Time was beginning to run out in the regular season, so it was vital for area high school girls volleyball teams to find its best form before the Section III playoffs arrived.
East Syracuse Minoa was 10-3 going into last Tuesday’s match against Utica Academy of Science, but had little trouble improving on that mark, sweeping past the Atoms 25-11 in the first set and 25-19 in each of the next two sets.
Shaina Brilbeck led the Spartans with nine assists and six digs, with Amber Unislawski and Megan Voltz also contributing a lot on the defensive side, matching Brilbeck’s total of six digs
Meanwhile, Olivia Fortuno earned five aces and five kills, while Riley Abbott gained four kills and four aces. Skyler Mahoney had hree kills, three blocks and three digs.
Weather postponed last Wednesday’s match between ESM and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill as it will play three times this week, including a test against undefeated New Hartford.
Christian Brothers Academy fit in a match on Jan. 19 against Cortland before the winter snowstorm, but could not get itself going, dropping the first set 25-16 and the next two sets to the Purple Tigers by equal 25-20 margins.
Jadyn Congel still had 10 kills, while Anna Jenkins earned 15 assists to go with six aces. Grace Glowaki got six kills as she and Kristen DeLorenzo each gained five aces and DeLorenzo managed 10 digs. For Cortland, Kayci Olson had 14 kills and 11 digs, with Grace Call earning 26 assists and seven digs.
The loss dropped CBA to 8-5, and then it had to try and derail a 14-0 Chittenango side that had not yet lost a set this winter. And the Bears got another sweep here, defeating the Brothers 25-17, 25-21, 25-18.
It was, for the most part, a strong effort by CBA as DeLorenzo got 21 digs and three aces, with Jenkins adding 16 assists. Delaney Della Donna had eight kills, two blocks and five digs as Glowaki got four kills and Congel three kills.
Yet Chittenango still proved too tough, UNC-Willmington-bound senior Tyla Cutrie recording 13 kills, five blocks and six digs as Bayla Cutrie (11 assists), Shelby Maring (10 assists) and Brenna Stanton (eight digs, four aces) led the Bears’ back line.
Manlius-Pebble Hill played on Thursday night, against DeRuyter, whom it lost to a week earlier. The rematch was not any different as the Rockets swept the Trojans 25-11, 25-16, 25-9.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, MPH challenged Onondaga and was overwhelmed 25-6 and 25-15 in the first two sets. The Trojans did win the third set 25-22 to prolong it, but the Tigers closed it out 25-14 in the fourth.
Ren Brown, with her 22 assists, fed it to Halle Erwin (eight kills) and Claudia Cook (seven kills) as Erwin and Cook both got 12 digs. Liv Bigtree had 10 digs as she and Katie Pratt earned three kills apiece. OCS got 16 kills from Danielle Field and 12 kills from Julia Wachna as Samantha Geis earned 35 assists.
