With a superb 14-1 regular season behind them, the Chittenango girls volleyball team could now focus on trying to snare a Section III Class A winter championship.
In the eight-team Class A bracket, the Bears hold the top seed, and will host no. 8 seed Holland Patent Thursday night at 7:30 in the quarterfinals. The winner gets no. 4 seed Clinton or no. 5 seed Lowville in the semifinals, and the finals are Feb. 18 on Chittenango’s home floor at 2 p.m.
Further proof of the Bears’ quality was found in last Tuesday’s match against East Syracuse Minoa. Though none of the sets proved one-sided, the Spartans always found itself a step or two behind the Bears, who prevailed by margins of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18.
Tyla Cutrie led Chittenango as she put away 21 kills, helped by passes from Shelby Maring, who had 19 assists, and Tiffany Scofield, who got 17 assists. Mya Streiff excelled on the defensive side with 20 digs as Alyssa Bates got 15 digs, plus five aces and three kills.
For ESM, Isabella Talarico managed 15 assists, as Aubrey Williams led ESM with five kills. Sophia Zacharek added four kills and six digs as Arrica Williams and Gilliane McCarthy each got three kills. Claire Maring earned seven digs and Franchesca Polcaro contributed five digs.
Two nights later, the Bears closed the regular season by hosting Christian Brothers Academy, and once more Chittenango rolled, with a 25-15 opening set the closest of the three as it rolled through the second set 25-11 and the third set 25-14.
Maring finished with 20 assists, while Scofield gained 10 assists. Many of those passes went to Cutrie, who earned 14 kills as Bates and Megan Mayer each got five kills. Streiff earned five aces and 13 digs, just ahead of Mayer, who had nine digs, and Bates, who got seven digs. Anna Geiler had four aces as Sydney Pellman and Julie Carosella each gained three digs.
Elsewhere, the Chittenango boys volleyball team kept itself unbeaten with an impressive sweep of Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Friday night. The Bears won the first set 25-18 and got through a close 25-21 second set before routing the Red Devils 25-10 in the third.
Grant Czarnecki put away 14 kills to lead Chittenango’s front line. Ryan Pitt had seven kills and three blocks, while Griffin Smith and Zach Wisey each got four kills. On the Bears’ back line, Tim Ryder accumulated 32 assists as Jacob Graham got 10 digs, Justin Makowski seven digs, Michael Culkin six digs and Tom Rooney five digs.
