ONONDAGA COUNTY – Both off to strong starts, the Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius boys volleyball teams would have a head-to-head clash last Thursday night at the Red Rams’ home gym.
And it would go in favor of the undefeated Red Rams, who claimed its sixth consecutive victory in just three sets.
Once it secured a 25-21 victory in the opening set, J-D went on to claim the next two sets by margins of 25-18 and 25-19, led by Tim Cooper, who dished out 32 assists.
Up front for the Rams, Luke McQuaid had 12 kills, with Aaron Ko getting eight kills and four digs. Avery Kielbasinski had seven kills and Michael Ryan got six kills.
F-M, in defeat, saw Chris Cleary gain eight kills and Max Danaher earn seven kills. Charles Addonizio, aside from four kills, joined Jared Duggal and Sean Kellish in gaining five idgs as Connor Sugar distributed 20 assists.
Adding to this great star, J-D met Living Word Academy on Saturday and put together a 25-16, 25-19, 25-15 victory over the reigning sectional Division II champion Lions.
Ryan hurt Living Word with 11 kills and three blocks. Kielbasinski had eight kills and four blocks, with McQuaid and Aidan Bates each getting six kills and Ko five kills in front of Cooper, who picked up 28 assists.
J-D and F-M both had played two nights before their showdown and got three-set sweeps – the Red Rams over Syracuse, the Hornets against Central Square.
A close first set saw J-D hold off Syracuse 25-21, then take the next two sets 25-13 and 25-12.
McQuaid put away 11 kills, while Ko got seven kills and Kielbasinski had five kills. Bates and Joseph Morgan had three kills apiece as McQuaid and Cooper each got two blocks. Cooper dished out 27 assists.
F-M’s 25-5 romp trough the second set against Central Square highlighted a match where it won the opening set 25-17 and the second set 25-13.
Cleary dominated at the net, getting 15 kills to go with four aces. \ddonizio had six kills, with John Angelicola getting four kills and Danaher three kills as Sugar recorded 24 assists.
East Syracuse Minoa started its week with an impressive effort against Oswego last Tuesday night, the Spartans sweeping the Buccaneers.
After a 25-20 win in the first set, the second set saw both sides get numerous set points, but ESM won 28-26 and then closed it out 25-17 in the third as Jacob Sehn delivered three aces and eight digs.
Up front, Tristan Henderson and Cole Thomas both earned 10 kills, with Ben Clappin and Austin Betts getting five kills apiece. Feeding all of them, Donovan Randall earned 29 assists.
Then, facing Central Square on Thursday night, ESM was dominant, picking up a 25-13, 25-19, 25-10 sweep of the Redhawks.
Earning 24 assists and 11 digs, Randall saw many of his passes go to Thomas, who had 14 kills. Clappin and Jayce Domres had five kills apiece, with Jacob McGuigan getting four kills and four blocks as Don Hamilton got four aces. Jacob Sehn added nine digs.
Against St. Joseph’s (Buffalo) on Saturday, ESM swept the Marauders 25-17 in the first set and 25-20 in the next two sets as Randall got 24 assists, Clappin earned nine kills and Betts had six kills. Thomas and Henderson had five kills apiece and Jayce Domres added six digs.
F-M had faced another Buffalo side, Canisius, on Friday night, splitting two close sets before it went in front for good in the third and prevailed in four 25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-15.
Often, Sugar’s 39 assists went to Cleary, who amassed 17 kills. Danaher and Addonizio helped with seven kills apiece as Donavan Wonders had three aces and Addonizio a team-best six digs.
