Twice this season, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls volleyball team found itself in a five-set battle with West Genesee. Each time, the Hornets prevailed.
What’s more, the pattern of last Thursday night’s match in Camillus matched that of the Sept. 14 meeting, with F-M falling behind, rallying to take the lead and then surrendering that advantage before pulling it out.
Again WG won the first set, by a 25-22 margin, and once more the Hornets replied by pulling out wins in the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-21. When the Wildcats claimed the fourth set 25-19, F-M kept its poise and, in the final set, got the points that mattered to win the match 25-22.
Through the long battle, Erianna Madill earned a career-best 58 assists. Up front, Paige Hulbert set her own career mark with 28 kills, adding 11 digs as Saara Vahtola got 22 kills and 14 digs. Ellen Burhle added six kills as Rachel Quilty-Koval managed 20 digs. WG got 21 kills from Carolyn King, 28 assists from Anna Snyder and 21 digs and 12 kills from Audrey Dennis.
To start its week, F-M hosted Fulton and proved quite impressive in a 25-11, 25-17, 25-9 sweep of the Red Raiders. Vahtola put up four aces, matching Hulbert as they both earned nine kills. Madill, who had 13 assists, got help on the back line from Sophie Thomas, who had seven assists.
Another sweep followed on Tuesday night, the Hornets handling Henninger 25-8, 25-6, 25-15. Vahtola earned eight of F-M’s 24 aces and added eight kills as Hulbert contributed seven kills. Ferony contributed five aces and Thomas added three aces as Emma Williams got two kills.
In one of its more anticipated matches of the season, Jamesville-DeWitt made the trip to Westhill last Wednesday night, but could not snare a set from the Warriors, taking a 25-20, 25-14, 25-23 defeat.
Madeline Ferris gained 22 assists, with Alexandria Payne managing 14 kills and 11 digs. Lexie Gambacorto amassed 17 digs to go with six kills as Amy Shen got 13 digs and Alexis LeClair earned seven digs. Westhill’s Mackenzie Martin had 16 assists, 14 digs, seven kills and three aces as Montanna Gedney got eight kills, six assists and 10 digs.
Just before that, J-D made it through a long 31-29 first set with Central Square in last Tuesday night’s match, and then swept the Redhawks 25-17 and 25-10 in the next two sets.
Payne had 16 kills and 14 digs, with Shen adding 16 digs. Gambacorto got six kills, five aces and 12 digs, with Ferris earning five kills and 12 digs to go with 26 assists. LeClair (12 digs) and Skylar Hardt (six digs) also made defensive contributions.
Rebounding from the Westhill loss, J-D topped PSLA-Fowler 25-8, 25-9, 25-13 on Thursday night as Ferris, with 26 assists, set up most of Payne’s 18 kills. LeClair earned six aces and Skylar Hardt got four aces as Payne and Shen both earned three aces. Gambacorto had four kills and Shen got three kills.
Bishop Grimes was back on the court Thursday night, nearly getting a sweep of Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, but gladly settling for a 25-14, 25-17, 27-25, 25-22 victory over the Rebels.
Bri Squier had 13 kills, with Raquel McDonald getting seven kills and five blocks. Kenna Kelly had six kills, eight digs and four aces as Becca Vinciquerra got 16 digs and Kendall Mancuso had 13 digs to go with three kills. Audrey Hathaway earned 21 assists, joining Mara Gutchess as they both had five digs.
Moving to boys volleyball, Fayetteville-Manlius had to face unbeaten Cicero-North Syracuse last Monday night, The first set was a close one, but the Northstars took it 25-21 and went on to beat the Hornets 25-18 and 25-16 in the next two sets.
Cade Collum still had eight kills, with Joe Powless adding seven kills and three digs. Aaron Costanza picked up five kills as Chris Perry passed it all of them, earning 22 assists. C-NS featured Josh Bigford, who had 18 kills, and Tristen Cummings, who managed 24 assists and six kills.
On Wednesday night, F-M swept the combined Syracuse City team 25-10, 25-20, 25-20. Perry managed 25 assists, with Jordan Glazier adding five digs. Up front, Powless led with seven kills as Collum had six kills and Brian Jones five kills. Costanza, Anderson Fuller and Carson Yancey each had four kills as Dean Assenza got three kills.
Meanwhile, Jamesville-DeWitt lost last Monday to Baldwinsville, getting close to pulling even in the second set, but settling for a 25-15, 25-22, 25-16 defeat to the Bees.
Liam Kaplan finished with nine assists as Matt Cieplicki got four kills, with Nick Mandelis adding three kills. Cameron Howe and Ian Freezman had two kills apiece. Dan Cerqua led B’ville 30 assists, his passes often going to Tyler Aiello, who had 18 kills as Nate Johns had seven kills and four aces.
J-D did win on Thursday night, sweeping Living Word Academy 25-18, 25-19, 25-21. Mandelis picked up 10 kills, with Cieplicki adding nine kills and seven blocks, and Howe earning seven kills and four blocks. Kaplan earned 25 assists as Ryan Evans gained six digs.
