That 15-1 record the Chittenango girls volleyball team attained in the regular season meant that it held the top seed for the Section III Class B playoffs, with a chance to possibly compete in the sectional final on its home court.
Getting there would require the Bears to win twice in the sectional tournament, starting in Thursday night’s quarterfinal against no. 8 seed Holland Patent. In the first set, Chittenango prevailed 25-14, and after a 25-18 decision in the second set, the Bears finished off the Golden Knights 25-12 in the third set for the sweep.
Tyla Cutrie was unstoppable at the net, putting away nearly a set’s worth of kills – 24 in all. She also had four aces, the same total as Alyssa Bates, who picked up eight digs, as Megan Mayer got 13 digs to go with five kills.
Defensively, Mya Streiff again led with 18 digs, adding two aces and two kills. Next to her, Shelby Maring had seven digs, but did more important work as a setter, earning 13 assists to share duties with Tiffany Scofield, who had 15 assists and five digs.
This advances Chittenango to next Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against no. 5 seed Lowville, who beat no. 4 seed Clinton in straight sets. The winner gets to next Saturday’s 2 p.m. final on the Bears’ home court against no. 2 seed Canastota or no. 3 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
Meanwhile, the unbeaten run of the Chittenango boys volleyball team continued without serious resistance. In last Monday’s match against Oneida, the Bears had its toughest challenge in a 25-17 opening set, but then smashed the Indians in the next two sets by 25-9 and 25-7 margins.
Michael Culkin, with four assists, and Griffin Smith, with three assists, set the tone. Up front, Grant Czarnecki augmented his two aces with eight kills and three blocks, while Zach Wisey had seven kills. Culkin got four kills and four digs as Ryan Pitt had three kills. Tim Ryder had 18 assists as Jacob Graham earned six digs and Tom Rooney five digs.
Two nights later, Chittenango was back home, facing Canastota, and it proved a bit tougher. The first set was tight, yet the Bears pulled it out 25-22, going on to take the second set 25-12 and then resisting another tough battle from the Raiders in the third set to finish off the sweep 25-20.
Ryder gained 25 assists this time around, and Pitt helped out, earning 11 assists to go with eight kills. Czarnecki managed 10 kills as Culkin got eight kills and nine digs.
Graham gained nine digs and Smith earned eight digs to go with three blocks as Graham, Culkin and Czarnecki each gained a pair of aces. Roone y had five digs and Cooper Young four digs. For Canastota, Zack Rogers picked up six kills and Sam Cesario picked up 17 assists.
On Thursday night, just before the girls playoff match with Holland Patent, the Chittenango boys played for the third time in four days, hosting Oneida, and rolled through the first set 25-12. Tough battles in the next two sets followed, but the Bears won them both, topping the Indians by 25-21 and 25-23 margins for yet another sweep.
Increasing his total to 31 assists, Ryder also had nine digs, helped on defense by Graham’s 13 digs as Young added 10 digs and Rooney got six digs as Justin Makowski contributed five digs. Culkin matched Young’s 10 digs and also got six kills as part of a front line where Czarnecki recorded 12 kills, Wisey eight kills and Pitt six kills.
