If the Fayetteville-Manlius girls volleyball team had any negative feelings about its Sept. 28 defeat to Baldwinsville in a three-set sweep, they didn’t last long.
The very next morning, F-M went to B’ville and, in the Bees’ Fall Swing Tournament, won the Silver division against a strong field.
When league matches resumed, the Hornets hosted Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday night and kept on rolling as it needed just three sets to put away the Northstars 25-20, 25-21, 25-13.
On a well-balanced F-M front line, Juliana Myagkota had 10 kills and seven digs. Sonja Napolitano had eight kills, with Rachel Quilty-Koval getting seven kills and eight digs.
Feeding all of them, Sophie Thomas produced 25 assists to go with five aces and seven digs. Nina Avery gained 14 digs as Kendra Broddus had seven digs to go with three kills and two assists.
Then West Genesee visited on Friday afternoon just before football homecoming game, and F-M added to the occasion, getting through a close first set 26-24 before stopping the Wildcats 25-14 and 25-15 in the next two sets for the sweep.
Myagkota and Quilty-Koval each notched nine kills, with Myagkota adding 12 digs and Quilty-Koval nine digs. Anna Williams got six kills and Kendra Broddus four kills as Thomas accumulated 27 assists and Avery improved to 20 digs.
Entering the week with a 9-2 record, Bishop Grimes went to LaFayette last Monday and started out like it would win again, but got overtaken in a four-set defeat to the Lancers.
A close opening set went 26-24 in the Cobras’ favor. LaFayette got the second set 25-20, and in the crucial third set won the points in the late going to pull it out 25-23, finishing off Grimes 25-15 in the fourth.
Raquel McDonald, in defeat, managed 20 kills, five blocks and 10 digs. Mara Gutchess had 16 assists and 14 digs, with Audrey Hathaway adding 11 assists and 10 digs. Becca Vinciquerra got 11digs and three aces as Maddy Mowers had seven digs.
On LaFayette’s side, Bethany Miller, with her 27 assists, fed it to Grace Dow (11 kills), Grace Quick (eight kills) and Erika Isaacs (six kills) on the front line as Raegyn Garbutt and Keely Jocko each had 15 digs, Quick adding 13 digs.
Another tough test would come for Grimes Wednesday night when it visited Skaneateles. Here, the Cobras could never get going as it lost to the Lakers in three sets 25-18, 25-19, 25-15.
Most of Hathaway’s 13 assists went to McDonald, who got eight kills, two blocks and seven digs. Lexi Emmi added three kills as Vinciquerra produced nine digs and Bella D’Andrea got two aces. Jessica Patalino (14 kills, 16 digs) and Lily Delasin (25 assists) led Skaneateles.
Jamesville-DeWitt, who like F-M played in the B’ville Fall Swing Tournament, took on PSLA-Fowler last Tuesday and swept past the Falcons 25-10, 25-14, 25-16.
Linda Shen and Fiona McNeil each got seven aces, Shen adding four kills and six digs as McNeil had five kills. Alexis LeClair had nine digs and three aces, with Skylar Hardt getting five kills in front of Madeline Ferris, who had 24 assists, five aces, five digs and three kills.
A night later, J-D faced West Genesee, two days before F-M did. After dropping the first set 25-23, the Rams won the second 25-20 and, more importantly, emerged from a close third set 26-24 to take control, closing it out 25-14 in the fourth.
Ferris was sensational, gaining 40 assists and 24 digs, plus eight kills, three aces and four blocks. Shen put away a career-best 25 kills and 22 digs as Erica Schwedes also had 22 digs.
LeClair put together 31 digs and McNeil finished with 10 digs. Elsa Hardt stepped up with nine kills as Skylar Hardt got five kills, with Amber Hamernik earning three aces.
