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Williamsville East captains leading Lady Flames volleyball to successful year

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You can call them the dynamic trio.

"They are talented and have different qualities that they bring to the team that make us an all-around good team," said head coach Scott Wright.

Ally Jozwiak, Makayla Greenfield and Rachel Steffan are captains of the Williamsville East volleyball team.

The three teammates have played together for years.

"They've been my best friends since I joined as a freshman," Steffan said. "Being captains with them is just the best it could be."

The two seniors and one junior have been leading the Lady Flames all season in various stats.

Two outside hitters and one setter who have been setting an example on the court.

"We've been working to really improve our play together and be able to help improve everyone else to have a successful year," Greenfield said.

And it's been a successful year.

The Lady Flames will compete in the state championship pool play semifinals this weekend. The winner will come out with a state title.

Williamsville East has placed third before but this year feels different.

"It's so important to us," Jozwiak said. "We don't want to lose and we don't want to mess up for each other because we want to be successful."

For Jozwiak and Greenfield, this weekend marks the final time they'll play with their Flames teammates.

It's exciting, sad and bittersweet.

"It's crazy," Greenfield said. "I never expected to be able to go to States for three years in a row and it's just an amazing way to end my career here."

"It's all that's been on my mind," Jozwiak added. "It's all that I've been thinking about. It's crazy because it does end after this and it can either end really good or really bad, and there's no 'there's always next year'."

Which is giving the captains and this team a little extra motivation as they hope to bring home a state title back to Williamsville, not just for the school but for the seniors.

"They're not gonna have another one of these," Steffan added. "We've gone twice before and lost. So this year I think we really want to play to win, not just play to go."