A handful of teams remained unbeaten when the calendars changed during Section III’s winter volleyball season. After Tuesday, there are only two.
Mt. Markham’s Mustangs defeated the Cooperstown Hawkeyes 3-1 in four games in the first of two meetings in Division II of the Center State Conference. While that match was sure to remove one team from the ranks of the unbeaten, the Tully Black Knights knocked off another when they avenged their only defeat with a 3-0 sweep of the Chittenango Bears who had started 9-0.
With playoff seeding three weeks away, teams are working to position themselves. Mt. Markham (10-0) and Beaver River (9-0) have the two remaining perfect records and set atop a deep Class C field that includes Cooperstown (10-1), Tully (12-1), Canastota (10-2) and Dolgeville (9-2), a familiar list of title contenders.
Class A has a similar crowd with local flavor at the top. Whitesboro (9-2) was unbeaten before back-to-back losses to Rome Free Academy (7-2) and New Hartford (11-1) last week. Whitesboro’s 8-0 start included a 3-2 win against New Hartford in the teams’ first meeting; the teams played five games again Thursday and the home team has won each match.
Rome Free Academy lost 3-1 on the road at New Hartford and Whitesboro in December and beat Whitesboro 3-1 in the teams; Jan. 9 rematch in Rome. New Hartford visits Rome Feb. 2 for the Black Knights final scheduled regular season match.
Cincinnatus is 9-1 in Class D with Town of Webb (10-2), Morrisville-Eaton (10-3) and Owen D. Young (9-3) from the Center State Conference all close behind. Morrisville-Eaton went unbeaten through December but its three January losses include a four-game match at the Town of Webb where the Eskimoes have won 10 of their last 11 matches and have been beaten only by Dolgeville.
Chittenango (9-1) is the lone one-loss team in Class B where Christiian Brothers Academy (9-2) of Syracuse is the only other team over .500.
Tuesday’s showdown
Cooperstown won Game 1 on the road Tuesday before Mt. Markham took the next three and won the match 17-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-21. The Mustangs struggled early with their serves and trailed 5-2 before siding out in the second game.
Senior Trinity Bailey tied the serving line and launched three consecutive aces to give Mt. Markham the lead. Bailey served the Mustangs to a 9-5 lead and they never trailed again in tying the match at one game apiece.
“I just told them to relax,” Mt. Markham coach Terry McKane said when asked what made the difference for then Mustangs after the first game.
More:Section 3 girls volleyball scores for the 2022-23 season
Mt. Markham raced out to 9-3 lead in the third game but Cooperstown did close to within one point at 17-16 and pulled even at 20. The Mustangs sided out with a bock and Paige Korosec served the final four points and closed out with an ace.
Game 4 stayed close until the end but Cooperstown never took the lead after 13-12. Mt. Markham thought it had clinched the match on a cross court hit by Bailey but the referees conferred and signaled a do over at 24-20. It took two more serves to finish the game.
Tournament featured top teams
Mt.Markham had previously taken two of three games from Cooperstown Jan. 7 in the playoffs at the Mustangs’ annual varsity tournament.
Mt. Markham wound up winning the eight-team tournament’s Silver Division while Whitesboro won the Gold Division after posting the second-best record in round robin play to start the day. The tournament showcased some of the best Section III has to offer this winter with Chittenango joining Whitesboro, Cooperstown and Mt. Markham as unbeatens at the time.
“It’s good to play good teams,” said McKane whose team had not lost a game this season in match play before Tuesday.
Whitesboro’s Riley Collis was the tournament’s most valuable player. Teammates Kylee DeCarr and Julia Ciancaglini were picked for a tournament a-star team that included Bailey, Cooperstown’s Riley Green and Rome Free Academy’s Thylia Keoviengsamay and Shannen Calendra.
Mt. Markham travels to Cooperstown for the Mustangs’ rematch with the Hawkeyes and seeding day is Feb. 7.
