Everywhere one looked in last Wednesday’s Section III Class AA championship match, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team displayed power.
From the spikes at the net to the hard serves from the back line, the Northstars used that power to overwhelm Baldwinsville in a three-game sweep that produced another sectional title in front of the delighted home crowd.
CNS brought a wealth of experience to this match, a stark contrast to B’ville, who only in recent years has moved up to the varsity level and has risen to the role of contender in a hurry.
However, the Bees had never appeared in a sectional final prior to this match. And while at first that did not matter much, since B’ville took a 5-4 lead early in the first game, it would matter a lot the moment things got tough.
Thanks to the Northstars’ myriad cast of stars, it got tough in a hurry, as CNS moved in front during that first game and did not let up until it had a 25-18 victory and an early lead.
Cruising along, CNS gave up the initial point of the second game, then never trailed again as it lead by as it rattled off the last five points of the game to prevail by a comfortable 25-15 margin.
Then, in the third game, Alec Weber took over. With a lethal serve, he turned a close game into a romp by reeling off 13 consecutive points. Though CNS got a bit sloppy at the end, it still won 25-18 and finished off the sweep.
Overall, Weber had 22 assists, mixing in eight aces and six kills for good measure. Mike Freytag had 11 kills and three blocks on the front line, while C.J. Patzer had seven kills and Glen Miles contributed four kills. CNS moves on to regional play this weekend.
