By HUNTER O. LYLE
CHEEKTOWAGA, NY — Over the past few months, the Olean volleyball team has had one word in mind: validation
While they said it to each other in practices and in huddles during the regular season, after sweeping Depew in the Section VI Class B1 finals, they were yelling it as they held up their blue patches and freshly acquired championship hardware.
The meeting between the Huskies and the Wildcats came as a clash of the top two seeds in the bracket. Like Depew, Olean swept through the quarterfinals, beating Buffalo Academy of Science last Thursday, before eliminating East Aurora 3-1 on Monday to earn their first appearance at the championship stage since 2021.
“We watched some film but really I just wanted to go in and be true to our game and just play clean,” said Olean head coach Michelle Acierno. “I’m really proud that this is not a team based off of one kid. We have a solid group.”
Playing in front of their well-traveled student section, the Huskies came out with unmatched energy. Taking the lead early with a spike from Alyx Henzel and an ace from Ariana Finch, the Huskies fired out of the gates to a 4-0 start that quickly swelled to 10-2 after securing five unanswered points. However, after recollecting themselves with a timeout, Depew began to answer back, albeit, not all at once.
While they were unable to summon enough momentum to retaliate with a run of their own, the Wildcats began to chip and chew away at the deficit. Reinforcing their serve-receive while also successfully feeding their front line, Depew eventually shrunk the gap to four at 15-11. Their subtle surge continued to take hold of the game and with a few blocks, aces and lucky breaks, the Wildcats managed to knot the game at 18-all.
With the first-set finish line within sight, Olean reignited their spark with back-to-back spikes from Viktoriia Lozynska, an effort which began a final 5-0 run that put the Huskies firmly in front. A missed Depew serve and subsequent net violation would give Olean a 1-0 advantage on the night.
“It’s like a joke but I always say we want to come out like wild animals every time. (The girls) hate it but it always works. We come in hyped up, don’t back down,” said Acierno. “We started letting (Depew) creep back in a little bit and every time we came back over to our huddle, no matter what the score was we just kept saying ‘it’s not over yet.’ I think we were really mentally prepared.”
Again in the second, Olean broke things open early. After giving up the first point of the set, the Huskies burst out in front with a 8-1 run which included more showcases of their fluid passing and powerful slams. On defense, while their opponents struggled to handle the shots coming over the net, the Huskies returned everything and anything that came their way.
Relentlessly putting the pressure on the Wildcats, Olean cruised to a 17-9 lead which ultimately gave way to a 25-14 second set victory and 2-0 lead.
Having already asserted themselves through the first two contests, Olean ran away with the third. Facing a deflated Wildcat squad, Olean scored the first five points before strolling out to a 11-3 lead. At this point, as both teams just went through the motions, the outcome was all but sealed. Continuing to build up a mountainous lead, one final ace from Finch completed the sweep and cemented the Huskies as champions.
“This is huge. We love this sport, we play all year long and this was definitely our goal. Our first goal, we want to keep going,” said Acierno. “Depew was a great team and every single person on our team stepped up tonight, defensively, offensively and I could not be more proud of them. Also, I have to shout out our fans for being awesome and supportive and respectful. I couldn’t be more proud of the Olean City School District right now.”
Up next, the Huskies will advance to the Section VI Class B Final, a crossover game with the Class B2 champions Roy-Hart. That game is slated for Friday, with the time and place yet to be announced.
