All the efforts of the Liverpool girls volleyball team through its 6-0 start were pointed toward the hope that it had closed the gap between itself and the reigning champions from Baldwinsville.
Now, to find out whether that was true or not, the Warriors went to the Baker High School gym last Wednesday night, and actually gained a set, the first time any local opponent had done that to the Bees this fall.
It came in the third set, with Liverpool playing at a top level and able to claim a 25-16 decision. This followed 25-12 and 25-18 wins by B’ville in the first two sets, and a fourth set followed that was fairly close, too, before B’ville pulled it out 25-20 to end the match.
Still, it was a fine effort by the Warriors, with Leahana Keeling earning 10 kills and Toria Betelak adding eight kills. Madison Lapoint had five kills as Sophie Vangelov got 23 assists, seven digs, three blocks and two kills. Marissa Baskin had five digs as Ashley Teixeira and Makenzie Stonebarger joined Keeling in getting four digs.
Tuning up for B’ville, Liverpool struggled in the first set last Monday against Fayetteville-Manlius, dropping it 25-15, but then pulled out a close 25-22 decision in the second set and then won the next two sets by 25-18 and 25-22 margins to take the match.
Vangelov picked up 13 assists and Sydney Caviness earned 12 assists. Their passes went to a front line where Keeling, with 12 kills, led the charge, though Lapoint earned nine kills and Betelak got six kills, plus six blocks. Teixeira had a team-best four digs.
Cicero-North Syracuse routed Corcoran last Monday night, claiming the first two sets by equal 25-8 margins before topping the Cougars 25-17 in the third set as Kaylin VanAuken, Madelyn Murray and McKenna Johnston each finished with five aces.
Murray also had nine kills and VanAuken earned 17 assists, with Gracie Gleason contributing five kills and Olivia Salvador earning six digs.
Another sweep followed on Wednesday, only this time C-NS was on the wrong end of it, falling to West Genesee in a match where each of the three sets was close, but the Wildcats seemed to gain all of the critical points and prevailed 25-22, 25-23, 26-24.
Kim Barry notched 22 assists, often passing it to Olivia Johnson, who amassed 15 kills. Salvador contributed 16 digs as Murray got five kills and Brooke Nicolaos earned four kills and six digs. WG’s Anna Snyder had 27 assists and nine digs, with Carolyn King earning 14 kills and Greta Jasinski contributing 16 digs.
In boys volleyball, Cicero-North Syracuse would test itself Friday in the Rochester area against Section V’s Rush-Henrietta, and sweep the Royal Comets by dominating the first set 25-8 and then taking the second set 25-15 before surviving a 29-27 third set.
Through the battle, Josh Bigford put away 16 kills, adding seven digs. Jake Den Bleyker had seven kills, with Trent Caviness adding six kills and three blocks. Tristen Cummings also had six kills to go with his 29 assists and five aces. Dylan Gesser gained 10 digs.
To start its week, Liverpool went to Fayetteville-Manlius last Monday and fell to the Warriors 25-18, 25-17, 25-12. Vincent Lee had six assists, while Jagger Alberici had four digs. Connor Jones and Hunter Vang each had two kills. For F-M, Chris Perry got 21 assists as Cade Collum earned nine kills and Joe Powless contributed seven kills.
C-NS, meanwhile, swept the combined Syracuse City team 25-11, 25-14, 25-13, with Cummings picking up 19 assists, three aces and three kills. Bigford earned 14 kills and six aces as Trent Caviness contributed nine assists. Kyle Alberici managed four kills. Aidan Longley and Josh Pickard had three kills apiece.
On Thursday night, Liverpool lost at home to Living Word Academy 25-17, 25-16, 25-20. Jones and Darian Devereaux each had five kills, with Devereaux adding five aces. Eric Baker got four kills and Aiden Shoemaker three kills as Lee earned 17 assists and Alberici managed 10 digs.
