CENTRAL NEW YORK – A 10-match win streak nearly dissipated for the East Syracuse Minoa girls volleyball team when it took on Chittenango last Tuesday night, but in five sets the Spartans were able to push past the Bears.
ESM got off to a slow start, routed 25-13 in the opening set. Finally putting things together in the second, the Spartans tied it 25-20 and then dashed through the third set 25-11.
Chittenango now made a comeback of its own, again pulling off a 25-13 win in the fourth set leading to a final set where the Spartans sprinted to the lead and never let go of it and taking the match 15-8.
Kristina Levkovich was the main setter earning 34 assists next to Leah Rehm’s 47 digs. Morgan Palmer managed 13 kills and 10 digs, Erin Murnane adding 11 kills and 14 digs as Katelyn Davis also got 11 kills. Bailey Rehm earned fiver assists and seven digs as Avery Wood contributed four blocks.
Far easier for the Spartans was Thursday night’s 25-10, 25-14, 27-25 victory over Oneida, only the third set a real stress as ESM ran the win streak to 12.
Levkovich, earning 18 assists, got help from Bailey Rehm with her eight assists as Leah Rehm earned 33 digs. For the second match in a row Palmer accumulated 13 kills, while Davis got six kills and Victoria Marano had five kills. Murnane earned 11 digs to back up her four aces and four kills.
Manlius Pebble Hill defeated DeRuyter last Tuesday night in a 25-11, 25-14, 25-23 sweep which helped improve the Trojans’ overall record to 4-7.
Annie Ward, with eight kills, paced a balanced MPH front line where Caroline Bernazzani and Nora McGee each finished with seven kills and Darby Gardner earned four kills. Laura Kinane augmented her 23 assists with five aces, Bernazzani also getting five aces and nine digs as India Clarry-Sohriakoff had a team-best 15 digs.
Prior to this, MPH lost to Chitenango in four sets on Jan. 17, Kinane getting 24 assists and 14 digs as Clarry-Sohriakoff earned 34 digs Bernazzani had six kills and McGee five kills as Ruby Butler gained 13 digs and Rainbow Butler managed 12 digs.
After the DeRuyter match the Trojans took on Port Byron Thursday night. A 25-22 win in the opening set led to a 25-12 romp in the second, and though the Panthers won the third 25-14 and nearly pushed it to a final set, MPH was able to hang on 26-24 and take the match.
McGee and Bernazzani each finished with nine kills, Ward adding seven kills and amassing 21 digs. Clarry-Sohriakoff gained 34 digs as Kinane, aside from her 23 assists, earned 13 digs and Rainbow Butler finished with 11 digs.
But MPH was able to sweep Stockbridge Valley 25-15, 25-17, 25-13 on Friday night.
Clary-Sohriakoff continued to excel on defense with 22 digs, with Ward adding 12 digs. Laura Kinane’s 17 assists went up to a front line where Ward and Nora McGee had six kills apiece and Bernazzani added five kills but stepped up her serve with five aces to the match the total of Rainbow Butler.
Also in back-to-back matches Christian Brothers Academy went 1-1. Against Pulaski last Friday night, it roared out of the gate 25-11, added a 25-20 win in the second set and then took the t hird 25-15 for the sweep.
Katie Pledger’s five aces set the night’s tone. Carleah Morgia, Julie Zdep and Neveah Bacheyie each earned three aces, Bacheyie recording seven kills and Morgia four kills as Rachel Zdep (eight digs), Josie Lachut (seven digs) and Allison Boule (six digs) all stood out on defense.
It turned around a day later when 12-1 Rome Free Academy blanked CBA 25-14 in the first and third sets and 25-17 in the second, all despite 10 kills from Morgia and five kills from Bacheyie. Rachel Zdep earned 10 assists.
