But collectively, everything that Waters does shows why she is the heart and soul of the Thunderbirds.

Her ability was on full display Monday evening.

Chautauqua Lake’s junior captain contributed offensively, defensively and at the service line as the top-seeded Thunderbirds beat No. 4 Maple Grove 25-20, 25-11, 21-25, 25-17 in the Section VI Class D semifinals at Chautauqua Lake Central School.

“She’s just a special player. She’s gotten a lot of notice this year,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Joanne Meadows said of Waters. “She’s just a standout kid.”

Maple Grove’s Erin Mansfield sets a pass during Monday’s semifinal against Chautauqua Lake. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

Next up for the Thunderbirds is a 5:30 p.m. Friday date at Brocton High School with No. 2 Randolph, a 25-18, 27-25, 25-18 winner over defending Class D champion and third-seeded North Collins in Monday’s other semifinal.

“Bayley (Johnson) has done a great job with them. I think defensively they are a fantastic team. It’s tough to put the ball down against them,” Meadows said of the matchup with the Cardinals. “This match is one I’ve been kind of looking forward to. I’m glad to get a chance to play them. I’m glad for Bayley and what she’s been able to do over there.”

While Waters finished with two kills, an ace and seven digs, her hustle and leadership were definitely noticeable.

“It’s nice to have somebody who’s like a safety valve,” Meadows said. “If it gets by everybody else, very rarely it’s going to get by her.”

Sophomore Ava Olson led Chautauqua Lake with 12 assists, seven kills, five aces and five digs; junior Mallory Morrison had 10 assists, four kills, four digs and two aces; senior Lily Woodis had six digs, five kills and an ace; and sophomore Brynn Engdahl had nine digs, three aces and three kills.

“That’s the kind of offense I want to run. I never want a blocker to commit to one kid. I want it to be a well-balanced offense with a lot of options,” Meadows said. “There is not anybody on my team who has a ton of kills … even kids coming off the bench have led our team in kills once or twice.”

The Red Dragons, who saw their season come to an end with a 14-6 record, were led by junior Rachael King with nine kills, junior Erin Mansfield with 25 assists and senior Madi Price with three blocks.

“I’m really happy with this match tonight. They beat them in the one set and we were right there with them the other two sets,” Maple Grove head coach Curt Miceli said. “The one, we just write it off. It’s something that happens every now and then with high school girls.”

The Thunderbirds took control of the match immediately.

After a service error by Maple Grove to start the first set, Olson rattled off five straight service points to give Chautauqua Lake a 6-0 lead. The Red Dragons got as close as 11-10 on senior Emma Foley’s ace off the net, but the Thunderbirds’ lead grew to as many as five three different times down the stretch, including at the final score when Maple Grove hit a spike out of bounds.

“We started out 6-0 in the first game,” Meadows said, “and then gave up that lead pretty quickly.”

The Red Dragons stumbled out of the gate again in the second set. Engdahl opened with a pair of aces and three straight service points from Engdahl pushed Chautauqua Lake’s lead to 6-1. Eventually, the hosts took a 10-3 lead and Miceli called an early timeout. Maple Grove then scored three straight points to close to 10-6, but the Thunderbirds won the set going away.

“I don’t know what it is about getting down to start,” Miceli said. “I’m happy that we fought back.”

Despite falling behind again in the third set, the Red Dragons finally took their first lead of the match at 17-16 and pushed it to 19-16 before Meadows used her team’s first timeout of the night. Dawes added a pair of aces after the timeout to make it 21-16 and Maple Grove got back in the match when Chautauqua Lake hit a spike out of bounds on set point.

Undeterred, the Thunderbirds jumped out to a lead again in the fourth set and the Red Dragons never led. After being tied 7-7, Chautauqua Lake went on a five-point run to lead 12-7 and Maple Grove never got closer than three the rest of the way.

“When they lost that third set, I think it affected me more than it affected any of them,” Meadows said. “I don’t think for a minute they every thought they weren’t going to win.”

NOTES: Senior Jessica Wiemer had seven kills while junior Hannah Group had six kills, three digs and two aces for the Thunderbirds. … Chautauqua Lake beat Randolph 2-1 in three sets at the Falconer Spikefest Tournament earlier this season. … The Thunderbirds last won a Section VI title in 2018 when they claimed the D1 crown before losing to D2 champion Panama in the crossover final. … Senior Emma Foley had seven kills and junior Eliza Dawes had six for Maple Grove.