Things got started for both the Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius boys volleyball teams last Wednesday night, and in each instance the local sides pulled off a sweep.
The Red Rams did so against visiting Liverpool, claiming the first set 25-18 and then taking out the Warriors by equal 25-15 margins in the second and third sets.
Liam Kaplan, with 12 assists, and Owen Farchione, with eight digs, split back-line duties, while up front Matt Cieplicki earned 11 kills, helped by Cameron Howe, who had six kills, and Ian Freezman, who had four kills. Nick Mandelis contributed four aces.
F-M, meanwhile, met the combined Syracuse City team and prevailed 25-8, 25-16, 25-10. Chris Perry served up five aces to go with 11 assists as Aaron Costanza and Joseph Powless got four aces apiece. Ryan Kaczorowski earned five kills, with Cade Collum and Anderson Fuller earning four kills apiece. Chris Blum added three assists.
That same night, in girls volleyball, Jamesville-DeWitt also met Liverpool, but met a different result as its lost for the first time this season.
Two close sets both went in the Warriors’ favor, by 28-26 and 27-25 margins, so even though J-D won the third set 25-11, it couldn’t keep Liverpool from closing out the match 25-18 in the fourth set.
Alexandria Payne still had 18 kills and eight digs, while Lexie Gambacorto managed 13 kills, plus five digs. Madeline Ferris amassed 32 assists and five aces. Amy Shen added five kills and four digs. Liverpool got 15 kills from Madison Lapoint and 26 assists from Sydney Caviness.
A night later, J-D swept Central Square 25-18, 25-18, 25-21. Ferris managed 21 assists against the Redhawks, with Payne gaining 14 kills and two assists as Gambacorto finished with 10 kills and six aces. Shen contributed five kills.
Fayetteville-Manlius, still looking for its first win in 2017, could not find it last Tuesday in a four-set defeat to Oswego.
The Buccaneers claimed the first two set 25-18 and 26-24, and though the Hornets staved off a sweep 28-26 in the third set, it could not keep Oswego from closing it out, 25-21, in the fourth.
Still, Saara Vahtola gained 22 kills and 14 digs, with Paige Hulbert adding 15 kills and five digs. Erianna Madill amassed 42 assists, six digs and three kills as Rachel Quilty-Koval matched Vahtola’s total of 14 digs. Oswego’s Adeline Benjamin had 19 kills and 10 blocks, with Laurin Furlong adding 29 assists.
However, the Hornets would prevail in a back-and-forth battle with Cicero-North Syracuse Thursday night. Though it lost the first set 25-22 and the third set 15-16, F-M won the second set 25-16 and the fourth set 25-11, twice coming back before claiming a tough 25-23 decision in the fifth set.
Madill didn’t stop until she had 40 assists on the ledger. Hulbert benefited from this with 20 kills, while Vahtola gained 15 kills. Quilty-Koval had 12 digs and Hulbert nine digs as, for C-NS, Kim Barry had 18 assists, 14 digs, five kills, four blocks and three aces, with Olivia Johnson earning 12 kills and 13 digs.
Bishop Grimes took its first loss of the season last Tuesday at Homer, beaten 25-19 and 25-14 in the first two sets before pulling out a 25-18 decision in the third set. Still, the Cobras lost the fourth set to the Trojans 25-16.
Audrey Hathaway, with her 16 assists and eight digs, helped a front line where Raquel McDonald earned seven kills, with Bri Squier and Kenna Kelley getting five kills apiece. Becca Vinciquerra had 14 digs and Kendall Mancuso managed 12 digs. For Homer, Caley Cornwell and Deede Partigianoni both had seven kills. Katie Lawrence earned 16 assists.
Grimes recovered Thursday to beat Living Word Academy, claiming the first two sets 25-19 and 25-20 and overcoming a 25-22 loss in the third set to close out the Lions 25-18 in the fourth.
Squier earned 12 kills, three blocks and two assists, with McDonald picking up 10 kills and three blocks. Mancuso had six kills and three aces as Vinciquerra managed 10 digs and four aces next to Hathaway, who amassed 23 assists, seven aces and eight digs.
