Mechanicville's Kristina Eccles bumps the ball as teammates Anna Arceneaux (8) and Gabrielle Galarneau (15) look on during Monday's Colonial Council match at Lansingburgh High School. (Photos by Mike McMahon - The Record).

TROY — Volleyball is still a relatively new sport at both Mechanicville and Lansingburgh High Schools, but it became apparent Monday evening that the Lady Knights still have some catching up to do in the Colonial Council.

Mechanicville senior Anna Arceneaux provided 12 service points – seven were aces – and added seven kills and Gabrielle Galarneau chipped in with five aces and five kills as the Red Raiders posted a 3-1 victory at Lansingburgh High School. Game scores were 25-14, 24-26, 25-14 and 25-13.

Mechanicville (3-2) scored 13 straight points between the first and second games, forcing Lansingburgh head coach Kelly Cataldo to call time out after the Lady Knights fell behind 5-0 in the second game. Lansingburgh (0-4) rallied to tie the game at 10-10 and played through a see-saw battle the rest of the way before winning that game, 26-24.

Mechanicville players leap to make a block during Monday's Colonial Council match.

Mechanicville, which fielded a junior varsity team for the first time four years ago and began play on the varsity level in 2008, took care of business in the third and fourth games to collect the road victory.

“Our team has this thing, no matter if we mess up, we pump each other up,” said Galarneau, one of the Mechanicville captains. “We got the points in the beginning and we lost them, but that’s all right because we know we can get them back if everyone pushes as hard as they can. When girls get down, we just have to pump them up. That’s our job as captains.”

Sophie DeCastro looks to pass the ball back to one of her teammates during Monday's Colonial Council match at Lansingburgh.

Arceneaux, also a captain for this Mechanicville team which lost 10 players from a year ago, is also one of the area’s premier softball pitchers. She guided the Red Raiders to state titles on the diamond in 2008 and 2009, but admitted she needs an entirely different mentality on the volleyball court.

“In softball, you can control more scoring-wise, but with this, you have to be ready and everything,” Arceneaux said. “Sometimes you fall back and then you have to get back up.”

For video highlights from Monday's match, visit www.troyrecord.com/video/sports

Since only three players with varsity experience returned to the team in 2010, Arceneaux and Galarneau know the rest of the team is relying on them to go a step further then they did in 2009. The Red Raiders, the No. 14 seed in the Section II Class C tournament, upset No. 3 Tamarac in the opening round, three games to two.

“When we started the first couple of years, we got some wins but they weren’t that great,” Galarneau said. “Last year we went to sectionals and we went to round two. We were pretty proud then and that’s our goal this year, too.”

Lansingburgh senior captain Alisse McGrath makes one of her five digs during Monday's Colonial Council volleyball match against Mechanicville. She has been with the Lansingburgh program since it started three years ago.

Lansingburgh was paced by senior captain Alisse McGrath, who provided five digs, two kills and four service points, one of which was an ace. Jessica Howansky added 10 service points and Anna Nielson chipped in with five service points, four kills.

The Lady Knights have also been the varsity scene for three years, but did not have any junior varsity program prior to that, meaning some of the seniors like McGrath have seen their fair share of losses. Lansingburgh did not win a single match its first season and won two in 2009.

“I told them at the beginning of the season that they are the starters of this program,” Cataldo said. “Some day, Lansingburgh volleyball is going to be winning the Colonial Council and they’re going to be able to look back and say, ‘I started that. I went through all the pain so that this program could grow.”

Although the Lady Knights lost the match Monday evening, their coach was proud that they took a baby step in coming from behind in the second game, which ultimately forced a fourth.

“We set small goals,” said Cataldo. “There are a couple of teams we’re hoping to beat. There are a couple of teams we hope to force a game four against. And there are some teams where we go by points. Let’s score 12 points this game. Let’s score 15 points this game.

“We have to break it down because we do lack the experience, but they make up for it in heart.”

Lansingburgh's Anna Nielson makes a hit during Monday's match against Mechanicville. Head coach Kelly Cataldo called Nielson "one of the standouts in the program."

