Beginning its winter campaign, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 deficit to beat Chittenango in five sets in last Tuesday night’s opener.

The Bears won both of the first two sets by slim margins of 25-20 and 25-23. Refusing to get discouraged, the Red Rams echoed Chittenango’s work by winning the third set 25-20 and the fourth set 25-23, and would cruise to a 25-16 win in the final set.

Mike Alfieris, with 19 assists, and Walker Masicat, with 18 assists, worked on J-D’s back line. Jesse Evensky led with 15 kills and nine digs, while Max Bregande added 11 kills and Tom Lukow got nine kills. Terrance Smith added five kills. Mike Messinger (13 kills, 12 assists) and Tanner Makowski (14 assists, seven kills) led the Bears.

Two nights later, J-D lost to Living Word Academy in three close sets 25-20, 25-23, 25-22. Bregande still had 10 aces, while Smith picked up nine kills, Evensky six kills and Alec Thompson five kills. Tom Lukow contributed nine digs.

In a head-to-head match on Friday night, Christian Brothers Academy would defeat East Syracuse-Minoa in four sets.

They split the first two sets, CBA claiming the opener 25-23 and ESM earning a 25-21 decision in the second set. In the pivotal third set, the Brothers earned the key late points and won, 25-23, and then cruised through the fourth set 25-14.

Kelly Bewley combined 10 kills and 10 assists, while Sophie Racciatti had 11 kills, nine digs and eight aces. Claire Gollegly finished with 16 assists, five aces and four kills, while Marisa Hamel (six kills) and Kara Dell’uomo (five kills) also helped on the front line. Meg Hannan had 11 digs.

On ESM’s side, Safira Lubenovic led with seven kills, with Morgan Sokolic adding five kills and Rachle Aird serving up six aces. Kaitlyn Shagunessy managed 21 assists, with Melissa Azzolino (10 digs) and Olivia Chopskie (six digs) offering defensive support.

Prior to that, CBA went up against undefeated Tully on Wednesday night. Again, the first two sets were split, the Black Knights winning the opener 25-19 and the Brothers taking the second set 25-21, and again the opponent would close it out, Tully prevailing 25-18 and 25-23 in the next two sets.

Still, CBA nearly took the Black Knights to a fifth set. Bewley, with 12 assists and four kills, and Gollegly, with 10 assists, worked on the back line as Hamel had eight kills and seven digs. Dell’uomo had five kills and three aces as Meg Hannan added six digs.

Earlier in the week, ESM could not knock off unbeaten Homer. After losing the first set 25-18, the Spartans did pull out the second set 26-24, only to have the undefeated Trojans prevail 25-15 in the third set and 25-20 in the fourth set.

Shaughnessy finished with 20 assists. Chopskie (seven kills), Aird (six kills) and Lubenovic (five kills) shared front-line work as Homer’s Katie Sinclair (14 kills, eight aces) and Taryn Heath (34 assists) stood out.

Bishop Grimes defeated Manlius-Pebble Hill 25-14, 25-13, 25-13 on Thursday night. Abby Rogers led the Cobras with 10 assists and five aces, while Alexis Verone added four aces and Ashley Morgan picked up four kills.