For the second time in four years, the Cazenovia girls volleyball team are Section III Class B champions — and to say these Lakers earned the crown would be an enormous understatement. “These girls overachieved all year,” said head coach Brian Ellithorpe as players and fans celebrated the team’s championship win over Skaneateles in four games Saturday night at Jamesville-DeWitt High School. From the harrowing five-game quarterfinal with defending champion Marcellus, to the grinding four-game victory over top seed Canastota in the semifinals, the Lakers did not take an easy path here. So it was only fitting that the title was clinched against Skaneateles, a team Cazenovia had lost to twice in the regular season, on Dec. 9 and Jan. 15. But Ellithorpe said his team had vastly improved in the month since that last meeting, and perhaps Skaneateles had lost an edge through easy playoff sweeps over Mount Markham and Solvay. The opening game proved quite crucial. Each Lakers side made a fair share of mistakes, but when Skaneateles went ahead 24-21, it looked like Cazenovia would fall behind. Somehow, Cazenovia fought off one game point, then got the ball to Julie Gregg, who saved two more game points with her serve. Not stopping there, Cazenovia went in front and won the game 26-24, a massive shift in momentum. This allowed Cazenovia to absorb a 25-19 defeat in the second game without too much damage, but the team’s character would get tested again in the third game. After sprinting out to a 17-10 lead, Cazenovia slowly saw that margin dissipate, and in fact fell behind 20-19 and 21-20 before reclaiming the advantage. With the game tied 23-23, Lindsey Nourse’s kill shot put Cazenovia in front, and a wide attempt by Skanetaeles made it 25-23 as Cazenovia took a 2-1 edge in games. Nearly the same thing happened in the fourth game. Once ahead 20-13, Cazenovia saw Skaneateles run off seven straight points to tie it, 20-20. Finally, Cazenovia got the serve back, worked the lead to 24-21, and watched Skaneateles fend off two match points before a wide block attempt ended the game 25-23 — and gave Cazenovia a sectional title. Alissa Easterly had 28 assists, to go with six aces and three kills. Gregg led the front line with 11 kills, with Hannah Koennecke adding six kills. Nourse and Leah McAleer each had five kills, with libero Rachel Burbidge strong on defense and adding three aces, too. Skaneateles, in defeat, had Chloe Warner earn 26 assists, feeding it to Ryan Merle (14 kills, four aces), Katherine Hill (11 kills) and Emily Wood (eight kills) all through the match.