CENTRAL NEW YORK – In order to complete an undefeated regular season, the Chittenango boys volleyball team had to get through three more matches in a four-day span, a task made more difficult by the amount of time spent on the court.
When the Bears battled Vernon-Verona-Sherrill last Tuesday night, it marked the third consecutive match where it had to work five sets, all of which it won.
Having survived similar battles with Rome Free Academy and Canastota on back-to-back days Feb. 10 and 11, now it was the Red Devils’ turn, having lost in four to Chittenango in late January.
An easy 25-14 win in the first set by the Bears was followed by VVS pulling even 25-21 in the second. The third set went back and forth, but the Red Devils claimed it 26-24 to move out in front.
However, that seemed to take a toll because Chittenango pulled back even by winning the fourth, 25-19, and now in a fifth-set setting to which it was quite accustomed, the Bears won it 15-9 to make it 14 in a row.
Trevor Cole, with 16 kills, led a Chittenango front line where Landon Parks got 10 kills and four aces and Micah Alpuerto nine kills. Cole Thomas produced 31 assists, adding six kills. Jackson Blaszkow got five kills as Lawson Pagorek earned 28 digs.
VVS, in defeat, got 46 assists from Ryan Mumford, his passes often going to Nolan Robinson, who had 19 kills as Zach Cullen, Ryan Mitchell and Nicolas Lavesa-Cesana had eight kills apiece.
Now it was Central Valley Academy, and for once the Bears didn’t need any extra work, taking just three sets to put away the Thunder 25-17, 25-17, 25-9.
Alpuerto, with four aces, set the tone, adding eight kills and 10 digs. Parks and Cole had five kills apiece, Parks adding three blocks and Thomas four blocks to go with 25 assists and five digs. Pagorek added nine digs.
Finally, it was Friday’s match against Oneida, where the 13-2 Indians seemed ready to add that lone blemish, only to see the Bears stage a stirring comeback for yet another five-set win.
Oneida rolled through those first two sets 25-13 and 25-14, but again Chittenango proved resilient, rolling to a 25-18 win in the third set.
Pushed to the brink in the fourth set, the Bears got the clutch points to win 25-23 and, in the final set, topped the Indians 15-8, overcoming Spencer Igmire’s 28 kills, Robert Paul’s 34 assists and Ryan Paul’s 24 digs.
Leading Chittenango’s front line, Alpuerto had 16 kills and 12 digs. Cole had 11 kills and eight digs, with Parks earning eight kills and 13 digs. Kai Streeter six kills and Roger Mulholland five kills. Pagorek earned 22 digs and Thomas fed everyone with his 36 assists.
