Fall Sports Wrap-Up

Bradley Heller

With winter sports tryouts finishing up, it’s a good time to put a button on the fall sports season. Our teams and our individual student-athletes accomplished a lot this fall, so congratulations to everyone involved on their very successful seasons.

In football, the team faced a very challenging schedule. After consecutive state semifinal appearances the past two seasons, the Silver Warriors jumped up to Class AA this season. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to replicate their success at the AA level, as the Silver Warriors finished the year with a 5-5 record, missing out on the Section II Playoffs. With key players graduating, such as quarterback Ethan Gilson, it will be interesting to see how Niskayuna will replenish their lost talent and return as a contender next season. 

The success of the girls’ volleyball team this fall was certainly a sight to behold, despite a 6-7 regular season record. Because they did not achieve a winning record, they were originally not slated to be a part of the Section II Class AA Tournament. But, after petitioning the girls’ volleyball committee, the team was able to get into the tournament. After that, the team ran the table and won the Section II title, which included two wins in five sets: one against a 14-2 Columbia squad in the semifinals, and then against Bethlehem in the championship game. Next up for the Silver Warriors was the regional round of the state tournament, where unfortunately the team was unable to come away with the victory against Fayetteville-Manlius of Section III. Still, it was an unbelievable run. Even when the team experienced setbacks during the regular season, they knew that they had the talent to beat anyone, something they showed in their improbable title run.

In soccer, both the girls’ and boys’ teams had tremendous seasons. The girls’ had a 10-7-1 record and made it all the way to the Class AA title game against Columbia, the back-to-back Section II champs with an incredible 17-0-1 record. Even without three regular starters, Niskayuna kept it close, but was ultimately unable to generate enough opportunities on offense, losing 1-0. Still, it was an incredible season, which included Coach Colby’s 400th career win with the program. On the boys’ side, the team entered Sectionals as the fourth seed and made it to the semifinals, but were unable to defeat Columbia, falling by a score of 4-0. 

Finally, the incredible play of sophomore tennis star Olivia Dartawan got her the number one seed in the state tournament, which was played at the UTSA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, where the U.S. Open is played annually. She was able to make it all the way to the state singles final for the second year in a row, but unfortunately was unable to lift the championship trophy. For two years in a row she has gotten so close, and will certainly use it as fuel to hopefully win it all next season.

So the season is over, and while there may be no more games left on the schedule, the work doesn’t stop for these athletes. As winter sports begin to kick into high gear, we can’t wait to see what all of our fall sports teams will accomplish next year.