ONONDAGA COUNTY – Before going up against the top programs in the Salt City Athletic Conference, the Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt boys volleyball teams first had quite a match against each other.
When the neighbors clashed last Tuesday night, the 2-5 Red Rams almost upended the 4-2 Hornets, who had to make two different comebacks to pull it out in five sets.
J-D emerged with a 25-23 win in a close first set, and after F-M pulled even 25-20 in the second, the Rams prevailed 25-22 in the third set to lead again.
Absorbing all this, F-M was able to gain a 25-21 victory in the fourth set and, in the final-set race to 15, never let J-D answer, taking the match 15-11.
The Hornets featured Aidan Liddell earning 45 assists, passing it to Cyrus Felton (16 kills) and Brandon Rogers (15 kills) as Sam Elbadawi earned 13 digs.
On J-D’s side, Matt Keeler had 43 assists and James Saroney helped with 10 assists. Jack Moore, who had 14 digs, and Ty Parker each had 10 kills, Avery Tyson adding eight kills, three blocks and eight digs as Saroney put up 12 digs and Owen Opalenick added 11 digs. Parker also had three blocks.
F-M carried over the momentum of this win into Thursday’s match against 7-1 Liverpool. In the only match between the two this season, the Hornets seemed to get every important point and topped the Warriors 25-23, 25-22, 25-18.
Felton, with 12 kills, paced a front line where Rogers put up nine kills and Elbadawi added six kills. Liddell had 29 assists and Ryan Everding stepped up on defense with six digs.
In Saturday’s match against Living Word Academy, F-M dropped the opener 25-23, but then won the next three sets 25-20, 25-23, 25-20 as Rogers amassed 19 kills and Felton got 14 kills, with Liddell earning 40 assists.
East Syracuse Minoa took a 3-2 record into its own match against Liverpool last Tuesday, but got swept by the Warriors 25-15, 25-17, 25-19.
Devin Mascato-Buffaloe dished out 22 assists to the likes of Aidan Finnerty, who had 12 kills, and Nick Brown, who got six kills and four blocks. Aiden Betts finished with 12 digs and three blocks. For the Warriors, Elliott DeForge and Anthony Pezzino both finished with 10 kills, while Quinn Moore had 26 assists.
ESM would bounce back in Thursday’s match against Living Word. It won the first set 25-20 and, after losing the second set 25-18, rolled through the third set 25-17 against the Lions.
A tight fourth set nearly extended the match, but the Spartans won 26-24, with Aidan Finnerty earning 16 kills and seven digs as Nick Brown contributed 11 kills.
Helping them out, Will D’Agostino earned seven kills as Sean Finnerty got six kills and 10 digs. Cole Thomas had 16 digs as Devin Mascato-Buffaloe finished with 37 assists and 12 digs.
Meeting Oswego on Saturday, ESM again won in four sets, tearing through a 25-12 opener and holding on 25-23 in the second, with the Buccaneers taking the third 25-23.
It nearly went further, but the Spartans edged Oswego 27-25 in the fourth, having seen Brown pick up 14 kills as D’Agostino and Sean Finnerty had seven kills apiece. Thomas had 17 digs and Mascato-Buffaloe got 38 assists.
Before this, J-D won a dramatic battle with Baldwinsville on Thursday, twice falling behind and twice rallying to win in five sets.
They split the first two sets by equal 25-19 margins, the Bees winning first and the Rams answering. Then a close third set went 25-23 in B’ville’s favor.
Once again, though, J-D rallied, taking the fourth set 25-21 and, in a final set that would go back and forth, the Rams won it 16-14.
Parker had 12 kills, Saroney 10 kills and Moore six kills, helped on the back line by Brann with his 31 assists and Opalnieck earning 10 digs. Saroney and Moore had eight digs apiece, with Tyson getting five kills and four blocks.
J-D lost Saturday to Liverpool 25-17, 25-19, 25-17, falling to 3-7 overall as Moore, Tyson and Parker each got five kills, with Saroney getting eight digs and Brann earning 19 assists.
