Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls volleyball bested by Pittsford Sutherland in Class A state final
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- When you've been to as many state championship matches as the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls volleyball team has, there's bound to be a couple heartbreaks along the way.
While the team's fifth straight appearance in the Class A final didn't go the way the Spartans had hoped, head coach Gary Bynon was just proud his team - which lost nine seniors from 2023's championship team - had the opportunity to compete for what would've been the program's 10th state title.
"I'm told all the time, "Coach, there's people that never make it here." That's the message to them (the team)," said Bynon. "They have to understand that the time they put in gets 'em here. There's only 24 teams that get to do that every year, and I'm just so proud of them and our staff; everything they do to give our kids a chance to be successful this weekend."
Burnt Hills fought, but was unable to overcome Section V's Pittsford Sutherland, dropping a tightly-contested match, three sets-to-one, Sunday morning at Cool Insuring Arena.
Burnt Hills scored more total points in the match, but the difference was Pittsford managing to eek out wins in the first two sets, both by scores of 25-23.
The Spartans responded with a dominant third set, outscoring Pittsford 25-12. But the Knights were unfazed, and took a 7-1 lead to start the fourth set.
Burnt Hills continued to battle, as they had done in each prior set, and managed to draw within a point at 11-10. Pittsford countered, though, with a 7-3 run. A Leah Klueber kill put the Knights up 18-13, and led to Bynon calling a timeout.
But that did little to stop the Knights' attack. Pittsford's top three hitters - who combined for 51 kills - were too potent. Jordyn Leader's team-best 20th kill proved to be the match-clincher, as the Knights took the fourth and final set, 25-17.
Despite a disappointing conclusion, it was another season full of achievements for the Spartans. Some of the highlights included an undefeated run through the Suburban Council, a 22nd straight Section II championship and a 17th appearance in a state championship match.
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