Few area high school girls volleyball matches the rest of the winter might top what happened between Christian Brothers Academy and Port Byron last Monday night, in terms of the severe momentum shifts.
The Brothers lost the first set 25-19, and were two points from a bigger deficit before pulling out the second set 27-25 over the Panthers. Then it got crazier.
A long third set saw both sides squander several set points before CBA pulled out the marathon 32-30 to take the lead, only to give up that margin thanks to Port Byron dominating the fourth set 25-9.
The final set proved just as close as the second and third, but just like in those sets the Brothers earned the key late points it needed to pull it out 25-23 and claim the match.
Grace Glowaki produced 19 assists, her passes going to Delaney Della Donna (six kills, two aces) and Kristen DeLorenzo (five kills, three aces) as DeLorenzo also got 26 digs. Catherine Burns managed 14 digs and five aces. Port Byron got 27 assists from Olivia Martens, 11 kills from Nadia Eley and 18 digs from Jessica Suslick.
Remarkably, that was the first of three different five-set matches played by local teams this week, all of them won
East Syracuse Minoa had its battle at Rome Free Academy on Thursday night, where it won the first set 25-15, only to drop the next two sets by equal 25-21 margins before claiming the fourth set 25-21 and then finishing off the Black Knights 25-17 in the fifth set to improve its record to 3-0.
Isabella Talarico was a force throughout the match for the Spartans, putting together 19 assists but also getting nine digs, four kills and two blocks. Kat Boland and Megan Travis earned four aces apiece.
Aubrie Williams, with eight kills and seven digs, led a deep ESM front line where Riley Abbot got seven kills and seven digs and Franchesca Polcaro had six kills and six digs. Gillianne McCarthy had five kills.
Finally, on Friday, Manlius-Pebble Hill, who was swept 25-10, 25-16, 25-21 by Onondaga earlier in the week, got into a long battle with Faith Heritage.
Dropping the first set 25-21, the Trojans routed the Saints 25-7 in the second and won the third set 25-22, only to lose the fourth set 25-20 before MPH pulled away in the final set to win 25-17.
Mariah Rinaldi led with 12 aces, 11 digs and nine kills, while Ren Brown produced 30 assists. Phoebe Ambron had seven kills and seven digs as Anna Szombathy had eight digs. Liza Bruno earned four aces as Sarah Smith got four kills and three aces. Claudia Cook and Halle Erwin both had three kills and two aces.
Before all this, ESM welcomed Camden for its home opener last Tuesday night. The Spartans battled through 25-19 and 25-20 wins in the first two sets before closing out the Blue Devils 25-13 in the third set for the sweep.
Along with her eight assists, Talarico managed five kills and five digs. Arrica Williams also had five digs as Boland added three kills. Aubrie Williams added four digs and two kills as Shaina Brilbeck picked up three aces.
CBA went from the long battle with Port Byron to a Thursday match with Pulaski, and could not quite produce the same magic, winning the first set 25-19 but falling in the next two sets to the Blue Devils by 25-20 margins and the fourth set 25-17.
Anna Jenkins and Zoe Campanino each had 12 assists for CBA as Burns and Della Donna got six kills apiece. Burns also had four aces and eight digs as DeLorenzo gained 18 digs and Jillian Hopkins had eight digs, with Campanino contributing seven digs and Jenkins six digs.
