South Side’s 32-year wait is over.
The Cyclones won the New York State Class A girls’ volleyball championship last Saturday night, outlasting Williamsville South 25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12 at the Harding Mazzotti Arena in Glens Falls. It was their second state title in program history and first since 1993, when the program captured the Class B crown.
This time, South Side showed the same grit that defined its historic season, trailing at one point in all five sets before clawing its way to victory.
The decisive fifth set embodied everything about the Cyclones’ resilience. South Side fell behind 5-1 before storming back with a 7-2 run sparked by two kills and a serving ace from senior Keira Mullaney. They led 8-7 at the side switch, and after Williamsville tied it at 11, the Cyclones seized control by scoring four of the final five points to claim the title.
Senior Allie Fingleton slammed a key kill, and junior Lena Miller delivered two more—including her 20th of the match, the championship-clinching shot off a perfect set from senior Amy Berenbroick.
Miller described the winning swing as the product of a season-long connection with her setter.
“Amy made such a smart set there because their whole team thought that the set was going to the outside,” Miller said. “So, when she set that and I was able to get up and hit that. When it hit the ground, it was a really surreal moment.”
Berenbroick said she intentionally looked to deceive the Williamsville block on the final rally.
“When I was going to set, I kind of expected them to think that I was going outside. So, I set Lena and Lena was on fire the whole game,” she said. “She had an awesome kill and we won.”
The fourth set had nearly ended the match early for South Side. The Cyclones held a 16-15 lead, but Williamsville answered with a 10-2 run to force the fifth.
In the third set, the Cyclones authored one of their biggest surges of the match. Trailing 18-14, they strung together 11 straight points, fueled by three kills from Miller and additional kills from Mullaney and Fingleton. Junior Caitlin Ferrari added a block and senior Maeve Britt dropped in an ace as South Side stormed to a 25-18 win and a 2-1 match lead.
Williamsville claimed the second set by tightening its play and capitalizing on its opportunities.
The match began with a comeback that foreshadowed the Cyclones’ nightlong toughness. Down 17-14 in the first set, Mullaney unleashed three consecutive kills to tie the score before adding a fourth to put South Side in front 19-18. She finished the match with 24 kills—including eight in the opening set—while Miller delivered 20 of her own along with three blocks and an ace.
The championship represented a full-circle moment for Berenbroick, whose mother, Jessica Seaman, and aunt, Nicole, were both setters on South Side’s 1993 state title team.
“I really just feel like it was such a full circle moment,” Berenbroick said. “There are generations of setters in my family. My entire high school career, my mom was always like, ‘I really hope you get the opportunity to go to states one day, just like I did.’ Not only did we get to go to states, but we were able to win just like she did.
“It was really cool to be able to share that experience with her,” she continued. “She was able to feel that same accomplishment as we did. She was so excited. She was crying. She was really happy.”
The run to the championship included a gritty rally past Islip and a sweep of Burnt Hills–Ballston Lake in pool play on Nov. 21. Williamsville swept South Side in the final pool-play match, but both teams had already clinched a spot in the title match and played their reserves.
Mariano said the postseason became a story the team wrote—and believed in—together.
“We said each one of these games was like a chapter in our story,” Mariano said. “And when we went to states, I said, now we’re going to write the final chapter. That was the storybook, the fairytale ending to our story.”
