CENTRAL NEW YORK – Each of the area’s high school girls volleyball teams continued to squeeze in matches while others in the schedule kept moving around.
East Syracuse Minoa sported a 9-2 record going into last Wednesday’s match against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, where in four closely-fought sets the Spartans fell to the Red Devils 25-22, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20.
Margaret Mading still had 15 kills to lead ESM’s front line. Laura Sitnik had eight kills, with Emma Talarico (five kills), Autumn Stoia (four kills) and Lily Talarico (three kills) also contributing to the front line.
Natalie Peterson passed it to all of them and finished her night with 29 assists. Morgan Ransom gained 14 digs, a number Sitnik matched as Mading had six digs and Arianna Costanzo had eight digs.
Then it was ESM meeting Christian Brothers Academy on Saturday afternoon. The Brothers won the opening set 25-21, but the Spartans took the next three sets 25-12, 25-16 and 25-17.
Peterson improved her total to 32 asssits, passing it to Mading, who had 11 kills, and Sitnik, who got 10 kills and 12 digs. Stoia added six kills as Ransom contributed eight digs.
Before this, CBA met up with Fabius-Pompey last Tuesday night and were close in each of the first two sets, only to drop them 25-22 and 25-21.
The Brothers did prolong the match by winning the third set 25-19, but the Falcons closed it out 25-14 in the fourth, overcoming Makenna Schultz’s 14 assists and four kills.
Grace Catalano got six kills and seven digs, with Mia Merola recording 16 digs. Lily Genecco and Josie Hakizimana had three kills apiece, Hakizimana adding three aces as Georgia Brown earned four assists.
What followed, in Thursday’s match against Chittenango, was a supreme opportunity squandered for the Brothers as it could not hold a two-set lead and lost to the Bears in five.
A first-set 25-17 victory was followed by the Brothers claiming a narrow second set 25-23. Instead of getting demoralized, though, the Bears started to climb back by winning the third set 25-15.
Then CBA moved within two points of victory in the fourth, but a resilient Chittenango squad pulled it out, 26-24, and carried that momentum to the final set, where it rolled 25-13 to claim the match.
Schultz finished with 25 assists, six blocks and eight digs, with Catalano managing 16 kills and six aces. Madeline Massa got six kills as Merola produced 15 digs.
Lily Callahan led the Bears, amassing 15 assists, six kills, four aces and 14 digs, helped by Ashley Montroy, who got 14 assists, 10 digs, four kills and three aces. Up front, Jackie Korosex led with 10 kills. Taylor Streif had 15 digs as Stephanie Huckabee and Rachel Gilbert combined for 29 digs and Cara Kielbasa contributed 13 digs.
Manlius-Pebble Hill faced DeRuyter last Friday and won the opening set 25-20, only to have the Rockets recover to take the next three sets 25-19, 25-18 and 25-9 to win the match as the Trojans fell to 3-7.
