The Lady Raiders Volleyball squad competed in the Region III Championship pool play on Saturday.  FM played Erie, Corning and Finger Lakes CC.  Each match there were three sets played and the top two teams in FM's pool would move on to the semi-finals. FM ended the day with a 6-3 record, good enough to move on to semi-final play.

In the first match, FM went 2-1 against #8 seeded Erie 25-21, 25-18, and 21-25.  In the first set, FM had to get the rust out after a 14 day layoff with no games.  Megan Ryder led her team back to just  a one point deficit 11-12, and Bri Eagan put FM ahead 16-13.  FM settled in and beat the Kats 25-21.  In the second set, FM controlled most of the game.  Miranda Nethaway put FM ahead 14-7 and Erie could not recover as the Raiders went on to win 25-18.  In the final set, Erie jumped out to a 7-10 lead.  Gianna Cruz put FM ahead 16-15, but they couldn't maintain the lead.  Erie fought back and hung on to beat the Raiders 25-21.

In the second match, FM jumped out to a dominant 12-3 lead and maintained that lead to win the first set 25-21.  In the second set, FM played from behind and found a way to win.  Megan Ryder came up big with a huge dig that led to a Jenna Putnam kill to net the score at 14.  Miranda Nethaway put FM ahead with a block 15-14 and the Raiders wouldn't trail again.  Bri Eagan finished the set off and Fm sealed the 25-18 win.  And in the final set, FM couldn't get much going.  Corning dominated the entire set and scored seven unanswered points and the Raiders just couldn't recover.  FM took the loss 25-15.

In the final match of the day, FM felt the pressure.  Erie had already sealed their ticket into the semis and the Raiders knew they had to win 2 out of 3 against Finger Lakes.  In the first set, FM was leading 12-8, but then the Lakers would go on an 8-0 run to cut the Fm lead 15-12.  The Lakers kept the momentum on their side and beat FM 25-22.  FM's season was now on the line and every player rose to the occasion and put their game face on.  The Raiders dominated the net and played the way they have been playing all season.  Their season lives to see another day as they went on to beat Finger Lakes 25-15 and 25-16 in the final two sets.

FM, Erie, Jefferson and Jamestown were the top four teams to move on to the semi-finals.  FM will play Jefferson tomorrow at 11 a.m.