CENTRAL NEW YORK – When discussing the Christian Brothers Academy girls volleyball team, it truly was an example of waiting a lifetime to achieve something special.
Long before any of its current players were born, in the year 2000, CBA earned a Section III championship. Now, a generation later, the Brothers finally claimed a banner again.
At Case Middle School in Watertown Saturday afternoon, CBA left little question about the outcome, the no. 2 seed Brothers beating no. 4 seed Clinton in three sets for the championship.
Burned by the memory of losing in the 2023 sectional final, CBA knew that getting ahead of Clinton in the final was crucial so that it didn’t give a Comets side that knocked off top seed Canastota in the quarterfinals any sort of confidence.
Chasing the Comets through much of the opening set, the Brothers finally caught up. Then, after four set points were averted, CBA gained the serve and won that set 29-27.
For the rest of the match, it was Clinton in chase mode and CBA proving impossible to catch. The second set ended 25-17, and pulling away in the third, the Brothers closed it out 25-15 and earned the title.
With her 25 assists, Josie Lachut largely passed it to Carleah Morgia, who had 13 kills, while Neveah Bacheyie and Julie Zdep combined for that same total, Bacheyie with seven kills and Zdep six kills. Emma Walker added four kills.
Before all this, CBA had overcome a big mental barrier in the semifinal round Wednesday night when it defeated no. 3 seed Chittenango in four sets.
Though the Brothers had won regular-season meetings between these two rivals on Jan. 12 and 25, each of them also four-set decisions, the Bears had the memory of denying CBA in the 2023 sectional final upon which it could draw.
And Chittenango did win the opening set, 25-23, only adding to the concern, but from that point it was all CBA, starting with a 25-16 second set and continuing when it won the pivotal third set 25-21.
A lopsided 25-9 fourth set ended the match as Morgia put away 19 kills, adding eight digs, with Bacheyie helping out thanks to her seven kills and six blocks, plus four aces and seven digs.
On the back line, Lachut dished out 31 assists, with Josie DePalma picking up 23 digs and Zdep earning 10 digs to go with three kills and three aces.
It was on this same evening that East Syracuse Minoa, the no. 4 seed in Class A, saw its season conclude in the semifinal round at the expense of its fellow Spartans from top seed New Hartford.
Blown out 25-12 in the opening set, ESM almost pulled even in the second, only to drop that set 27-25. This made a 25-23 win in the third set even more costly, for the comeback fell short when New Hartford won the fourth 25-19.
Akuot Kuany gave the Spartans, who finished its season 14-6, a total of 15 kills and four blocks. Erin Murnane added six kills, with Katelyn Davis and Anela Mesic joining Morgan Palmer on three kills as Palmer managed 15 digs.
Leah Rehm amassed 37 digs on a back line with Brooke Kirkpatrick getting 14 assists and Kristina Levkovich adding 10 assists. New Hartford’s Elise Courto got 22 kills to add to her school-record total of 867 as Abby O’Connor had 34 assists and 20 digs. New Hartford went on to beat Rome Free Academy to win the sectional Class A title.
