After waiting four decades for a Section III championship, the Chittenango girls volleyball team only had to go 12 more months before earning the next one.
The top-seeded Bears never dropped a set in the 2018 edition of the sectional tournament, capping its run with an emphatic three-set sweep of no. 3 seed Lowville on its home court Saturday night.
In each of the other three classes, no. 1 seeds fell before the sectional final, from Blessed Virgin Mary (to Manlius-Pebble Hill) in the Class D quarterfinals to semifinal upsets of Tully in Class C by eventual champion Sandy Creek and of Carthage in Class A by Watertown, who ended the Comets’ incredible 78-match win streak.
Chittenango avoided all of this trouble, sweeping no. 8 seed South Jefferson in the quarterfinals and doing the same to no. 5 seed Oneida in the semifinals earlier this week.
Yet the most emphatic effort was saved for Lowville, who had made its way past CBA and then toppled no. 2 seed Canastota in the semifinals, but never had a chance to get established against the Bears.
With Jackie Kohler serving, Chittenango earned the first point, opened up a 6-0 margin before the Red Raiders used a time-out, and got six more points after that to gain a 12-0 advantage.
It took less than 15 minutes for the set to end 25-7 in the Bears’ favor, and only because Lowville staved off three set points. The combination of strong serves, consistent defense and unmatched power would continue to push Chittenango along.
In the second set, the Bears scored the first five points on Tiffany Scofield’s serves, and built the margin to 17-3 before cooling off, still claiming the set 25-13.
Lowville actually led a couple of times early in the third set, but from a 4-4 tie Chittenango gained four consecutive points and pulled away again, closing out the match 25-12 and breezing to the sectional title.
Tyla Cutrie put away 23 kills, adding seven digs. Megan Mayer had 10 kills and eight digs, with Alyssa Bates recording nine digs and Brenna Stanton getting five digs. Scofield notched 17 assists and six digs as fellow setter Shelby Maring had 14 assists and three aces.
Weather had compressed the post-season schedule, making Chittenango go through the entire sectional tournament in a six-day span.
It didn’t even get into the quarterfinal round until last Monday night, but wasn’t fazed by the delays as it swept aside no. 9 seed South Jefferson 25-12, 25-10, 25-17.
Mayer managed 18 kills and added 10 digs, with Cutrie adding 10 kills and five blocks. Bates added seven digs as Maring earned 15 assists and Scofield contributed 14 assists.
This led to Wednesday night’s sectional semifinal at Clinton High School against no. 5 seed Oneida, who needed five sets to fight past Central Valley Academy in its quarterfinal on Feb. 8 and had not met the Bears in the regular season.
In an emphatic opening set, Chittenango prevailed 25-8. Though the Indians got closer in each of the next two sets, the Bears won those, too, by margins of 25-16 and 25-22.
Cutrie put away 21 kills, adding four blocks and six digs as Mayer had 12 kills and seven digs. Scofield earned 19 assists and Maring picked up 14 assists as Stanton gained seven digs and Bates also had six digs.
