Through four head-to-head matches, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team had not dropped a set, rarely facing serious stress.
All of that changed, though, in last Thursday night’s visit to Oswego. A large, raucous home crowd looked on as the 4-0 Northstars fell behind the 5-0 Buccaneers, only to make a remarkable recovery to claim a five-set classic.
C-NS fought to a 25-21 victory in the opening set, and was close in the second set, too, only to have Oswego claim it 25-22 and then win the third set, too, by a more comfortable 25-18 margin.
Moving to the fourth set, it went back and forth, and at 24-24, C-NS was two points from defeat in the match. But it gained the serve back from the Bucs, won that set 26-24, and then withstood all of Oswego’s charges to take the final set 25-20.
Through it all, Connor Millias stayed cool and productive, finishing with 51 assists, plus four aces, four digs, two kills and one block, while Trevor Caviness, leading C-NS on the defensive side, saved rallies through his 14 digs.
Up front, Garrett Coleman produced 20 kills and four aces, plus two blocks. Luke Barnell, with 13 kills, and Justin Kegebein, with 11 kills, were close behind, each of them adding four digs as Kegebein managed two aces and two assists. Reed Jones chimed in with eight kills and five blocks, and Josh Bigford earned five kills and five blocks.
Oswego had its share of stars, too, from Trevor Bradshaw earning 24 kills to Jason Proud earning 35 assists, with Liam Moran (13 digs), Kyle Kon (16 kills) and Trey Clark (14 kills) also making big contributions for the Bucs.
Before all this, C-NS had gone to Fayetteville-Manlius and swept the Hornets last Monday night. F-M had just rallied from two sets down to stun defending sectional champion Baldwinsville in five on Sept. 18, and the Northstars were not about to let that happen to them.
By scores of 25-19 and 25-22, C-NS claimed the first two sets, and it won the third set by a 25-22 margin to close it out, led again by Millias, who put up 32 assists, two aces and two digs.
Coleman had 12 kills, with Barnell adding nine kills and three digs. Kegebein added seven kills, three digs and two aces as Caviness got seven digs and Bigford earned five blocks.
And this sets up another big week where C-NS has a rematch of last year’s Section III Division I final against Baldwinsville Tuesday before going to the Buffalo area on the weekend for a tough match against Canisius and a tournament at Williamsville South.