ONONDAGA COUNTY – Just like its neighbors from Liverpool, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls volleyball team had an opportunity to knock off what is arguably the area’s strongest small-school program.
Yet the Northstars could not pull it off, falling in four sets to Westhill in Tuesday night’s non-league match.
Both of the first two sets were steady performances that went 25-18 and 25-19 in the Warriors’ favor, and it nearly got to a sweep before C-NS was able to rescue the third set 25-22.
The fourth set was also tight, with the Northstars almost getting the match to the limit but Westhill winning it 25-23 as Alice Bender shattered her day-old school record, this time amassing 41 digs. Sophia Johnson got 42 assists and 13 digs as, up front, Eva Tarolli had 14 kills and seven blocks, Ava Baty adding 13 kills and 11 digs.
Up against all this, C-NS got 16 assists and 12 digs from Kendall Rumble, with Allison Navarra getting 18 digs. Grace Murray led with 19 digs to go with nine kills, Grace Turrell adding seven kills and three blocks. Piper Adams had five kills, Paige Munger contributing five digs.
C-NS then lost in three sets to West Genesee two nights later, a turnaround from a five-set win the Northstars pulled off Oct. 2.
Each of the three sets was a tight one, yet the Wildcats won them 25-23, 28-26, 26-24 despite Murray leading both sides with 13 kills. Adams and Turrell had seven kills apiece, Turrell adding five blocks as Allison Navarra got 13 digs and Rumble six digs to go with her 21 assists.
WG was led by Eliana Becker’s 35 assists that went to Bella Vallely (10 kills), Norah Emery (nine kills) and Alaina Dudzinski (seven kills) as Hollis Pfeiffer got 18 digs and Maddie Cook earned 14 digs.
As this went on, Liverpool had its own struggles against Fayetteville-Manlius, falling in four sets to the Hornets, a team it swept when they first met Sept. 30.
Here the Warriors won the opening set 25-18 only to drop the next three sets 25-22, 25-21 and 25-20 despite Lola Sageer’s 20 kills and 24 digs, plus 11 kills from Madison Ames. Nya Pedrosa added five kills and Sarah LaTocha four kills.
On the back line, Liverpool saw Georgia Spuches gain 19 assists and Josie Shaw 16 assists, with Lily Correll earning 26 digs as Ames got 13 digs and Shaw 12 digs. F-M was led by 47 assists by Layla Duggal that largely went to Kalyna Dannenberg (21 kills, 19 digs) and Malana Noble (19 kills, 18 digs).
Now Liverpool and C-NS would rest and practice this week, knowing that, on Nov. 6, they will face each other for the right to challenge Baldwinsville again in the Nov. 9 Section III Class AAA championship match at Phoenix.
