A pair of private-school girls volleyball winter programs went head-to-head last Monday night, and Christian Brothers Academy got the best of it, needing four sets to record a victory over Manlius-Pebble Hill.
As it turned out, the first set was more important than anyone would realize. The Trojans had numerous chances to pull it out, but at 24-24 the Brothers regained the serve and got the set point it needed to win it, 26-24.
This gave CBA a cushion it would need after MPH rolled through the second set 25-15 to even the match. Having absorbed the Trojans’ best shot, the Brothers steadily worked its way to a 25-18 win in the third set and closed it out, 25-19, in the fourth set.
Catherine Burns, with six aces, two kills and six digs, set CBA’s tone, one continued by Logan Congel, who had six kills, and Sydney Congel, who had five kills and three blocks. Liz Hucko finished with eight assists as Kristen DeLorenzo was superb on the defensive end, earning 20 digs. Bella Vlassis contributed three digs.
East Syracuse Minoa met Fabius-Pompey Wednesday night following a 24-hour weather postponement, and the delay did little to hurt the Spartans, who crushed the Falcons 25-10 in the first set and went on to win the next two sets by 25-22 and 25-18 margins to complete the sweep.
On ESM’s front line, Gillianne McCarthy led the way with nine kills, while Aubrey Williams had seven kills and two blocks. Arrica Williams added five kills as Sophia Zacharek got three aces and three digs, with Claire Maring adding five digs. Isabella Talarico set up those points thanks to her 17 assists, Talarico adding two blocks.
Then, on Thursday night, ESM prevailed again. Against Port Byron, winning the first two sets by 25-21 and 25-18 margins, and though the Panthers claimed the third set in its own 25-21 decision, ESM closed it out with another 25-18 win in the fourth set.
Talarico improved her total to 22 assists, adding three kills. McCarthy and Aubrey Williams each got eight kills, with Williams adding three blocks as Maring and MaryKate Deeb both earned a pair of aces. Arrica Williams and Samantha Wysoki had three digs apiece.
MPH moved on from the CBA defeat and, on Thursday night, beat Fabius-Pompey in four sets. Much like ESM’s match with Port Byron, the Trojans won the first two sets, by margins of 25-22 and 25-21, and lost the third set, 25-12, but a 25-15 romp in the fourth set finished off the Falcons.
Ren Brown earned 28 assists, adding three kills. Many of Brown’s passes went to Sophie Novak, who had 16 kills and four blocks, plus three aces. Julia Walsh and Mariah Rinaldi each had four kills, with Julia Mettler-Grove earning three aces. Maggie Carmen got 13 digs, adding three kills and two aces. Walsh got nine digs as Mettler-Grove contributed six digs.
