Speeding toward the end of their respective regular-season slates, the East Syracuse Minoa, Christian Brothers Academy and Manlius-Pebble Hill girls volleyball team wanted to take some momentum into the Section III playoffs.
ESM and CBA would both face Chittenango, with the Spartans going first on Tuesday night. Though none of the sets proved one-sided, ESM always found itself a step or two behind the Bears, who prevailed by margins of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18.
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.
On Chittenango’s side, Tyla Cutrie put away 21 kills, helped by passes from Shelby Maring (19 assists) and Tiffany Scofield (17 digs) as Mya Streiff (20 digs) and Alyssa Bates (15 digs, five aces and three kills) led the defense.
On Thursday night, CBA took its turn against Chittenango, but didn’t get close in any of the three sets as the Bears pulled off a 25-15, 25-11, 25-14 sweep. Cutrie had 14 kills as Streiff earned 13 digs, with Maring (20 assists) and Scofield (14 assists) continuing to excel on the back line as the Brothers fell to 8-7 on the season.
CBA started its week by facing Cortland last Monday, and prevailing in four sets. The Brothers won a tough opening 27-25 first set that proved a cushion against a 25-22 defeat in the second set.
From there, CBA wore the Purple Tigers down, claiming the third and fourth sets by 25-14 and 25-18 margins, this despite Cortland’s Kristin Bush accumulating 42 digs and Chloe Bush earning 23 assists to go with eight digs and three aces.
Right after it lost to Chittenango, ESM visited Cortland in Wednesday night’s regular-season finale.. The Spartans lost the first set 25-22, but after rolling through the second set 25-13, it edged the Purple Tigers 26-24 in the pivotal third set, riding that momentum all the way to a 25-16 clincher in the fourth to improve its record to 12-6.
Through it all, McCarthy put away 17 kills and added five blocks, helped on the front line by Aubrey Williams, who had nine kills and three blocks. Arrica Williams and Sophia Zacharek each had five kills as, for Cortland, Chloe Bush led with 21 assists and 12 digs, while Kayci Olson had 10 kills.
Far from all this, Manlius-Pebble Hill ran into Onondaga last Tuesday night, and could not grab a set from the Tigers, though it came close in the second when it lost, 27-25, to the Tigers in between a 25-19 first set and a 25-11 romp by OCS in the third set.
Ren Brown still managed 16 assists and six digs, with Mariah Rinaldi getting 13 digs and Anna Szombathy adding 12 digs. Julia Walsh had seven digs to go with two aces, two kills and two assists as Sophie Novak produced four kills, four blocks and three digs.
When the Section III playoff pairings came out, ESM owned the no. 5 seed in Class A, and is going on the road Friday for its quarterfinal against no. 4 seed Watertown, needing a win to advance to next week’s semifinal against top seed Carthage (who have a 57-match win streak) or no. 8 seed Indian River.
CBA had the no. 7 seed in Class B, having to travel to face no. 2 seed Canastota in Thursday night’s quarterfinals, with the winner getting a semifinal against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill or Oneida. As the no. 7 seed in Class D, MPH would meet no. 2 seed Blessed Virgin Mary Thursday for a spot in the semifinals against Stockbridge Valley or Morrisville-Eaton.
