The middle of September brought a string of varsity high school sports showdowns between Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse, and among them the girls volleyball match stood out, stretching to five sets before the Warriors prevailed.
Liverpool was 3-0 going into the match and C-NS was 1-2, and when the Warriors roared through a 25-12 first set, a sweep seemed inevitable. But the Northstars fought back and controlled the second set, claiming it 25-16 to pull even.
What followed, in the third and fourth sets, was continual excitement. Leads switched and so did the momentum, so when Liverpool pulled out the third 25-23 and threatened to end it in the fourth, C-NS, two points from defeat, stayed in there, prevailing 27-25 to take the match to the full limit.
Only in the final set did the Warriors regain the control it had earlier in the evening, prevailing 25-16 to finally claim a match remembered as much for how the Northstars kept things alive as for the result.
Sophie Vangelov, with 23 assists, and Sydney Caviness, with 15 assists, led Liverpool’s back line. Alicia Nash and Leahana Kealing got 12 kills apiece as Madison Lapoint earned nine kills. Toria Betelak had seven blocks and four kills. Vangelov and Megan Stonebarger each had five kills as Ashley Teixeira gained 10 digs and Stonebarger eight digs.
On the C-NS side, Kim Barry amassed 33 assists, seven digs, three kills and two aces. Barry’s passes went to Madelyn Murray, who poured out 18 kills, and Olivia Johnson, who had nine kills and 14 digs. Olivia Salvador had 29 digs, three aces and three assists as Brooke Nicolaos got 11 digs and three assists. Emily Overend added eight assists.
Liverpool handled Nottingham on Thursday night, nearly getting a first-set shutout in a 25-2, 25-7, 25-12 romp of the Bulldogs. Vangelov had five aces, 15 assists and five kills, with Avery Marcy also getting five aces. Marissa Baskin earned seven kills and four aces. Kealing added five kills and Delaney Johnson earned four aces.
C-NS, meanwhile, swept Henninger 25-9, 25-10, 25-14, seeing Kaylin VanAuken earn nine assists and Madison Fortin earn eight assists in extended back-line duty. Barry had six assists and five aces as McKenna Johnston picked up six kills and Olivia Johnson earned three aces. Murray and Kristen Kires had three kills apiece.
In boys volleyball, Cicero-North Syracuse got its first real scare against Oswego when it lost the first set 25-18. Yet the Northstars had a quick and ready answer, prevailing 25-16 in the second set and dominating the third set 25-13 before closing out the Buccaneers 25-19 in the fourth set.
Josh Bigford finished with 22 kills, with most of the passes coming from Tristen Cummings as she got 27 assists, plus seven kills, four digs and two aces.
Jake Den Bleyker had five kills and four digs, with Dylan Gesser getting seven digs, three kills and three aces. Kyle Alberici had four kills. Oswego’s Jason Proud had 28 assists, passing it to Zach Crossman, who had 13 kills, and Kyle Kon, who had 11 kills.
In Friday’s match at Jamesville-DeWitt, C-NS swept the Red Rams, only having trouble in the third set of a 25-10, 25-18, 25-22 decision. Cummings had 24 assists, five digs and four aces, while Bigford managed 13 kills, five digs and two blocks. Gesser improved on defense, earning 12 digs.
