Call them the "Comeback Kids."
Williamsville South battled back from a late deficit in the third set to win its second straight Section VI Class A girls volleyball championship as the Billies defeated Iroquois in straight sets, 25-17, 25-16, 26-24, on Friday night at North Tonawanda.
Will South (18-2) was on the brink of facing its first four-set match since Oct. 8 when the Billies took advantage of a service error and scored six straight points for the win. The game-winning point was scored by junior Angelina Sieperski on a spike to the center of the court.
Iroquois itself had battled back from a 17-11 deficit before the Redhawks (14-3) went on a 9-1 run and tied the game at 18, which forced Will South coach Tom Sproull to call his second timeout of the set.
"Just settle in, trust each other, don't start playing tentative - that would play into their advantage," Sproull said, recalling what he told his team. "Don't get into the tipping game instead of playing our game."
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Unlike the first two sets, where Will South went on long scoring runs, the Billies' offense went flat in the third set.
"Iroquois started to show us what they were made of. They showed us how resilient of a team they are," Sieperski said. "We said we just had to play our game today, and these games on come down to our mentality, and we have to be the stronger team out there mentally."
The two teams traded points out of the timeout, but again, Iroquois, the reigning Class B champion, was able to gain the upper hand after rattling off five straight points.
"We got a little bit mental and volleyball is a really mental game. It came down to who was stronger mentally, and I think we really overcame that," junior libero Evelyn Sieber said.
After Iroquois' serve error made it 24-21, it was up to Sieber to make mistake-free serves. She delivered by dropping an ace on the Iroquois back line to put Will South ahead 25-24, and Sieperski's kill on the next play secured the win.
"It was a feeling of relief. I think when we were down 24-21, we started to tense up a little bit and started to play our game, and then when we took that set it felt amazing," Sieperski said. She and Sieber have played on the varsity team together since seventh grade.
It was Williamsville South's third sectional title since 2019. The Billies will try to avenge last year's loss in the NYSPHSAA finals when they kick off the state tournament in the regional round at 8 p.m. Nov. 16 at Lake Shore High School.
Will South will face either Pittsford-Sutherland or Pittsford-Mendon, who play at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
"I'm really excited. I think we're going to do really well and play our game. If we play our game, we can be the better team," Sieber said.
Class AAA
In the following Class AAA championship, Lancaster (16-1) cruised to its third consecutive Sectional title as the Legends beat Niagara Falls (5-12) in three sets, 25-7, 25-8, 25-8.
Lancaster will play the winner of Rush-Henrietta and Fairport at 10 a.m. Nov. 16 at Lake Shore High School.
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