With the regular season near an end, each of the area’s girls and boys volleyball teams still had plenty of work ahead of them.
Jamesville-DeWitt met Fulton last Tuesday night and split the first two sets, claiming the opener 25-15 and dropping the second set 25-20, but then the Red Rams dominated the third and fourth sets, winning each of them by 25-6 margins.
Alexandria Payne finished with 23 kills, 12 digs, five blocks and four assists, with Madeline Ferris passing it to Payne as she got 30 assists, plus nine digs and three kills.
Skylar Hardt managed seven aces and seven digs, with Alexis LeClair getting 14 digs. Amy Shen finished with five kills, six digs and three blocks as Lexie Gambacorto had eight digs and four kills.
In Thursday’s regular-season finale, J-D handled Auburn 25-12, 25-12, 25-16, getting 31 assists, eight digs and three kills from Ferris as Payne put away 20 kills. Gamacorto earned eight aces and six digs as Shen got five aces, five kills and five digs.
Fayetteville-Manlius made its latest attempt at toppling unbeaten Baldwinsville, and nearly pulled even in the second set with the Bees, but still could not catch up in a 25-14, 26-24, 25-21 defeat.
Still, it was a strong effort from the Hornets, who had Saara Vahtola pick up 13 kills and six digs, while Paige Hulbert had seven kills and eight digs. Erianna Madill had 21 assists and Rachel Quilty-Koval got nine digs, Sophie Thomas adding five digs.
Bishop Grimes met Auburn last Monday night, rolling through the first set 25-13. When the Maroons pulled out a 26-24 decision in the second set, the Cobras responded well with a 25-11 third-set romp and then held on, 25-23, in the fourth set to end it.
Through it all, Audrey Hathaway earned 26 assists and five digs. Often, Hathaway’s passes went to Bri Squier, who had 13 kills and four aces. Becca Vinciquerra also had four aces as Kendall Mancuso got three aces. Raquel McDonald had seven kills and Kenna Kelly finished with six kills.
A night later, against Hamilton, Grimes swept the Emerald Knights 25-18, 25-13, 25-21. It included 10 kills from Squier and six kills from McDonald as Kelly got four aces and three kills. Hathaway finished with 14 assists and Mancuso had five digs.
Grimes finished the regular season taking on Bishop Ludden Thursday night, looking to improve to 15-3 – and it did so, handling the Gaelic Knights 25-13 in the first set and 25-17 in each of the next two sets.
Earning 21 assists, Hathaway passed it to Squier and McDonald, who had seven kills apiece, and Kelly, who had six kills. Kendall Mancuso had six digs to go with five kills as McDonald added five kills.
In boys volleyball, Fayetteville-Manlius met Central Square last Wednesday and lost in four sets, with each of the three sets the Redhawks won by the same 25-19 score in between a 25-12 win by the Hornets in the third set.
Cade Collum had 10 kills, while Joe Powless got seven kills. Aaron Costanza earned five digs as he, along with Dean Assenza and Anderson Fuller, each had three kills and Chris Blum got 19 assists. For Central square, Bailey Baumbach earned 13 kills and nine digs as Cooper Colesante finished with 29 assists.
Jamesville-DeWitt nearly claimed the first set in last Monday’s match against Baldwinsville, but once the Bees prevailed 25-23, it went on to take the second set 25-8 and then finished off the Red Rams 25-20 in the third.
Matt Cieplicki gained seven kills, with Nick Mandelis adding six kills, seven digs and five blocks. Ian Freezman had three kills as, on the back line, Liam Kaplan earned 17 assists and Ryan Evans got eight digs.
On Wednesday night, J-D lost the first set to Oswego 25-22 but then won the second set 27-25, threatening for an upset before the Buccaneers took the next two sets by 25-22 and 25-16 margins.
Here, Cieplicki had 15 kills, adding six aces and four digs. Owen Farchione had seven kills and five digs, with Kaplan earning 28 assists to go with six digs and three kills. Mandelis (eight digs) and Evans (seven digs) also had strong defensive outings.
