As of now, the Chittenango volleyball teams work in different spheres, with one rolling through every single opponent while the other gets bogged down in long battles.
Take the matches of Jan. 12, where in the girls portion the Bears, remaining undefeated, swept Weedsport 25-8, 25-19, 25-20 as the boys needed five sets to beat Mount Markham.
At least, for the Chittenango boys, it was able to win a five-set match, having lost in this same situation to Sauquoit Valley a week earlier.
Here, the Bears won the opener 25-17, but the Mustangs won the second set 25-16 and, in the third set, appeared to get control when it pulled out that set 26-24.
However, Chittenango regrouped and, in the fourth set, stayed alive 25-22, and then got many of the clutch points in the race to 15 points in the final set to win it 15-9.
Seth Kimball finished with 15 kills, while Zephaniah Scott had eight kills. Keith Spurgeon and Brandon Turner both earned five kills and Austin Strickler got four kills and four blocks.
On the Bears’ back line, Tom McIntosh and Noah Watson split the setting duties, McIntosh getting 17 assists and Watson 16 assists along with four kills. Defensively, Caleb Barnard had 12 digs and Griffin Furco 10 digs as Kimball contributed seven digs.
Then Chittenango faced Oneida last Tuesday, having swept the Indians a week earlier. But here the Bears lost the first two sets 25-17 and 25-21, and despite a 25-17 win in the third set, it could not quite complete the comeback, falling 25-23 to Oneida in the fourth.
McIntosh got 11 assists and five aces, Watson adding nine assists. Kimball, with nine kills, paced a balanced front line as Strickler got eight kills and Spurgeon earned seven kills. Barnard (eight digs), Furco (seven digs) and Josh Mattia (six digs) led the defense.
The first of two matches against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill on Thursday night also went five sets. Chittenango lost the opener 25-16 and claimed the next two sets, 25-20 and 26-24.
Yet the Bears could not hold on, the Red Devils taking the fourth set 25-16 and pulling out the final set 16-14 to overcome 25 assists from McIntosh and 22 assists from Watson.
Kimball, in addition to his 10 kills, earned 15 digs as Nick Callahan emerged to get 15 kills, three aces and eight digs. Spurgeon notched nine kills, with Scott and Strickler earning six kills apiece.
Back on Jan. 12, the Chittenango girls handled Weedsport the way it had so many others, with Tyla Cutrie gaining 11 kills as Savannah Penoyer and Jada Musciat had four kills apiece.
Sydney Pellman got three kills, as did Bela Cutrie, whose 10 assists complemented the seven assists from Shelby Maring. Carolyn Myka managed three kills and four assists. Katie Simmons and Natalie Cowburn had one assist apiece.
Chittenango then routed Port Byron 25-7 in the first set before taking the next two sets 25-19 and 25-16, with Tyla Cutrie dominant at the net thanks to 20 kills.
Penoyer picked up five kills and five digs, with Pellman adding four kills and six digs. Brenna Stanton also had six digs as Bayla Cutrie earned 11 assists and eight digs, with Maring earning 16 assists and six digs.
In Friday night’s 25-10, 25-16, 25-13 win over Pulaski, Bayla Cutrie had a season-best 10 kills to go with 16 assists as Tyla Cutrie notched 14 kills and five digs. Maring got 19 assists and Pellman managed six aces as the Bears got its 13th consecutive match sweep this winter.
