The Weedsport Varsity Volleyball team had their share of ups and downs this year. They were second in the Onondaga High School Patriot League (OHSL), with rivals Port Byron, and Cato; they were also fifteenth in the Section III rankings. The Lady Warriors had a final record of 6-14; their final loss coming to Pulaski in Sectionals.

If you read the local roundup, written by The Citizen Staff, Weedsport Volleyball gets featured after both wins and losses. Senior Jackie O’Connor, junior Holly Cook, or sophomore Kayla Stock have been listed numerous times for their play. You may see “loss” or “tight loss” constantly as well, but what The Citizen doesn’t tell you is Weedsport’s disadvantage.

“I have always been a coach to welcome the challenge of playing a bigger school,” said Weedsport Head Coach, Sandy Donahue. “However I am not really happy that we have to consider these schools we played this year [ESM, CBA, Cortland, Chittenango] as a league game.” She said she felt they should’ve been playing those Class A schools as a non-league game.

The girls’ main disadvantage is that they face schools up to three times the size of our Class D school. Most of the schools they used to face have now transitioned to the common fall sports season volleyball. However, we still face both Port Byron and Cato.

“The future of weedsport volleyball has a great amount of potential,” said senior captain, Leslie Kisler. “I believe in the following years, volleyball will get a spot on that banner.” With few seniors on the team, and a large number of freshman, sophomores, and juniors, more potential is yet to come.

Donahue agreed with her senior captain, “I am very excited about the upcoming players from the freshman and sophomore class. We have some girls that are coming up that will have an immediate impact.” She also expects her returning players to contribute to a strong team next year.

With a tough sectional loss against a strong Pulaski Blue Devils squad, the girls are looking forward to next year. They lost in four sets, 3-1. The sets went as followed: 14-25, 16-25, 26-24, and 25-4. Some of the standout players were senior Nicole Landes with two aces, two kills, nine assists, and five digs. Also, junior Emily Quinn had six kills and four blocks.

“If at the beginning of the season you would have told me that we would be 6-10 in league and 6-14 over-all I would have never believed it. This team was a much better team than what our record showed,” said Donahue. “Next season looks to be extremely bright.”