One thing followers of the Baldwinsville girls volleyball team could monitor each fall was whether it gave up any sets to Section III opponents. Now, it has done so twice.
Visiting West Genesee last Monday night, the Bees did surrender a set, and nearly a comfortable lead, before defeating the Wildcats in four.
Since each of the first two sets was so lopsided (25-12 and 25-6) in B’ville’s favor, it started to relax a bit, and nearly paid for it. Two points from a sweep, the Bees lost the third set 29-27, and also faced some stress in the fourth set, only to pull it out 25-21.
Riley Carlucci, with 10 kills and seven blocks, and Abby May, with 11 kills, led the Bees’ front line. Kiannah Titus added five kills, with Michelle Voyer earning four kills and seven blocks.
On the back line, Hannah Klaben had 23 assists, adding two aces, two kills, two blocks and two digs, while Maddie Stone had nine assists and Emily Pascale had eight digs. On WG’s side, Rachel Hillery had 10 kills as Sasha Mekkler managed 14 assists and 10 digs.
It proved easier at Auburn two nights later. The Bees swept the Maroons 25-8, 25-9, 25-10, with Titus earning six aces as Abby Monica and Morgan Shibel each had three aces. Stone got 11 assists and Klaben nine assists as Katie Welcher earned a team-best four kills.
Back home Friday night, B’ville took on Liverpool and, again, it wasn’t easy. The Warriors, in fact, took an early lead, winning the opening set 28-26, but that only seemed to wake up the Bees, who won the next two sets by equal 25-12 margins.
In a tense fourth set, B’ville held on, 25-23, and won the match, seeing Klaben earn 35 assists, eight digs, four kills and three blocks as Voyer got 13 kills, five blocks and six digs.
Titus added 11 kills, 12 digs and four blocks as Shibel had a career-best 10 blocks and May earned 10 kills and 10 digs. Emily Pascale got 14 digs, with Carlucci earning six kills and six blocks. Liverpool, in defeat, saw Karlie King earn 12 kills and Julia Flohr add 29 assists.
Meanwhile, B’ville’s boys volleyball team, 2-0 going into the week, suffered its first blemish on Thursday night in an epic five-set defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius.
Each of the first two sets went well beyond the wire, with the Bees pulling them out by 34-32 and 32-30 margins. Ultimately, this wore on B’ville, and F-M, once it won the third set 25-22, gained energy, tying it 25-16 in the fourth set and winning it in the final set by a 25-21 margin.
Ryan Gell did all that he could for the Bees, amassing 29 kills, while Liam Wicks and Nick Walker each had seven kills. Alex Brummer added four kills as Dan Shorney produced 48 assists and David Cerqua got nine digs.
F-M, meanwhile, had Nick Bates serve up 51 assists to four different front-line players, as Sam Stauffer (15 kills), John Assenza (14 kills), Ryan Boshart (13 kills) and Jacob Rhea (11 kills) split those duties and Jehad Zatar produced 21 digs.
Before this, the Bees made it three in a row last Tuesday night with a 25-11, 25-13, 25-12 sweep of Liverpool. Walker picked up 11 kills, helped by Gell, who had seven kills and three digs, and Wicks, who picked up six kills. Shorney and David Abraham split up back-line duties, Abraham picking up 11 assists and Shorney 10 assists.
Folllowing a string of matches this week, B’ville’s girls host its annual Fall Swing Tournament, which gets underway Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at the Baker High School gyms.
