The Johnstown volleyball team will start the postseason where it finished last season, on top of the Section II Class B bracket.
The Lady Bills were awarded the top seed for the Class B tournament Tuesday after going 13-3 overall and 11-3 in Foothills Council play this season.
"Last year's experience will help us a ton," Johnstown coach Heather McGuire said. "Several of the girls on this year's team were part of last year's team. "We're ready and excited to have the first seed. It was well deserved."
Article Photos
Gloversville’s Ana Kroup, left, battles Amsterdam’s Jordann Bernardo at the net during a non-league match at Gloversville High School on Sept. 25. Both Gloversville and Amsterdam will be competing in the Class A bracket of the Section II Tournament. (The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan)
Johnstown will begin its title defense at home Friday in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. against the winner of today's first-round contest between No. 8 seed Emma Willard and No. 9 Cobleskill-Richmondville.
"It's nice to start at home," McGuire said. "One of our goals is to repeat as sectional champion, and if we're lucky enough to get there, to play Beekmantown again in regionals."
The Johnstown coach said her team is ready after finishing second in the Foothills Council standings behind Queensbury, which earned the No. 2 seed in Class A.
"The Foothills Council is one of, if not, the toughest leagues in the section," McGuire said. "We get the advantage of playing bigger schools all season."
The winner of Friday's quarterfinal match will face either No. 5 seed Holy Names or No. 4 seed Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons in the semifinals Oct. 31 at Albany High School.
In addition to the Lady Bills, six other area teams learned their sectional opponents Tuesday.
In Class A, Gloversville earned a home quarterfinal match Friday at 5 p.m. after going 12-6 overall and 8-6 in Foothills Council play.
"I'm very happy with our seed and that we'll be starting sectionals with a home match," Gloversville coach Duane Hicks said. "It's a nice reward for the season we've had so far."
The fourth-seeded Huskies will face No. 5 seed Niskayuna, which went 5-11 in the Suburban Council this season.
"We don't know much about Niskayuna, but that's not that much different than the regular season," Hicks said. "We don't usually know much about who we're playing. I think if we play good, consistent volleyball everything will take care of itself."
The winner will advance to face either No. 8 seed Amsterdam (7-12 overall, 6-6 Big 10) or top-seeded Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (16-0 Suburban Council). Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake has won 10 consecutive Section II titles and 17 titles since 1991.
"I've told the team every year for the past three years that it's rarely if ever about who you play. It's about how you play," Hicks said. "I want us to play good consistent volleyball. If we do that, I think we'll be OK. It's all about how we play."
Two area teams will be part of the Class C bracket as both Fonda-Fultonville and Broadalbin-Perth will be in action today in first-round matches at 5 p.m.
The Lady Braves earned the No. 11 seed and will travel to sixth-seeded Greenville today. FFCS went 10-8 overall and 9-7 in Colonial Council play this season, while Greenville is 15-2 overall.
The winner advances to face either No. 14 Catskill or No. 3 Galway in Friday's quarterfinals at 5 p.m.
Broadalbin-Perth (10-6 overall, 8-6 Foothills Council), which earned the No. 7 seed, will host No. 10 seed Schuylerville (9-8 overall) today at 5 p.m. The winner moves on to face either No. 15 seed Chatham of No. 2 seed Hoosic Valley in Friday's quarterfinal round.
In Class D, Mayfield and Canajoharie will both be part of the field.
The Lady Panthers earned the No. 5 seed after going 11-6 overall and 9-4 in WAC play during the regular season.
"I'm happy with our seed," Mayfield coach Eileen Rovito said. "I thought we might end up little lower, so I'm happy with No. 5."
Mayfield will travel to No. 4 seed Waterford-Halfmoon (13-3 overall) for Friday's quarterfinal contest at 5 p.m.
"I don't know too much about [Waterford], but they played in our summer league this year," Rovito said. "I'm looking forward to a good game with them."
The Lady Panthers dropped their final three matches of the regular season, losing to Johnstown, Galway and Saratoga Catholic.
"Playing those teams to end the season is perfect for us to practice and get ourselves ready," Rovito said. "There are very few teams in the entire section as strong as Johnstown, so it will help get us ready for sure."
