By HUNTER O. LYLE
CHEEKTOWAGA, NY – Walking off the court after collecting a third sweep in four playoff games, Michelle Acierno kept her elation under control, choosing a quiet, confident composure rather than share her team’s ecstatic celebration.
“I’m never going to tell you that I’m overly confident because I’m always going to be humble and never underestimate anyone,” said Acierno. “Tonight felt hard to me. It was a sweep but it felt hard. I want to win a little more assertively next time. But obviously sweeping teams in the playoffs is a huge accomplishment.”
Despite her poise, she had plenty of reasons to enjoy the moment. Earning the Section VI Class B championship outright with a three-set victory over Roy-Hart, the Olean volleyball team earned a spot in the New York Public High School Athletic Association state tournament for the first time in over half a decade.
Entering the Class B Crossover game following a win in the B1 finals over Depew, the Huskies met resistance early. Having battled through five tough sets against Salamanca in the B2 championship, Roy-Hart was poised to build up a cushion early. Starting with an ace from Peyton May, the Rams quickly amassed a 10-3 lead that included two stretches of four unanswered points.
Initially unable to find their legs, Olean began to stop the bleeding by finding key set ups for the front line. A spike from Haylie Bednarski and a block from Viktoriia Lozynska curbed the deficit to five and, although they let up another point or two immediately after, the Huskies then embarked on a run of their own. With Allison Anastasia starting the work at the service line and a mix of fluid passing and accurate hits to empty space, Olean fired into action with a 10-2 run that finally put them ahead at 15-13.
“There were some harsh words in the timeout and sometimes they need that. I felt like we looked a little tired, we weren’t talking but I feel like we’ve been in these positions before,” said Acierno. “We kind of know how to work ourselves out of it and as worried as I was, slowly I saw us work out of it.”
Settling into a flow, Olean continued to put their foot on the gas, staying ahead and even weathering a late Ram surge to pull out a 25-21 win in set No. 1.
Despite losing their edge in the first, Roy-Hart came back in the second with another strong start. After trading blows through the first few rallies, the Rams took firm control of the momentum with pure work from the service line. Kicking off a 8-1 run that saw four aces, three of which came consecutively, the Rams stormed ahead with a slight 9-5 advantage. But once again, just as they seemed to be pulling away, the Huskies had an answer.
Recollecting themselves with a timeout, Olean rallied with near perfection at every facet of the game. Between crisp serves, sharp passes and hard-hit slams, particularly from Lozynska, the Huskies dominated the court for eleven consecutive points.
“I feel that we have strong hitters, so I always tell the team, ‘minimize our own errors, keep the rallies long and eventually the odds will be in our favor to put the ball down,’” said Acierno. “That’s kind of our strategy, be defensive and keep it going until we can get the ball down.”
Sitting atop a 16-9 lead on the scoreboard, Olean slowly finished out the second set with scattered and short-lived runs. Cruising to the finish line, they took a 2-0 advantage on the night with a 25-20 victory.
As it was in their B1 championship game against Depew, sitting one win away from a sweep, Olean’s opponents crumbled. Seemingly unstoppable and unanswerable, the Huskies quickly ran away with the third set of the night. An early 6-3 lead turned to 13-5 before ultimately settling with a 25-9 blowout to secure the sweep.
Getting hot at just the right time, the Huskies now are faced with the task of maintaining this wave into the next bracket: the state tournament, a place Olean hasn’t stepped foot in since 2019. Their next game will take place on Saturday, Nov. 15 at a time and place yet to be determined.
“I’m excited for all of them to experience it because I have a really young team and then I also have a few seniors that, in their high school careers, haven’t made it to Sectionals and Regionals. It’s a whole bunch of kids that are going to be new to this level,” said Acierno. “And it’s for the community too. Olean’s the best. They step up so much for us. They travel for us and I just know all week they’re going to make the girls feel special. No matter what happens from here on out I’m proud of them and excited to keep going.”
