After struggling for long stretches of the winter, the Manlius-Pebble Hill girls volleyball team won consecutive matches on Jan. 11-12, and nearly won three in a row.

Against Pulaski, the Trojans , sporting a 1-8 record at the time, claimed every close point in a 26-24 decision in the first set and, after dropping the second set 25-20, did the same in the third and fourth sets, winning each of them by 25-23 margins to close out the Blue Devils.

Ren Brown put together 17 assists, seven digs, three aces and four kills, while Halle Erwin amassed 23 digs and seven kills. Annie Pratt and Katie Pratt had four kills apiece as Kate Chaffee got 14 digs, with Liv Bigtree and Claudia Cook getting 13 digs apiece.

A match with McGraw followed 24 hours later, MPH this time handling the first two sets 25-19 and 25-16. Though the Eagles won the third set 25-21, the Trojans dominated the fourth set 25-14 to end it.

Brown earned 27 assists, adding five kills and three aces. Chaffee had 16 digs and Bigtree 13 digs as Erwin got nine kills, nine digs and four aces. Cook earned six aces, plus eight kills and six digs. Bigtree got five kills, Annie Pratt had nine digs and Katie Pratt had four kills.

MPH’s third match in four nights took place last Monday, at Weedsport. The Trojans won the opener 25-23, lost the next two sets 25-18 and 25-15 but stayed alive by pulling out the fourth set 25-20 before the Warriors took the final set 25-16.

Brown put together 24 assists, 16 digs, three aces and three kills as Erwin had 25 digs and seven kills. Chaffee had 21 digs, plus three aces as Cook earned nine kills and 13 digs. Bigtree had eight digs, with Annie Pratt adding 10 digs and five kills. For Weedsport, Abby Grady had 10 aces and 10 kills as Taylor Hunter produced 26 assists.

When MPH faced DeRuyter last Tuesday, it was the Trojans’ fourth match in five days, and the fatigue may have shown in a 25-21, 25-16, 25-11 loss to the Rockets.

In defeat, Brown still had 15 assists and 10 digs, with Cook getting nine digs and four kills. Chaffee added eight digs as Erwin produced eight kills. DeRuyter’s Taylor Marshall earned seven aces as Jaidan Degear had eight kills and Kail Lidell added 16 assists.

East Syracuse Minoa was back in action last Monday night, at Central Valley Academy, and avoided the long battles of its neighbors, sweeping the Thunder 25-14, 25-10, 25-13.

Shaina Brilbeck and Gillianne McCarthy set the tone, Brilbeck amassing 10 aces and McCarthy adding seven aces to go with nine kills, two blocks, two assists and three digs. Riley Abbott had eight kills, with Olivia Fortuno getting six kills.

At Cortland Thursday night, the Spartans would make quite a comeback.

Routed 25-12 in the first set and dropping a 29-27 second-set marathon, ESM turned it around, taking the third set 25-21, surviving a close call 26-24 in the fourth and then, in the final set, defeating the Purple Tigers 25-19.

All the while, Brilbeck amassed 27 assists and nine digs, while Polcaro gained 12 digs and served up seven aces to go with four kills.

Many of  Brilbeck’s passes went to Abbott, who had 11 kills, eight digs and four aces, along with McCarthy, who got eight kills, five digs and three aces. Fortuno added five kills, two blocks and two aces

While MPH took its narrow defeat at Weedsport, Christian Brothers Academy did the same against visiting Port Byron, only here it won the first two sets by 25-17 margins before the Panthers rallied and took the next three sets 25-19, 25-23 and 25-19.

Anna Jenkins, with 18 assists, and Kristen DeLorenzo, with 22 digs, worked on the Brothers’ back line as DeLorenzo added six aces. Bella Roberson put away nine kills as Jenkins and Jadeyn Congel got three kills apiece. For Port Byron, Rileigh Gray had 24 assists, feeding it to Emily Ryan (10 kills), Cassie Nolte (eight kills) and Nadia Edley (seven kills).

Now the Brothers faced Cato-Meridian on Thursday night, and swept the Blue Devils 25-16, 25-12, 25-11 to improve its overall record to 8-4.

That same night, MPH lost at home to Tully 25-12, 25-21, 25-20 despite 13 assists from Brown, nine digs from Bigtree and five kills from Cook, who also got eight digs.Chaffee had seven digs and Erwin added six digs.