While it took until it13th match of the season for the Chittenango girls volleyball team to drop a set against any opponent, the setback proved to be a big one.
The clash of two reigning Section III champions last Monday night turned into a showcase for Tully, who defended its home court and defeated the Bears in three sets.
While Chittenango had roared to a dominant 12-0 start, Tully had done the exact same thing. What’s more, the Black Knights had also not lost a set in any of those matches, either.
Thus, whichever team took the opening set when these teams got together would not only get an advantage on the scoreboard, but also earn a big psychological boost. And it was a close set, with runs on both ends.
But Tully finished in front by a narrow 25-23 margin, and kept building momentum throughout the night, taking the second set 25-19 and closing out the Bears 25-14 in the third set.
Tyla Cutrie had 10 kills and 17 digs, with Megan Mayer also getting 17 digs to go with her eight kills. On the back line, Tiffany Scofield had 10 assists and 12 digs and Shelby Maring got eight assists as Alyssa Bates finished with 11 digs.
Meanwhile, the Black Knights featured Alexi Hamilton, who put away 24 kills, nearly a set’s worth of points, plus 13 digs. Grace Chaffee also stood out with 29 assists, six kills, nine digs and three aces as Morgan Hiltbrand matched Hamilton’s total of 13 digs.
While waiting for a rematch at home against Tully this week, the Bears took care of other opponents, starting with a visit from Cato-Meridian 24 hours after the defeat to the Black Knights.
Chittenango routed the Blue Devils 25-5, 25-6, 25-10, with Sydney Pellman setting the tone through her nine aces, also getting four kills as Cutrie finished with six kills.
All told, the Bears had 24 aces as Brenna Stanton had five of them and Scofield getting four aces to go with 11 assists. Mayer, who had eight kills, and Natalie Cowburn had two aces apiece. Cowburn and Katie Simmons had four assists apiece.
Then, against Christian Brothers Academy Friday night, the Bears swept the Brothers 25-15, 25-20, 25-14. Mayer had nine kills, with Cutrie adding eight kills and Alyssa Bates getting six kills.
In boys volleyball, Chittenango took on Canastota last Tuesday night and quickly found out that the Raiders’ hot start was not an illusion, the Bears taking a 25-13, 25-16, 25-19 defeat.
Tim Ryder still had 11 assists, with Seth Spurgeon getting four kills and eight digs as Griffin Smith got three kills and nine digs. Jacob Graham had five digs and Griffin Furco four digs.
For Canastota, Ian Torkelson had 18 kills, helped on the front line by Sam Snow (eight kills) and Lucas Barnello (seven kills) as Sam Cesario had 18 assists and Ethan Findlay had 11 assists. Torkelson had seven digs and Zach Blanchard notched six digs and three aces.
Rebounding on Thursday night, Chittenango swept Mount Markham, dominating the first set 25-11, and then battling hard to beat the Mustangs 25-22 and 27-25 in the next two sets.
Smith augmented his 12 kills by getting five aces and seven digs, while Graham managed 18 digs to go with seven kills. Seth and Keith Spurgeon each had seven digs and combined for nine kills as Nick Callahan got eight kills. All of them were fed by passes from Ryder, who put up 28 assists, three aces and four digs.
In Saturday’s match against Westmoreland, the Bears lost the first set 25-15, but claimed the second set by that same margin and then pulled out a close 25-23 win in the third set before closing out the Bulldogs 25-20 in the fourth.
Through the battle, Ryder picked up 30 assists, with Smith and Callahan both getting nine kills to lead a balanced front line. Graham and Keith Spurgeon had seven kills apiece as Ryder picked up five kills. Keith Spurgeon had eight digs and Callahan earned five digs.