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FORT JOHNSON — Tyler Reed and Joe Weiler each shot an 82 to pace La Salle Institute to the team championship of the Big 10 Tournament in golf.
The Cadets finished with a 344 to claim the title at Rolling Hills Country Club, with Christian Brothers Academy (358) second and Catholic Central (362) third.
Cory Purcell shot an 80 to earn medalist honors for the Crusaders, who edged fourth-place Troy High by a single stroke.
Mike Gallagher carded an 84 for Bishop Gibbons (376), which finished fifth, with host Amsterdam (382) and Schenectady (397) rounding out the order of finish.
Granville 4, Tamarac 1: Sam McDermott paced the Golden Horde with a round of 40 in the Wasaren League victory.
Tamarac’s low score came from Dan O’Brien, who shot a 42.
Ichabod Crane 189, Cohoes 232: The Riders won a Colonial Council match at Van Schaick Country Club thanks to a round of 45 from Tim Bogardus.
Ian Pingelski paced the Tigers with a 55.
Girls Soccer
Lansingburgh 4, Ichabod Crane 1: Megan Finnen, Jenna Retell, Allison Caldwell and Meg Strube scored goals for the Lady Knights in a Colonial Council homecoming victory over the Riders.
Lauren Graber, Racheal McDonough and Katie Palermo added assists for Lansingburgh (3-1), which received a combined 10 saves in net from Calli Moise and Carole Montanino.
Danielle Ooms made 10 saves for Ichabod Crane (2-2).
Mechanicville 5, Cohoes 0: Five different players scored a goal to pace the Red Raiders (3-1-0, 3-1-0) to victory in the Colonial Council. Danielle Beauchamp made 24 saves for the Tigers.
Albany Academy for Girls 4, Watervliet 0: Lizzie Robinson scored two goals to pace the Bears (4-0-0, 4-0-0) past the Cannoneers in the Colonial Council.
Heatly 3, Loudonville Christian 2: Alexi Anderson scored three goals to spark the Hornets to victory in the CHVL.
Goalie Stasha Cuzdey made 13 saves for Heatly (2-1-0, 2-2-0) and Allen Cassidy finished with 10 stops for the Eagles (1-2-0, 1-3-0).
Berlin 4, Waterford 1: Tegan Shumway tallied two goals to pace the Mountaineers to victory in the CHVL.
Ashley Vincent made six saves to record the win for Berlin (3-0-0, 3-0-0) and Shannon Hastings finished with 17 stops for the Fordians (1-3-0, 1-3-0).
Boys Soccer
Cambridge 7, Granville 0: Greg Goldstone tallied three goals and goalie Nick Brainerd didn’t have to make one save to record the shutout as the Indians won in the Wasaren League.
Derek Wojtkun added two goals for Cambridge (2-0-1, 3-0-1) against the Golden Horde (0-4-0, 0-4-0), which was blanked for the fourth time this season.
Cairo-Durham 3, Catskill 1: Joey Gagliardi tallied a goal and assisted on another to pace the Mustangs (2-1-0, 4-1-0) past the Cats (1-2-0, 1-2-0) in the Patroon Conference.
Berlin 3, Lee (Mass.) 2: Justin Jewett scored twice, including the game winner in the second half, to propel the visiting Mountaineers to victory.
Phil Bruns made 19 saves to earn the win for Berlin (2-2-0) and Tyler Pomakoy chipped in with two assists.
Girls Volleyball
Guilderland 3, Shaker 0: Liz Tapler totaled eight kills and 13 digs as the Lady Dutch won in the Suburban Council, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21.
Ravena 3, Ichabod Crane 0: Katie Vishneowski totaled 18 assists and nine aces to spark the Indians (4-0) to victory in a Colonial Council match, 25-19, 25-13 and 25-13.
Monica Hall paced the Riders (3-1) with four aces, five blocks and 11 kills.
Voorheesville 3, Watervliet 0: The Blackbirds (4-0) swept a Colonial Council match by scores of 25-4, 25-7 and 25-5.
Rebecca Bablin score 13 service points – seven were aces – and added seven kills. Ellie Wagner helped out with 24 service points and Alexis Hargrave made two kills.
Tamarac 3, Bishop Gibbons 1: Lindsay Doyle totaled 10 service points, three kills and one block to spark the Bengals to a non-league victory, 21-25, 25-17, 27-25 and 25-18.
Roni Weeks chipped in with four service points, six kills and two blocks for Tamarac (4-1). Julianne Bouchard paced the Knights with 12 service points and three aces.
Girls Tennis
Maple Hill 7, Hudson 0: Erin Duffy won at No. 1 singles to spark the Wildcats to a sweep of a Patroon Conference match.
Chatham 7, Cairo-Durham 0: Haley Knight prevailed at first singles and the Panthers went on to sweep a Patroon Conference match.
Coxsackie-Athens 6, Rensselaer 1: Audrey Palmer won at first singles as the Indians won a Patroon Conference match.
Shenendehowa 9, Averill Park 0: Jessica Macaluso won at No. 1 singles and the Plainsmen only lost two games in singles play en route to posting a Suburban Council triumph.
Niskayuna 8, Colonie 1: Emily Laurilliard prevailed at No. 1 singles as the Silver Warriors rolled to a Suburban Council victory.
Emma Willard 8, Holy Names 1: The Jesters won all five singles matches en route to a non-league victory.
Schoharie 7, Watervliet 0: Casey Bullock won at No. 1 singles to propel the Indians (4-3) to a non-league win over the Cannoneers (2-5).
Queensbury 6, Greenwich 1: The Spartans downed the Witches in a non-league meeting.
Field Hockey
Shaker 2, Burnt Hills 1 (OT): Renee Marsolais tallied in overtime to lift the Blue Bison to a Suburban Council triumph.
Guilderland 1, Emma Willard 0 (OT): Kari Balogh scored to provide the Lady Dutch with an overtime victory in a non-league encounter.
Goalie Marisa Dimarzo made four saves for Guilderland (3-2) and Nastacia Pereira finished with six stops for the Jesters (2-1).
Hoosick Falls 5, Warrensburg 0: Samantha Scott tallied two goals and assisted on another and goalie Frankie Pearson only had to make two saves in recording the shutout for the Panthers in non-league play.
Carsen Williams contributed a goal and an assist for Hoosick Falls (6-0).

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