A big showdown in girls volleyball loomed last Thursday night when Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt and faced each other, with the main prize a lot of local bragging rights.
And it did not disappoint, with the Red Rams appearing to gain control in the early going when it won a close, hard-fought first set 26-24 and then repeated that effort in the second set 25-23.
Somehow, the Hornets absorbed all this adversity and dominated the rest of the way. F-M won the third set 25-17, was even better in a 25-14 third set and then flattened J-D 25-6 in the final set to pull it out.
On a deep front line, F-M got 10 kills from Mackenzie Helmer, Kendra Broddus and Harper Stoppacher, with Anna Williams and Alexandra Marchnowski each getting eight kills. Nina Avery earned 27 digs as Marchnowski got 25 digs.
J-D featured, on its back line, Aurora LeClair’s 27 digs. Maris Ryan had 14 assists and Grace DiGiovanni had 11 assists as Sophia Ferris picked up nine kills and Linda Shen added eight kills.
Before this, both teams were impressive in last Monday night’s matches. J-D traveled to Oswego last Monday night and earned a three-set sweep, taking the opening set 25-15 and then handling the Buccaneers 25-19 and 25-20 in the next two sets.
Aside from her 20 assists, Maris Ryan earned nine digs as Aurora LeClair got 14 digs and four assists. Up front, Linda Shen and Sophia Ferris both gained eight kills, Shen adding five digs as Fiona McNeil had six kills.
F-M, on that same night defeated Nottingham 25-16, 25-8, 25-17, with Morgan Napier earning 17 assists while most of the other main players rested for a busy stretch ahead.
The Hornets earned 17 aces, four of them by Amaya Nash as Ijeoma Okoh had three aces and four kills. Harper Stoppacher added three kills as Nina Avery earned four digs.
A tougher match was expected on Wednesday as F-M hosted West Genesee, but after a 25-22 first set went in the Hornets’ favor, it rolled through the second set 25-10 and the third set 25-20.
Nash finished with 25 assists, with Napier and Broddus each getting 13 digs and Nina Avery adding 11 digs. Juliana Myagkota had seven kills, with Stoppacher and Mackenzie Helmer each adding five kills as Broddus and Anna Williams both had four kills.
After the tough loss to F-M, J-D had to play again Friday night at Auburn, but defeated the Maroons 25-16, 25-19, 25-13. DiGiovanni had seven assists and LeClair six assist to go with 10 digs as the Rams got 22 aces from 10 different players, Shen leading with five kills.
Bishop Grimes had a rough start to its week, the Cobras taking a 25-14, 25-23, 25-15 defeat to LaFayette. Lexi Emmi still had 15 assists and 10 digs, with Maddie Mowers getting 11 digs as Izzy Kinsey got seven kills and Ajak Ater added five kills.
Then the Cobras lost Thursday to Skaneateles 25-14, 25-18, 25-18. Bella D’Andrea led Grimes’ front line with six kills as Emmi produced 10 assists and Mowers finished with 15 digs.
In boys volleyball, Fayetteville-Manlius had its own big match Thursday against Baldwinsville. It split the first two sets by equal 25-23 margins, but lost the next two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-21.
Brandon Rogers still finished with 27 assists, with most of his passes going to Andersen Fuller, who put away 16 kills. Cyrus Felton gained six kills and Devin Kapral added four blocks.
Prior to that, the Hornets swept past Syracuse City 25-10, 25-17, 25-16 last Tuesday night. Aidan Liddell, with 15 assists, and Brandon Rogers, with 10 assists, worked the back line as Cyrus Felton led with seven kills and Andersen Fuller added five kills.
Jamesville-DeWitt improved to 2-1 last Tuesday with a 25-15, 25-20, 24-26, 25-15 victory over Central Square, with Brevin Scullion consistent throughout the match as he piled up 41 assists.
Nearly half of Scullion’s assists were on passes to Matt Cieplicki, who put away 16 kills. Kenny Hildreth and Nick Kemmis had nine kills apiece, with Josh Duby contributing six kills.
Then the Red Rams challenged Oswego on Thursday. It lost the first two sets, 25-23and 25-17, but then claimed the third set 25-17 and pulled out the fourth set 26-24.
Only in the final-set race to 15 did J-D tire and fall, 15-6, to the Buccaneers, ending a match where Cieplicki notched 14 kills and Kemmis added 12 kills. Scullion produced 30 assists.
