The neighborhood rivalry between Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse turned up in several different spots during the Section III playoffs, from early-round football to championship games in girls soccer and field hockey. And it emerged again during the Section III Class AA volleyball semifinals, when on consecutive nights the Northstars and Warriors squared off to see who would advance to play the twin powers of Baldwinsville for their respective sectional title. Going first, the C-NS boys volleyball team hosted Liverpool. Aiming for its first berth in the championship round in four years, the Northstars controlled the match from start to finish, taking just three sets to take out the Warriors. These two sides had split their regular-season matches, with Liverpool pulling it out in five sets on Sept. 25 and C-NS prevailing in four sets on Oct. 20, just 10 days before their sectional showdown. No longer was the Northstars an unsure side breaking in six new starters. A full season of work had helped define team roles, and each of them played at a top level in the playoff match with Liverpool. In the opening set, C-NS won by a 25-18 margin. Staying consistent, the Northstars never let the Warriors get any kind of scoring run, winning the second set 25-17 and then, in the third set, using another 25-18 decision to earn a trip back home for Wednesday night’s final against B’ville. Between Connor Millias, who had 30 assists, and Trevor Caviness, who had 16 digs, the Northstars’ back line was well-covered. Up front, Luke Barnell led with 12 kills, with Aaron Storie adding six kills. Connor Doren got five kills as Garrett Coleman and Reed Jones had four kills apiece. Liverpool saw Ryan Turner pick up six kills, Brendan Corp four kills and Brendan Lee three kills in front of Andrew Stonebarger, who got 12 assists, and Anthony Calabrese, who earned six digs. Corp added four digs. One night later, the Class AA girls volleyball semifinal had the exact opposite ending, with no. 2 seed Liverpool engineering the three-set sweep over no. 3 seed C-NS. Having swept their regular-season meetings in September, the Warriors had not forgotten, in the month since, that the Northstars could provide dangerous opposition if not respected. The opening set in their semifinal would prove crucial. C-NS had opportunities to move out in front, but Liverpool, by a 25-23 margin, held on to win that set and then dominated the second set in a 25-8 romp. By winning 25-20 in the third set, Liverpool closed it out, seeing Mikayla Brown, with 10 kills and seven digs, lead a well-balanced front line where Lexi McLaggan and Julia Mumpton each had nine kills, with Mumpton adding five blocks. On the back line, Julia Flohr had 29 assists and four digs, with Sami Wolf managing 14 digs. C-NS, in defeat, got 12 assists from Kelsey Hess and eight assists from Jess Doran, with Frankie Gleason adding nine digs and Hannah Millias four digs. Hannah Narbaugh mixed in five digs with her five kills as Kira Kullman led with seven kills and Nicole Herringshaw got five kills. Savannah Ciciarelli finished with four aces. The Northstars set up its shot at Liverpool with a sweep of last Tuesday night’s opening-round match against no. 6 seed Corcoran. In three sets, the Northstars handled the Cougars 25-19, 25-13, 25-21. Kullman finished with seven kills and two blocks, while Hess managed eight assists and Doran added seven assists. Hannah Millias earned 10 digs, just ahead of Gleason, who got seven digs. Hess and Herringshaw had four digs apiece as Narbaugh managed three blocks. Liverpool would beat C-NS, though, to get its shot at B’ville, who swept West Genesee in the other semifinal. The girls match is at the C-NS gym at 8 p.m. Wednesday night, just after the boys Northstars, on its home court, deal with the Bees in its title match.