Showing remarkable resilience, the Chittenango girls volleyball team turned a possible disaster into a memorable evening of Section III playoff action.

And while the no. 10 seed Bears fell in five games to no. 7 seed Jamesville-DeWitt in the opening round of the Class A tournament last Wednesday night, it gained a lot of respect for the way it battled to the end.

At first blush, this looked to be a brief affair. J-D, fired up and in top form, tore Chittenango apart in the opening game, a 25-8 rout that seemed to indicate that the Bears were overwhelmed by the situation.

But Chittenango shrugged it off, focused again, and made the second game a thriller. J-D had to go beyond the limit to prevail, 27-25, and go up 2-0 in games, but the Bears now believed it had a chance.

The third game was just as close, but the difference was that Chittenango got the points in the end to avert a sweep.

And when it won 25-23, the Bears suddenly had some momentum, which it used to surge in front in the fourth game and breeze to a 25-18 win, sending the match to the wire.

Only in the fifth and final game did Chittenango run out of steam. J-D took that game, 25-14, and would move on to face Mexico in the Class A quarterfinals.