CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even before it took the court in Watertown for last Saturday’s Section III Class B winter championship match, the Christian Brothers Academy girls volleyball had already established itself as one of the best in program history.

Certainly the Brothers’ toughness and resilience had few equals. Despite ups and down, injuries and roster changes, CBA survived a pair of five-set matches to get to the championship round.

First, it was a five-set win over South Jefferson in the Feb. 10 quarterfinal round. Then, in last Tuesday’s semifinal at Buddy Wleklinski Court, the no. 2 seed Brothers again had to go all five sets to oust no. 3 seed Camden.

A close opening set went 25-23 in the Blue Devils’ favor. The second set was tight, too, but by a 25-22 margin CBA pulled even and carried that momentum over into a 25-21 win in the third set.
And even when Camden dominated the fourth set 25-15, CBA stayed calm. The final-set race to 15 went beyond the limit, with a pair of match points squandered.

Then, at 15-15, the Brothers got the serve and closed it out, 17-15, having seen Carleagh Morgia put away 21 kills to go with nine digs and two aces as Georgia Brown had 37 assists, four aces and 10 digs.

Grace Catalano gained nine kills and eight digs, with Josie Hazikimana earning six blocks and three kills. Josie DePalma led the defense with 20 digs as Erin Nardella had five digs and two aces.

For Camden, Julia Holmes had 13 assists and Olivia Hooker earned 10 assists, their passes going to Brooke Musch (11 kills), Hailey Gladle (nine kills) and Devyn Dewan (seven kills) up front.

All that separated CBA from its first sectional title since 2000 was trying to conquer top seed Chittenango in the sectional final after the Bears topped Oneida in the other semifinal.

Only here, at the very end, did the Brothers stumble, but even this three-set defeat was fairly close for long stretches.

These teams knew each other quite well, having met Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, both four-set Chittenango wins. Here, the opening set was even more crucial, for CBA had a great opportunity to get out in front.

But when Chittenango won that set 25-23, it carried the momentum to a 25-16 second set and then closed it out 25-20 in the third, led by Rachel Gilbert’s 12 digs, four aces and four kills.