The Vernon Verona Sherrill boys volleyball team has earned a chance at a Section III Class B championship. In an impressive effort on its home court Tuesday night, the Red Devils swept Chittenango in three games, advancing to Thursday night’s title match against Living Word Academy at Oneida High School. Having played the Bears three times during the regular season, VVS knew all about what Chittenango could do – and knew it could be a dangerous opponent, given the close nature of the previous matches. In fact, the Bears had just beaten the Red Devils on Feb. 23, which cost VVS a share of the league title with Living Word – and may have changed the seeding, too, allowing for these two sides to meet once more. But once the first serve went in the air, there was little doubt as to which team would prevail. VVS surged ahead 7-0 in the first game and won it, 25-18, then did much the same thing in the second game, starting out 9-2 and moving on to prevail 25-19. Not allowing the Bears to get any kind of positive momentum, the Red Devils blitzed through the third game 25-12 to get its shot at the title. There was near-perfect balance on the front line as Josh Masi, Tyler Curtis and Jordan Loboda each had eight kills. Masi and Curtis had five blocks apiece and Loboda got four blocks, with Aaron Owens contributing five kills and Drew Foster four kills. Feeding them all, Cole Barbano picked up 28 assists, as Kyle Renwick earned nine digs, Jake Voelker got six digs and Foster and Andrew Aurigema five digs. In defeat, Chittenango’s Caleb Mannix had six kills and five assists, while Luke Greiner had nine assists, three kills and two blocks. Tom Connelly had four kills, Zach Boswell three aces and Ryan Smith eight digs. Meanwhile, Oneida, in the other Class B semifinal, lost to Living Word in four games.
Despite three defeats to the Lions in the regular season, the Indians came out strong, leading 11-6 and 23-20 at different points in the opening game before Living Word rallied with the last five points to win it 25-23. Oneida would take the second game, leading by as much as nine, 21-12, before hanging on to prevail 25-21 and even the match at one game apiece. That would be the high point, though. Living Word, alert to the danger, dominated both the third and fourth games, winning them by margins of 25-15 and 25-13. In defeat, Shawn Ano had 14 kills and 18 digs, while Kevin Cavanaugh had seven kills and Travis Morrison got six kills. Matt Bonville (18 assists, four aces, seven digs) and Neil Parry (13 assists, seven digs) split back-line duties, while Peter Jones had 16 digs.