CENTRAL NEW YORK – What happened in the fall in area high school volleyball had to resonate beyond Jamesville-DeWitt, where the boys won Section III’s first-ever state championship and the girls were sectional Class A champions, too.
East Syracuse Minoa took note, having seen its girls team go 18-4 a season ago and nearly reach the winter sectional Class A finals before a five-set defeat to Whitesboro.
Hungry to go further, the Spartans were impressive in last Monday’s opener at Camden, winning the first two sets 25-20 and 25-19 and then routing the Blue Devils 25-10 in the third to complete the sweep.
Akuot Kuany led the front line with 12 kills and two blocks. Margaret Mading had eight kills and three aces, with Camille Mitchell adding seven kills and Anela Mesic five kills. Natalie Peterson fed all of them thanks to her 26 assists.
Tested again on Thursday against New Hartford, ESM would win the opening set 25-21, only to drop the next three sets to the reigning sectional Class A winter champions 25-17, 25-7 and 25-22.
At least ESM nearly recovered from that third-set rout as Mading had nine kills, six digs and three aces, with Kuany adding five kills. Peterson got 21 assists and three aces. New Hartford’s
Elise Courto had a triple-double of 11 aces, 14 kills and 15 digs.
Manlius Pebble Hill got underway last Tuesday against Port Byron, and the Trojans were quite impressive, needing just three sets to defeat the Panthers 25-19, 26-24, 25-15.
Ava Halbritter and Lyv Burdin, each with six aces, set the tone. Kate Chaffee and Emily Fadda-Conrey had four aces apiece as Fadda-Conrey got six kills and Burdin five kills. Chaffee earned 15 assists and Abby Hinshaw matched Burdin by picking up five digs.
Facing Onondaga two nights later, the Trojans made it 2-0, rolling through 25-17 and 25-14 sets before dropping the third set to the Tigers 25-14, but roaring back to win the fourth 25-11 and end the match.
Christian Brothers Academy faced a difficult opening assignment Thursday against long-time powerhouse Tully and lost 25-11, 25-9, 25-16 to the Black Knights.
Carleah Morgia had four kills and Georgia Brown four assists, with Josie DePalma (10 digs) and Abby Uryniak (eight digs) leading the defense.
Then, in Saturday’s match against Utica Proctor, the Brothers found the win column, claiming two close sets 25-22 and 25-21 and, after dropping the third 25-22, finishing off the Raiders 25-19 in the fourth.
With her 22 assists and six aces, Brown anchored a lineup where Morgia produced 13 kills and Grace Catalano had eight kills. Combined, the trio of Brown, Morgia and Catalano earned 22 digs as DePalma chimed in with 12 digs.
