One common thread that the East Syracuse Minoa and Christian Brothers Academy girls volleyball teams would have in the last week of the regular season was both of them having to take on the challenge of the Chittenango Bears.

ESM would go first, and nearly pulled it off, getting within two points of victory in the fourth set before squandering that opportunity and then taking a five-set defeat to the Bears.

Chittenango prevailed, 25-13, in the opening set, but ESM got even, 25-21, in the second set and then claimed a closely fought third set 25-23 to move out in front, putting the Bears in danger.

During the fourth set, the Spartans roared to a 19-12 lead, but then gave up seven straight points as Chittenango tied it. Unfazed, the Spartans answered with four straight points, only to see Chittenango come back again and tie it, 23-23. Twice, the Bears could not convert on set points and moved closer to defeat, but at 25-25 it pulled ahead again and, finally, closed it out, 27-25, prolonging the match.

With ESM playing its second five-set match in as many days. the Bears cruised through the final set 25-12 as, in defeat, Isabella Talarico had 30 assists, while Kathryn Mangovski offered up nine kills and 13 digs. Julianna Cacade had eight kills as Dana Mascari gained five kills and Claire Maring earned four kills.

On Chittenango’s side, Megan Mayer had 13 kills, while Tyla Cutrie earned 12 kills Emily Wood got 24 digs. Ashley Young, with 18 digs, and Mya Streiff, with 16 digs, offered defensive help. Allie Cerio put together 23 assists, nine digs, three kills and two aces, while Hannah Bailey had 18 assists, eight digs, and also got three kills and two aces.

All of this followed a tense Senior Night match last Monday against Cortland, which went five long sets before the Spartans subdued the Purple Tigers.

The first set reflected what would happen the rest of the night, Cortland going beyond the wire to take it 26-24, only to have ESM pull out a similarly close 25-23 decision in the second set to pull even.

Again, the third set went past the point limit and, again, the Purple Tigers won it, 27-25, but that only seemed to anger the Spartans, who responded with a more comfortable 25-17 win in the fourth set. The close pattern repeated in the fifth set, though, and getting the points it needed at the end, ESM pulled it out, 25-23.

Through it all, Talarico earned 36 assists. Sophia Zacharek had 11 kills and nine digs, with Mangovski adding nine kills and 15 digs. Cacace and Gillianne McCarthy had seven kills apiece and Samantha Wysoki got six digs. Cortland saw Chloe Bush get 30 assists and 12 digs and Kristin Bush add 37 digs as Kacie Hubbard (10 kills, 18 digs) and Caitlyn Ruggiero (nine kills, five aces, 16 digs) helped out.

ESM still had two more matches left, starting with Thursday’s battle with Syracuse Academy of Science. The Spartans swept the Atoms 25-8, 25-5, 25-6, earning 18 aces, six of them by McCarthy and five by Nicole Hillegas to go with five kills. Cacace earned seven kills and Talarico produced 14 assists.

Finally, the Spartans met Port Byron on Friday and, despite playing for a fourth time in five nights, topped the Panthers 25-19, 25-16, 25-10. Talarico, earning 15 assists, fed it to Mangovski and Aubrey Williams, who had five kills apiece. Zacharek added four kills and seven digs.

Meanwhile, CBA took its turn against Chittenango on Thursday night, run over 25-6 in the first set and beaten 25-17 in the second set before it claimed the third set 25-21 to prolong the match – where the Bears, alert to the danger, closed it out, 25-14, in the fourth.

Liz Adams still had 11 assists, five digs and three kills, with Sydney Congel and Amanda Fess each getting four kills. Amanda Fess tacked on 10 digs as Alexandra Fess, Adrianna Fess and Catherine Burns got seven digs apiece. Wood (12 kills) and Cerio (21 assists) led Chittenango, who improved to 14-1 as CBA fell to 9-8.

Returning to action last Tuesday, Manlius-Pebble Hill met Fabius-Pompey, a team it pushed to five sets earlier this season. Here, though, the Falcons did not drop a set as it knocked off the Trojans 25-23, 25-20, 25-16.

Gradually, F-P took over, negating some fine efforts from, among others, KayLee Steiner, who had 10 assists, nine digs and five kills, plus two aces. Sophie Novak added seven kills, five blocks and six digs, with Jordan Dunaway-Barlow adding five kills, six digs, three aces and two assists. Maggie Carmen had 14 digs and Julia Walsh added five digs.

Against Faith Heritage two nights later, MPH split the first two sets with the Saints, but pulled out close decisions in the third and fourth sets to earn a 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20 decision. Novak put away 18 kills and four aces, often fed by Steiner, who earned 27 assists and seven aces. Carmen had 10 aces. Dunaway-Barlow got seven aces, plus six kills.

Then MPH had its own match with Chittenango Friday and only got close in the second set of a 25-10, 25-21, 25-16 defeat to the Bears. Novak still had seven kills and five blocks, while Carmen earned 14 digs as Dunaway-Barlow got nine digs and Steiner had seven digs, plus four assists.