More than a week after it appeared in Canastota’s Marcia Laidlaw Tournament on Dec. 27, the Chittenango girls volleyball team did quite well in its return to league action.
The Bears went to Cato-Meridian last Monday night and had a steady, strong effort, taking just three sets to put away the Blue Devils 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 and improve to 4-2 on the season.
Allie Cerio, who finished with 23 assists, saw most of her passes go to Corrin Stelakis, who had 11 kills, and Brianna Koegel, who earned 10 kills. Emily Wood picked up five kills as Ashley Jackowski contributed four kills and three blocks.
The Bears followed up on Wednesday with another impressive effort against Weedsport, again needing just three sets as it earned a 25-16, 25-6, 25-19 sweep of the Warriors.
Stelakis led the front line, earning nine kills. Wood managed six kills and Claire Charde got four kills. Cerio, with 15 assists, and Laura Kohler, with seven assists, split back-line duties as Ashley Young recorded eight digs. Lauren Malloy and Allie Centorelli had five digs apiece as Koegel stepped up with three kills and four digs.
And in Friday night’s match against CBA, the Bears (6-3) won in four sets to complete a 3-0 week. Stunned by the Brothers 25-13 in the opener, Chittenango responded with a 25-7 romp in the second set to pull even, and then stopped won the next two sets by 25-15 and 25-17 margins.
Cerio had 16 assists, plus three aces, as Kohler managed nine assists and Ashley Young gained 11 digs. Up front, Stelakis led with seven kills, with Charde and Emily Wood each earning six kills. Brianna Koegel had four kills and five digs as Ashley Jackowski contributed three kills and four blocks.
As for Chittenango’s boys volleyball team, it had its league opener against Sauquoit Valley postponed on Tuesday, a week after it debuted Dec. 30 with a strong showing in Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s “Spiking In the New Year” Tournament.
During pool play, the Bears swept Little Falls 25-14, 25-19, and then split two sets with Cobleskill-Richmondville. Sweeps followed over Central Valley Academy and Sauquoit Valley, putting Chittenango at 5-1 for the day.
And that led to the decisive two sets against host VVS, who was 6-0 for the day. Needing to win the opener, the Bears did so, using nine unanswered points in that set to erase an early 6-2 deficit and dominating the rest of the way to earn a 25-10 victory.
That momentum carried over into the final set, when Chittenango took a 12-7 lead. But poor serves hurt the Bears and the Red Devils roared back to tie it, 16-16, and then won nine of the final 11 points to prevail, 25-18, and take the tournament for (ironically enough) the ninth time in its 11-year history. Both Tyler Howard and Mike McIntosh snared All-Tournament honors.
The league schedule commenced on Wednesday night, and Chittenango was ready for it, taking just three sets to sweep past Sauquoit Valley 25-17, 25-13, 25-13.
Howard, with five kills, nine assists and two aces, led the Bears’ efforts. Nash Boyd also had nine assists, adding three aces, while Brad Markowski had four kills, two aces and two assists. McIntosh, Connor Martin and Jack Wandersee each picked up three kills as Kyle Brazell earned four digs.
