VOORHEESVILLE — For the first time in four years, the Voorheesville girls’ volleyball team won its own tournament.

The Blackbirds beat Saratoga Catholic in two games to win the championship after beating Troy in the semifinals.
"This is the first time we’ve won the tournament," said Voorheesville Coach Sandy Vorse. "We finished second three years. It’s a really a big win for us."
"I’ve been looking forward to this all season," said senior Co-captain Alyssa Cave. "It’s my senior year, and I wanted to win it my last year."

The other captains on the team are Kristen Lysenko, who was named the most valuable player of the tournament, and Taryn Smith.
"I was really happy I could give them the trophy," Vorse said of handing the championship award to her captains.

The Lady Blackbirds won the tournament on Saturday in the midst of homecoming activities.
"It was an amazing day of volleyball," Vorse said. "The high-scoring teams in each pool split their games. First place came down to point differential."

Voorheesville had to win five matches to capture the championship. The Blackbirds finished first in their pool after the opening round and then beat Troy in the semifinals.
"It’s nice to have a lot of people in the stands," Cave said. "They were filled."
"Volleyball has finally grown in this area," Lysenko added.

The tournament win is just part of a successful season the Lady Blackbirds have had so far.

"Tough league"

Through Saturday, Voorheesville had an 8-1 overall record and was 5-1 in Colonial Council matches.
"It’s a very tough league," Vorse said. "Every year Schalmont, Cobleskill, and Ravena are at the top. They have depth in their programs and they are always competitive. Our goal is to break into the top three. We are a small school and we play with the big guys."

The Lady Blackbirds have already taken steps to break into the top three in the Colonial Council. They have beaten Cobleskill and Schalmont this season. Voorheesville’s lone loss was to Ravena.
"We are ready for revenge," Lysenko said of playing Ravena again.

The Blackbirds have also competed in other tournaments this fall. They competed in the Fonda Tournament and the Hendrick Hudson Tournament and were successful at both.
"We’ve done kind of better than I thought at other tournaments," Vorse said. "We played a lot of [class] A schools."

Voorheesville won the gold medal in its division at the Hendrick Hudson Tournament, playing against a lot of bigger schools.

"Great shape"

The Blackbirds’ depth and conditioning has helped them play well in those tournaments.
"We have good depth with this team," Vorse said. "Because this team is doing well, they have pushed it to the limits."
"Conditioning has helped us," said Cave.
"We’ve done a lot of sprinting," Lysenko said. "We’re in great shape. Coach runs us hard."

Vorse said that two things have happened to make her team reach the success it has so far this season.
"The seniors are wonderful leaders and are doing an amazing job," the coach said. "The second is the juniors have moved into the line-up and they are working their spandex off.

Joining the three captains on the team are Alissa Hatch, Kate Chiseri, Amanda O’Brien, Mollee Barone, Arielle Smith, Shayna Morse, Morgan Vandervort, and Seneca Gray.
"We still have a lot to learn," Vorse said. "We have girls that didn’t play last year. I thought it would be a rebuilding for us, but we’ve come along nicely. "
"We are a really young team," Cave said. "We’ve done really well. I’m proud of this team."

The Lady Blackbird senior captains hope that all the hard work in practices and playing tough teams in tournaments will help them reach their goal of a good finish in the Colonial Council.

The Voorheesville players also have another goal in mind for when the regular season ends.
"We want to make it to the sectional finals," Cave said. "We made it to that game last year but we lost. We can do it. I think this year we are more improved."

But, just like any coach, Vorse sees things that her players need to work on to be able to reach their goal.
"I’m pleased with how we are doing," Vorse said. "We are working together well.
"But we need to work on consistency," the coach added. "We have a lot of highs, but we are young in some areas," she concluded. "They seem to be having a good time together, which is nice."