Start to finish, no one in the Section III Division I ranks got close to the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team.
So it only figured that Wednesday night’s sectional final involved a three-set by the top-seeded Northstars over no. 2 seed Baldwinsville on its home court, the third time this fall C-NS didn’t drop a set against the Bees.
With so much knowledge of each other, it wasn’t too surprising to see the first set evolved into a close battle where the two sides tied each other six times by the midway point.
Every one of those times it had a chance to go in front, though, B’ville could not do so, and the Northstars used four consecutive points, including a Justin Kegebein ace, to go in front for good. The Bees stayed close and even got back within one, 19-18, but C-NS pulled out a 25-21 decision.
Getting off to a quick start in the second set, the Northstars went up 5-1 and, again, B’ville tried to chase them down without success. Even when it closed the gap to two, 19-17, the Bees were thwarted when C-NS closed with six straight points and won it, 25-17.
Only in the third set did the Northstars trail at any time in the match, and even that deficit never grew beyond a single point. Down 10-9, C-NS notched three straight points and took off on an 11-3 run, and Josh Bigford’s kill at match point closed out the match at 25-18.
Connor Millias was superb throughout the match, earning 33 assists, four blocks and four digs. He said it was harder to win this sectional title than the year before, adding that good team chemistry helped the Northstars excel throughout the fall.
Bigford finished with 11 kills, adding five digs. Trevor Caviness and Robert Patzer each got eight kills, with Patzer adding six digs and Trent Caviness eight digs. Kegebein gained five kills and David Delaney added five kills.
C-NS now wants to repeat its regional championship from 2015 and advance to the state championships at Suffolk County Community College on Long Island. To do so, it must prevail Saturday night at Jamesville-DeWitt against the Section I/Section II champions.
