In the year it moved up into the OHSL Freedom division, the Christian Brothers Academy girls volleyball team became a regular-season title contender.
The Brothers made up a snowed-out Dec. 22 match with Chittenango last Monday night and swept the Bears 26-24, 25-19, 27-25.
Each time it needed the big points down the stretch, CBA delivered, going in front and preventing Chittenango from making any comeback attempt.
Lindsay Boland earned 12 kills, just as Jessie Bongiovanni had six kills. Haley Hornstein and Lianna Artessa earned four kills apiece, all fed by Alex Horwitch’s 17 assists.
From there, the Brothers went back home to Buddy Wleklinski Court a night later and beat Cortland in a 25-10, 25-20, 25-18 sweep.
Horowitch had 12 assists and three aces this time around, with Artessa pounding out nine aces to go with her seven kills. Boland gained six kills, with Megan Underwood adding three kills.
CBA made it three wins in four nights on Thursday, topping Mexico in four. After taking the first two games 25-16 and 25-18, the Brothers nearly squandered that edge, dropping the third game 25-13 and nearly the fourth game before edging the Tigers 25-23 to close it out.
Bongiovanni, with 11 kills, and Artessa, with nine kills and four blocks, split front-line duties with Hornstein, who had six kills. Megan Underwood added four kills. Horowitch earned 26 assists.
In the culmination of this big stretch, the Brothers went after first-place Fulton Saturday, only to lose in four games to the Red Raiders.
Down after losing the first game 25-16, CBA pulled out a long second game 31-29, but the game took a toll. Fulton, sensing this, dominated the rest of the way, claiming the next two games by scores of 25-13 and 25-12.
Boland (nine kills), Artessa (eight kills), Bongiovanni (six kills) and Hornstein (five kills, three blocks) shared front-line duties as Horovitch got 18 assists. Fulton had Ariel Streeter, with 24 assists, feeding it to Brianna Streeter (13 kills) and Megan O’Bryan (nine kills) up front.
On that same Saturday, East Syracuse-Minoa had a head-to-head meeting with Jamesville-DeWitt and beat the Red Rams in four games.
The Spartans jumped out in front 2-0, taking the first game 25-20 and pulling out the second game 26-24. Though J-D prolonged the match by winning the third game 25-20, ESM closed it out in a 25-21 fourth game.
Kara LaBarge stood out for the Spartans with 19 kills, as Andee Fox added 11 kills. Kelly Markert and Mallory Martino each had five kills. Brittany Siechen fed them all with 37 assists. J-D had Ally Chaiken pick up 31 assists, many of them to Meredith Howe, who had 19 kills.