Saranac Lake was without a couple of its typical players, according to head coach Susan Waters. But their efforts were still good enough to improve to 11-5 overall — the sixth time since 2018 that the school’s volleyball team has won 11 or more games in a season.

“We got a little creative with our lineup, but I thought the girls did really, really well,” Waters said. “Half of them were playing positions they weren’t used to. They played good defense, and we were able to put the ball in their court in some strategic places, which was excellent, so I was very pleased.”

On the other side of the court, Lake Placid’s coach Sandy Huber thought her team played well, but the Red Storm defense was just “exceptional.”

“They were able to hit and push set a lot to our holes,” she said. “They just found the weaknesses in our defense and took advantage of that early on. We tried to make adjustments, but then their hitters adjusted. They did a really good job of hitting the open spots.”

Lake Placid’s Ireland Cassidy gets ready to make a play on the ball during Wednesday’s home match against Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Four players recorded double-digit digs. Lexie Donaldson led the team with 20 digs, Alice LaDue had 17, Sophia McBride had 13 and Sophie Czazdeck had 10. In front of the net, Mackenzie Crane made life difficult as she recorded one block.

“I’ve been using Mackenzie Crane more in the middle, she’s coming along,” Waters said. “I’m really pleased with the progress she’s making. I think that will play a big role (moving forward).”

McBride had a standout performance for Saranac Lake, with a team-high 12 points. McBride and Czadzeck also earned four aces each to lead the Red Storm’s 16-ace outing.

“Saranac Lake’s serving was definitely tough,” Huber said. “They had a lot of aces, just serves that came over so fast and dropped so fast. We did our best to pass some of those balls, but some were just too fast.”

The Red Storm’s efforts both serving and defensively, guided them to two back-to-back set wins to kick off the match. While tied 9-9 in the third set, the Blue Bombers broke away from the Red Storm with a 10-3, and were able to steal the set.

Saranac Lake’s Mackenzie Crane, left, attempts to block a shot from Lake Placid’s Brooke Meyer during Wednesday’s match.
(Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

However, Saranac Lake jumped out to 16-6 lead in the fourth set and were never really threatened the remainder of the way. Their efforts were good enough to record a season sweep over Lake Placid.

“I think we had some good chemistry on the court, so I’ll take that into consideration (for playoffs),” Waters said. “I didn’t have as many substitutions, which I think sometimes can help. When players stay on the court, they get their heads into the game a little bit more sometimes, they stay engaged.”

Norah Galvin paced the Blue Bombers with yet another triple double with 17 assists, 16 digs, 11 points, as well as six aces and six kills. Galvin now has had seven triple-doubles and two quadruple doubles.

Lake Placid’s Ireland Cassidy and Brooke Beaney also had a strong night defensively, recording 10 digs each. Cassidy also had two blocks.

“(Beaney) did really well on serve receive,” Huber said.

Up next, the Blue Bombers, which dropped to 4-13 overall, will take on the Northern Adirondack Bobcats in the Section VII, Class D championship game at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 at AuSable Valley High School. The team topped the Bobcats twice this season.

“We won both of them, but they did put up a really good fight,” Huber said. “NAC always plays with a lot of heart and they’re really hard workers and never let any balls drop. We’re going to try to practice staying focused for the long rallies and try to play aggressive even when we’re tired, and worried about tight scores.”

Saranac Lake will compete in the the Section VII, Class B tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Red Storm will take on the No. 2 seed Beekmantown Eagles in the semifinal round at 6 p.m. on Monday in Beekmantown. The Eagles, which are 15-4 overall, topped Saranac Lake twice by identical 3-0 scores during the regular season.

Individual statistics

LP — Norah Galvin 6 aces, 11 points, 6 kills, 17 assists, 16 digs; Kelsey McKillip 7 points, 2 kills, 7 digs; Brooke Meyer 9 kills; Fiona Sullivan 2 aces, 3 points, 2 kills, 1 assist, 5 digs; Haileigh LaMare 2 points, 2 kills, 2 assists, 9 digs; Ireland Cassidy 1 ace, 3 points, 8 kills, 2 blocks, 10 digs; Reagan LaMotte 8 digs; Brooke Beaney 10 digs; Emma Wylie 1 dig; Adiss Livesey-Ferry 1 point, 1 dig; Sophie Spanburgh 1 dig.

SL — Alice LaDue 9 points, 1 ace, 3 kills, 9 assists, 17 digs; Emily Gay 8 points, 2 aces, 4 kills, 1 assist, 4 digs; Lexie Donaldson 3 points, 2 aces, 3 kills, 20 digs; Rori Chenaille-Schenk 9 points, 3 aces, 7 digs; Sophia McBride 12 points, 4 aces, 4 kills, 13 digs; Sophie Czadzeck 7 points, 4 aces, 3 kills, 7 assists, 10 digs; Mackenzie Crane 6 kills, 1 block; Marley Logan 3 kills, 1 dig; Melody Costigan 1 point, 4 digs; Whitney Warner 2 digs.