If there was ever a single moment where the Fayetteville-Manlius boys volleyball team arrived as a major Class AA contender, it came in last Monday night’s classic at Oswego.
Against an undefeated Buccaneers side, the Hornets twice fell behind – but twice came back to pull even, and showed its resolve down the stretch as it prevailed in five sets.
F-M didn’t get discouraged as Oswego claimed the first set 25-23, instead roaring to a 25-18 in the second set to pull even.
And when the Bucs won the third set 25-20 and pushed the Hornets to the brink of a defeat in the fourth set, again F-M rebounded, claiming that set 25-23, and going to the final set, where it moved in front and hung on to win the match 25-22.
Working all night on the back line, Mike Boshart had 54 assists, and often those passes went to Louis Avellino, who put away 36 kills, to go with seven digs and two blocks.
Tom Sager benefited, too, from Boshart’s deft passing, earning 16 kills and nine digs, while Sam Stauffer had seven kills. Sean Corbett contributed five aces, four digs, two kills and two assists as Josh Bergan added four digs.
Oswego saw Josh Carney earn 38 assists, five kills, six blocks and three aces, while Zach Gillard put away 33 kills and nine blocks, plus five digs. Trevor Bradshaw added six kills and seven digs.
Jamesville-DeWitt started its week by hosting Cicero-North Syracuse, winning the second set 25-23 after dropping the opener 25-19, and nearly moving in front before the Northstars pulled out that set 25-22 and won another 25-19 decision in the fourth set.
Griffin Feiner, in defeat, managed 14 kills, seven assists, four aces and two digs. Matt Kanfer had nine assists and three kills, while James Usher had six kills and three digs.
Jake Klein contributed six digs as Ryan Mulvihill managed three kills and three blocks. On the C-NS side, Josh Rodriguez (21 kills) and Garrett Coleman (41 assists) led the way.
