CENTRAL NEW YORK – In its first nine matches of the season, all victories, the Chittenango girls volleyball team had only dropped two sets while recording seven sweeps.
One of those sets was gained by Tully in the Dec. 6 opener. The Black Knights hadn’t lost since, and last Tuesday it would dominate on its home court, handing the Bears a three-set loss.
All through the opening set, Tully kept making the plays it needed, eventually claiming a 25-16 margin, and while Chittenango improved in the second, it still dropped a 25-22 decision.
The Black Knights won the third set 25-20 to close it out, Samantha Garback putting away 16 kills and helped by Catherine Lund, who got 18 digs to go with her eight kills. Keagan Usherwood had seven kills as, on the back line, Alexa Shay managed 31 assists and 20 digs, Veronica Kowalewski adding 15 digs.
On the Bears’ side, Rachel Gilbert, with seven kills, was the only Chittenango player with more than two. Alex Sylstra had 10 assists as Taylor Streiff (25 digs), Cara Keilbasa (20 digs), Anna Spencer (16 digs) and Stephanie Huckabee (14 digs) all played well on defense.
Chittenango roared back on Thursday to sweep Port Byron 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 and improve its mark to 10-1 ahead of matches this week against Cincinnatus and East Syracuse Minoa.
Meanwhile, in boys volleyball Chittenango faced a test Saturday when it took on 4-1 Canastota, and though it was tighter than previous matches, the Bears still prevailed in three.
Both the opening set, which went 25-21, and the third set, which finished 25-22, saw Chittenango have to come up with late points, with an impressive 25-15 second set in between.
Cole Thomas picked up 23 assists, also getting three aces to equal Tanner Smith as Lawson Pagorek led the defense, earning 14 digs.
Up front, Landon Parks led the way, earning 11 kills, helped by Quinn O’Brien’s six kills and Trevor Cole’s five kills as Kai Streeter finished with four kills and the Bears looked ahead to a big match Tuesday against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
