Fresh from hosting its annual Fall Swing tournament, the Baldwinsville girls volleyball team went back to the normal routine of turning back all CNY Counties League challengers – and passed a milestone in the process.
When the Bees swept past Oswego 25-12, 25-8, 25-10 last Tuesday night, it gave long-time head coach Mary Jo Cerqua her 450th career victory, which was marked with the team giving her a congratulatory sign and a bouquet of flowers.
Like so many other times, this match involved a lot of contributions from a lot of different players, as 12 of them picked up at least one kill, led by Amanda May and Madison Whitney, who had seven kills apiece.
Just behind them, Rachel Aiello had six kills, with Lexi Lagoy managing five kills and Shayna Webber adding four kills. Meghann Smith fed all of them with 29 assists, adding a team-best five aces as Meghan Andre earned four digs.
Cerqua’s 451st win quickly followed on Thursday night, B’ville rolling past Central Square 25-11, 25-10, 25-3 as Cerqua was honored with, among other things, fans holding sticks with a photo of her attached to them.
B’ville nearly got a shutout in the third set against the Red Hawks as Caryn Salce set the tone, earning eight aces to go with her five digs.
Smith had her second straight showing of 29 assists. May led with six kills, though Whitney and Webber were close behind with five kills apiece. Andre had four aces and four digs. Rebecca Lawrence picked up four kills as Maddy Price and Melissa Voyer both earned three kills.
For B’ville’s boys volleyball team, a big victory was attained last Wednesday night, at Oswego, where it twice came from behind and beat the Buccaneers in five sets.
Down after losing the first set 25-20, the Bees nearly dropped the second set, too, but squeaked it out 26-24, only to drop a 25-23 third set to an Oswego side that was unbeaten before Fayetteville-Manlius stopped them in a five-set thriller the day before.
Somehow, B’ville hung in there and, in the fourth set, prevailed 25-20, leading to a final set where it earned all the big sets and put way the tired Bucs 25-21.
Pat Dubiel augmented his 43 assists with six digs. Delsean Griffith earned 18 kills, while Mike Bernet earned 13 kills. Corey Toscano finished with seven kills and three aces, with Dalton Mahan (six kills) and Jon Dunn (five kills) also helping on the front line. Zach Gillard, with 26 kills, and Ryan Lavner, with 42 assists, led Oswego’s efforts.
This week for the Bees opened with a home match last Monday against Central Square, which didn’t take long to complete as B’ville swept the Red Hawks 25-20, 25-13, 25-15.
Griffith led a deep front line, earning 10 kills and two aces. Toscano had six kills, while Dunn managed four kills and Tyler Weber had five digs. Dubiel picked up 15 assists, adding two aces and two kills, with Dan Shorney offering some relief as he earned five assists.
