Red Storm hitters power past Eagles | News, Sports, Jobs – The Adirondack Daily Enterprise
Saranac Lake’s Anica Null jumps up for the kill during the Red Storm’s home opener against Beekmantown on Tuesday.
(Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)
SARANAC LAKE — It took the Saranac Lake volleyball team seven games before they dropped their first set last year, but this year, the Red Storm seems like a completely different team.
On Tuesday, the Red Storm opened up the season with a 3-1 home win over the Beekmantown Eagles. The team won with scores of 25-18, 25-15, 18-25 and 25-18.
While the team did drop its third set, Saranac Lake head coach Mike Navarra sees that as a positive thing.
“I think the positive thing of the third match is that we have to learn how to play down,” Navarra said. “We also have to learn how to cope with playing down to bounce back.”
After Beekmantown won the third set, the two teams traded points back and forth in the fourth game. After reaching a 14-14 draw, the Red Storm picked up the pace by going on a 11-4 run to open up the season 1-0.
From left, Saranac Lake’s Malea White, Catera Ratelle, Emily Gay, Anica Null, Payton Barry and Azra Michael celebrate after winning their first match of the season against Beekmantown at home on Tuesday.
(Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)
“I think it was the learning curve for the entire team because we’re bringing back only two starters, we had six or seven that we’re bringing back but the starters had repetitions,” Navarra said. “Our libero, she struggled tonight. She played last year, but she suffered a season-ending injury last year. She doesn’t have the reps, but I know that in time she’s going to do better.”
Senior Azra Michael paced the Red Storm on both sides of the ball. Michael finished with a team-high 16 assists while earning five digs on the defensive side.
“Some of the things that we have been lacking is communication and leadership from the specific position and I think that she stood out tonight and she did an excellent job,” Navarra said. “Azra Michael really showed up to play tonight between her serving and her excellent defense.”
Eighth-grader Lexi Donaldson led Saranac Lake’s servers with six serving aces while finishing with 15 points. Emily Gay added 12 points, while Michael and Malea White had nine points each.
“I love seeing our eighth grader step up as stoic as it can be,” Navarra said. “She got down, she missed her first serve. Her emotions took over and she started to cry a little bit. We just reinforced her and said ‘You know what people are going to miss serves, but you’ve got to just focus and come back.’”
Junior Anica Null, who Navarra said at the beginning of the season had the potential to lead the league in kills, finished the night with 11 kills.
“I think she’s on a good pace as long as we can get her the ball and feed her the ball,” Navarra said. “I think she’s going to be the go-to person. I think we’ve just got to get everybody up to pace. Overall I think they transitioned really well and they struck with the game plan.”
In the first two sets, Red Storm seemingly faced a lack of obstacles. The team won by 10 in the second set and seven in the first.
Saranac Lake will travel to take on the Plattsburgh Hornets today at 7 p.m. The Hornets are currently 0-1 on the season after falling to Northern Adirondack 3-2 on Tuesday.