The second time did not turn out like the first did, at least in terms of the Cicero-North Syracuse girls volleyball team’s interactions with its neighbors from Liverpool.
Seeking to get even for an early-season defeat to the Warriors, the Northstars pulled it off last Tuesday night, requiring five sets and two different comebacks to win its most important match of the season.
That first encounter, on Sept. 13, had gone four sets before falling in Liverpool’s favor, and the Warriors rolled through the first set of the rematch, too, winning it 25-16, and even when C-NS got even 25-22 in a close second set, Liverpool dominated the third set 25-13.
Instead of wearing down, though, the Northstars, who had blown a 2-0 lead in sets to fall to Fayetteville-Manlius in five back on Sept. 30, found enough to pull out the fourth set 25-20. A close, tense final set followed, both sides getting closer before C-NS pulled it out, 25-23,
At the center of most of C-NS’s activity, Jessica Barry gained 28 assists and 13 digs, plus five kills and an ace. Her passes went to, among others, Kim Barry, who had a team-best eight kills, plus four digs, while Olivia Salvador picked up 23 digs.
Madelyn Murray gained six kills and five digs, with Corrine Rutkowski also earning six kills. Olivia Johnson got 11 digs as she and Emily Overend had four kills apiece and Savannah Ciciarelli earned six digs.
On Liverpool’s side, Caitlyn Metrick put together 19 assists, eight digs, seven kills, three blocks and three aces, a superb all-around effort. Madison Lapointe was nearly as good with six aces, seven kills, nine assists, six digs and two blocks.
Abby Anderson showed her power with 10 blocks and seven kills, with Lee Keeling earning eight kills. Tom Bedelak had five kills and three blocks as Karlee King got four kills, three aces and seven digs. Anna Salamino (15 digs), Ashley Teixeira (11 digs) and Katie Boak (eight digs) offered more defensive help.
Liverpool (6-3) recovered on Thursday with a 25-7, 25-11, 25-11 romp over Nottingham where Makenzie Stoneberger earned seven of the Warriors’ 22 aces. Metrick had four aces to go with 13 assists and four kills as Anderson had a team-best five kills. Sophia Vangelov contributed six assists and three kills. Lapointe and King each had three kills as Lapointe contributed three aces.
C-NS, meanwhile, moved to on the season by sweeping Henninger 25-11, 25-17, 25-9, seeing Jessica Barry pick up 18 assists, five kills and four aces as Sharlene Richards added seven assists, plus three aces.
Murray had a team-best six kills as Johnson and Overend got five kills apiece and Kim Barry added four kills, two aces and two assists. Rutkowski (three kills) and Salvador (five digs) helped out and the Northstars improved its record to 6-4.
Meanwhile, in boys volleyball, Cicero-North Syracuse remained difficult to stop, hosting Living Word Academy last Tuesday and sweeping past the Lions 25-8, 25-6, 25-15.
Josh Cloute, with six kills, led a deep pool of Northstars front-line players. Josh Bigford had five kills, with Trevor Caviness adding four kills. Connor Millias and Tristen Cummings also had four kills as they split back-line duties, Millias earning 12 assists and Cummings 11 assists. Justin Kegebein had three kills. Kyle Alberici picked up three aces.
A night later, C-NS routed Syracuse 25-8, 25-11, 25-16. Millias rested, giving Cummings the chance to set and he earned 29 assists, plus four aces. Bigford had a team-best nine kills, but others got a chance to shine as Alberici, Joe D’Agostino, Jake Den Bleyker and Dylan Gesser had six kills apiece, with Gesser adding six digs and Trent Caviness four digs to go with three aces.
Then the Northstars faced Midlakes on Friday, quieting the Screaming Eagles 25-14, 25-13, 25-20, though it helped that Midlakes was playing two matches on this day and also met Fayetteville-Manlius, rallying from two sets down to win in five.
No comeback took place against C-NS, who had Millias return to get 29 assists, matching Cummings’ Living Word total as Kegebein gained 11 kills and Bigford added 10 kills, plus three aces. Caviness had five kills and four digs as Alberici picked up three kills.
Liverpool saw its boys volleyball team take a tough five-set defeat to Jamesville-DeWitt last Thursday night. After dropping the first two sets 25-16 and 25-23, the Warriors claimed its own 25-16 decision in the third set and won the fourth, 25-22, getting within two points of a victory before the Red Rams pulled out the final set 27-25.
Frank Consentino got 24 assists and three aces, with Will Karins getting 12 digs. Trevor Morrow earned nine kills as Cooper Chaffee earned 10 blocks to go with his six kills. Brendan Lee added four kills and Lucas Manganiello contributed four kills. J-D got 24 kills from Lucas Binder, 18 kills from Ryan Middleton and 49 assists from Liam Kaplan.
The Warriors weren’t as close Friday in a 25-17, 26-24, 25-19 defeat to Baldwinsville, though Consentino picked up 10 assists. Morrow and Chaffee had three kills apiece and Karins earned five digs. B’ville had David Abraham earn 33 assists, Riley Shanon gain 14 kills and David Cerqua get 10 digs and five aces.
