Not only did the Chittenango girls volleyball team have a chance to end a 37-year Section III championship drought, it could do so in front of the home fans.
The opportunity arrived Saturday night, when the no. 2 seed Bears would try and upend unbeaten, top-seeded Carthage (whose last title came back in 1981) in the Class A final.
Regardless of the result, someone’s long wait for a sectional banner would end. And it was The Comets getting the best of it, knocking off Chittenango in a four-set battle.
Chittenango had hosted winter sectional volleyball finals for years, but this was the first time it would actually take part in the festivities, and a loud home crowd was on hand, braving the bad weather to see if the Bears would do something historic.
Carthage wanted otherwise, and it broke open a close opening set at 14-14 when Marissa Ixtlahuac hit back-to-back kills, and the fired-up Comets went on to close the set with a 9-2 run to take it by a 25-17 margin.
It was just as close early in the second set, and again a big run happened – but this time, Chittenango engineered it, as strong serves by Allie Cerio led to 10 straight points and, by that same score of 25-17, the Bears evened the match.
Unfazed by this, Carthage led throughout the third set, starting 5-1 and only getting worried when Chittenango, down 23-16, scored four straight points before a pair of Bears hitting errors ended the set 25-20 in the Comets’ favor.
Trying to end it, Carthage went on a 9-1 tear early in the fourth set. From there, Chittenango never got closer than 17-14, and the Comets, in yet another 25-17 decision, put away the sectional championship.
Cerio finished with 23 assists, many of her passes going to Corrin Stelakis, who had 19 kills. Emily Wood had six kills to go with her 16 digs as Ashley Young added 17 digs. Hannah Bailey matched Cerio’s three aces.
Everyone on Carthage’s side played superb defense, starting with Jenna Scott, who had 33 digs. Hannah Fifield had 21 digs to go with 11 kills as Ixtlahuac added 10 kills and four blocks. Bryanna Gagnon had 15 digs and nine kills as Kerri McHale earned 19 assists.
In order to play at home, Chittenango, who hadn’t reached a sectional final since 2004, first had to go on the road for its sectional Class A semifinal last Tuesday against no. 6 seed Cortland, who had taken out no. 3 seed Oneida in the quarterfinal round.
But the Purple Tigers could not pull off another surprise, seeing the Bears get crucial points late in the first and third sets to complete a sweep.
Cortland took a 14-11 lead in the opening set, only to have Chittenango go on a 6-1 run to move out in front and eventually take the set 25-20. The second set broke open when the Bears buried the Purple Tigers with an 11-1 burst on the way to a 25-11 decision.
Then, in the third set, the two sides went through 11 ties, but Chittenango, down 18-17, called a time-out, and then reeled off four straight points to take the lead for good, eventually winning that set 25-21 to close it out.
Wood set the tone with 25 digs to go with her four kills, while Young had 15 digs and Lauren Malloy 10 digs. Cerio, with 14 assists, and Bailey, with eight assists, fed their passes to Stelakis, who put away 16 kills. Cerio and Leslie Choi both finished with four kills as Allie Santorelli and Mackenzie Stevens each had four digs.