Canajoharie (5-8 overall, 5-8 WAC) earned the No. 11 seed and will face WAC rival Schoharie today at 5 p.m. The sixth-seeded Indians went 11-3 overall during the regular season, including a hard-fought 3-2 win over Canajoharie on Oct. 12. Schoharie won by scores of 18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23 and 25-12.
SECTION II VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
Class AA
First Round
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 5 p.m.
Game 1: No. 9 Colonie (6-10) at No. 8 Saratoga Springs (6-10)
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 25, 5 p.m.
Game 2: Game 1 winner at No. 1 Guilderland (17-3)
Game 3: No. 5 Columbia (10-7) at No. 4 Albany (11-6)
Game 4: No. 6 Bethlehem (8-8) at No. 3 Shaker (10-6)
Game 5: No. 7 Schenectady (8-7) at No. 2 Shenendehowa (15-5)
Semifinals
Wednesday, Oct. 31
at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake H.S.
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 5 p.m.
Game 7: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m.
at Stillwater H.S.
Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner
Class A
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 25, 5 p.m.
Game 1: No. 8 Amsterdam (7-12) at No. 1 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (16-0)
Game 2: No. 5 Niskayuna (5-11) at No. 4 Gloversville (12-6)
Game 3: No. 6 Averill Park (5-11) at No. 3. South Glens Falls (9-5)
Game 4: No. 7 Troy (10-4) at No. 2 Queensbury (14-0)
Semifinals
Wednesday, Oct. 31
at Broadalbin-Perth H.S.
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5 p.m.
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, Nov. 3
at Stillwater H.S.
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner
Class B
First Round
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 5 p.m.
Game 1: No. 9 Cobleskill-Richmondville (6-10) at No. 8 Emma Willard (7-8)
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 26, 5 p.m.
Game 2: Game 1 winner at No. 1 Johnstown (13-3)
Game 3: No. 5. Holy Names (12-6) at No. 4 Bishop Gibbons (13-4)
Game 4: No. 6 Hudson (10-6) at No. 3 Schalmont (13-3)
Game 5: No. 7 Ichabod Crane (8-9) at No. 2 Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (15-1)
Semifinals
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 5 p.m.
at Albany H.S.
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 5 p.m.
Game 7: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship
Friday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m.
at Stillwater H.S.
Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner
Class C
First Round
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 5 p.m.
Game 1: No. 9 Saratoga Catholic (12-4) at No. 8 Tamarac (11-2)
Game 2: No. 12 Watervliet (8-9) at No. 5 Maple Hill (16-2)
Game 4: No. 14 Catskill (8-8) at No. 3 Galway (16-1)
Game 5: No. 11 Fonda-Fultonville (10-8) at No. 6 Greenville (15-2)
Game 6: No. 10 Schuylerville (9-8) at No. 7 Broadalbin-Perth (10-6)
Game 7: No. 15 Chatham (9-9) at No. 2 Hoosic Valley (16-1)
Thursday, Oct. 25, 5 p.m.
Game 3: No. 13 Taconic Hills (11-7) at No. 4 Loudonville Christian (13-2)
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 26, 5 p.m.
Game 8: Game 1 winner at No. 1 Voorheesville (16-0)
Game 9: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Game 10: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner
Game 11: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner
Semifinals
Wednesday, Oct. 31
at Saratoga Springs
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 5 p.m.
Game 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship
Friday, Nov. 2, 6 p.m.
at Stillwater H.S.
Game 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner
Class D
First Round
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 5 p.m.
Game 1: No. 9 Duanesburg (9-8) at No. 8 Fort Edward (7-8)
Game 2: No. 11 Canajoharie (5-8) at No. 6 Schoharie (11-3)
Game 3: No. 10 Berne-Knox-Westerlo (8-9) at No. 7 Germantown (9-6)
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 26, 5 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner at No. 1 Argyle (17-1)
Game 5: No. 5 Mayfield (11-6) at No. 4 Waterford-Halfmoon (13-3)
Game 6: Game 2 winner at No. 3 Lake George (11-6)
Game 7: Game 3 winner at No. 2 Hartford (13-2)
Semifinals
Wednesday, Oct. 31
at Hudson Falls H.S.
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 7 p.m.
Championship
Friday, Nov. 2, 4 p.m.
at Stillwater H.S.
Game 10: Game 8 winner at Game 9 winner