It would prove quite difficult for the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team to top a second week of October where it rallied from two sets down to claim a classic over Oswego and then won the Williamsville South Tournament in suburban Buffalo.
The Northstars would keep rolling in last Wednesday’s match against Liverpool, taking just three sets to put away the Warriors by scores of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-18.
Tristen Cummings picked up 27 assists, four kills and three aces as Josh Bigford got 17 kills and four aces. Joe Flood also had three aces as Trent Caviness got three kills and three assists, with Dylan Gesser adding three digs.
Liverpool’s Jagger Alberici finished with eight digs, with Vincent Lee gaining nine assists. Eric Baker had four blocks and Hunter Vang three blocks as Connor Jones earned four kills and four blocks, with Darian Devereaux contributing three kills.
C-NS played again on Thursday, against Living Word Academy, and swept the Lions 25-12, 25-13, 25-16. Bigford still had time to pick up 20 kills and four digs, with Cummings getting 26 assists, four kills, three blocks, four digs and two aces. Josh Pickard got four kills as Caviness finished with six digs, three aces and three assist.
Then came a big match Saturday against Rochester McQuaid, and finally the Northstars suffered a defeat. After dropping the first set 25-16, C-NS won the second set 25-22, but lost to the Knights 25-19 and 25-18 in the next two sets.
Cummings still put together 23 assists, eight kills and four digs, while Bigford managed 19 kills and six digs. Caviness had five kills, six assists and five digs as Gesser gained nine digs. Kyle Alberici contributed four kills.
Moving to girls volleyball, Liverpool rolled in last Tuesday’s match against Henninger, sweeping the Black Knights 25-5, 25-13, 25-4 as Madison Lapoint set a career mark with 14 aces.
Ashley Teixeira had six aces, while 10 different Warriors players recorded kills, led by Toria Betelak, who had nine kills. Sophie Vangelov had four kills to go with 17 assists as Delaney Johnson, Leahana Keeling and Marissa Baskin had three kills apiece.
Going to West Genesee Thursday night, Liverpool completed its regular season at 14-2, but it wasn’t easy. The Wildcats won the second set 25-21 after dropping the first set 25-22, forcing the Warriors to win tough 25-21 and 25-22 decisions in the next two sets to pull it out.
Vangelov amassed 24 assists and Sydney Caviness got 12 assists. Teixeira earned 15 digs and four aces as, on the front line, Keeling led with 12 kills, while Betelak again had nine kills. Hayley Feldt and Alicia Nash had six kills apiece as Vangelov had five kills and Lapoint earned four kills.
C-NS lost last Monday night to Oswego, narrowly beaten 25-23 in the first set before the Buccaneers claimed the next two sets by 25-13 and 25-20 margins.
Kaylin VanAuken, with three aces and nine assists, and Kim Barry, with six assists, worked on the back line with Olivia Salvador, who had 14 digs, and Brooke Nicolaos, who had nine digs.
Madelyn Murray and Olivia Johnson picked up five kills apiece, while Nicolaos gained four kills and Kristen Kires had three kills. Oswego’s Laurin Furlong had 19 assists, passing it to Adeline Benjamin (10 kills, seven aces) and Kennedy Shurtleff (seven kills, five aces) on the Bucs’ front line.
A night later, C-NS turned around to sweep Nottingham 25-11, 25-7, 25-8. VanAuken earned 17 assists and six aces as Salvador got five aces and Johnson four aces, plus eight kills. Murray led with nine kills as Emily Overend and Madison Fortin got three aces apiece.
But the Northstars had to deal with Baldwinsville on Thursday night, where after 25-8 and 25-17 losses in the first two sets, C-NS won the third set 25-20, only to drop the fourth set 25-16.
Murray earned 12 kills, with Nicolaos adding eight kills and five digs. VanAuken and Fortin both produced 13 assists as Salvador had 12 digs, Overend seven digs and VanAuken six digs. Gracie Gleason contributed five kills.
