferenczy scored with seven minutes left in the first half on an assist from Shannon Martin to get the Billies in front. Sophomore Alison Ferenczy got what proved to be the winner with 23 minutes left with a tap-in after the ball had gotten behind and out of the sight of the Eastridge goalie. Eastridge's goal came with four minutes left on a scramble in front of the net.

Defending Class A state champion Williamsville North defeated Webster Thomas, 2-0, to advance to the state final four for the fourth time in the last six years.

North (18-1-1) went in front in the first half when Chelsea Smith scored on a rebound. The Spartans added their second goal with six minutes left when Allie Ahern scored off a corner. Holly Flanigan assisted on both goals.

North goalie Jess Wess had seven saves to shut out Webster (13-2-2).

"It was great for her to step up to this challenge today," said North coach Kris LaPaglia. "Both teams had multiple chances. She has to be really aggressive and came out and played the ball more than she normally does. She cleared the ball out so quickly she didn't give Webster a rebound shot."

Not that they needed to prove it, but Eden showed yet another reason why it is one of the very best girls volleyball programs in the state when swept Palmyra-Macedon in the Far West Regionals -- without top player Heather Henry, a University of North Carolina recruit.

A loose ball found its way under her feet in warmups.

"She came down with a really loud thud," said coach Stephen Pierce. "Heather came down hard on the ball. She tried to play in the first game and she couldn't jump, so we yanked her."

Seniors Janine Benkelman (14 kills) and junior Katie Eschner (nine kills, seven blocks) were among the Raiders to stepped up as the team improved to 46-1.

"They [Pal-Mac] were a first-time team there. They were pretty tight," said Pierce. "They had a big crowd, but we took them out of it early."

Salamanca kept its landmark season going, following its first Section VI title by improving to 19-0 with a sweep of Nazareth.

"They were the first team we didn't know anything about other than they are usually a very good team," said coach Tom Roof. "I figured if was can play defense, pass and get the ball to our hitters, we'll be in good shape. And that's the way it played out."

Ashley Abrams had 13 kills, Kaite Auge added 10 and Hannah Reynolds had eight kills and four blocks. Setter Brittany Haines had 39 assists for Salamanca, which has eight seniors among its 10 players.

The Warriors have won 18 of their matches via sweeps. Randolph was the only team to take Salamanca beyond three games, losing a five-set match.

The Orchard Park boys volleyball team's perfect finish of 34-0 came thanks to top performances by top players Mike Stefani (hitting percentage of 70), Pat Schwagler (eight aces) and Tom Comfort in a championship sweep of Burnt Hills of Section II (Albany area).

"[Comfort] was at least something like 15 for 17 on the right side," said coach Matt Lexner. "When we got the ball to him, he'd be automatic."

As for his team, Lexner said: "They never cracked under any situation."

The Clarence girls soccer program had a much closer call than its last trip to the Far West Regionals, when it lost a 4-0 game to Aquinas in 2006. The Red Devils fell in overtime to Fairport, 1-0.

"It was a nice goal on their part," said coach Tim Liffiton. "They crossed it from the left side of the field, the girl from the right side took it and it was a great shot by the kid. My goalie really had no chance."

It was the sixth straight shutout for Fairport, which last reached the semis in 1983.

The Nichols girls soccer team will try to win the state Catholic championship at noon today at home when it takes on Long Island's Sacred Heart, which won the title three straight years from 2005-07. The Vikings reached the title game last year, losing to St. Anthony's, 6-2.

Section VI's boys gymanstics team won the state regional title partly because of its performance in the high bar -- it swept the top four spots: Nathaniel Roberson (Williamsville South), J.Z. Zirna (Clarence), Eric Niedermeier (Clarence), Adam Arena (Clarence).

---Keith McShea & Mary Jo Monnin