Before heading into yet another autumn of Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division action, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls volleyball team first claimed the edge over its neighbors.

The Hornets swept Jamesville-DeWitt in its Aug. 30 opener, rolling through the first set 25-14 and withstanding the Red Rams 25-19 and 25-20 in the ensuing sets.

‘Rachel Quilty-Koval, with six kills, led F-M’s balanced front line. Kendra Broddus had six kills and Juliana Myagkota five kills to go with three aces as Nina Avery had eight digs and Anna Williams picked up four aces. Sonja Napolitano had three kills and three blocks.

J-D, swept by Skaneateles in its Aug. 28 opener, could not get a set here, either, despite Maris Ryan’s 11 assists and four digs. Cassie Murphy had four kills and Madeline Ferris three kills as she and Linda Shen got two aces apiece. Ferris had nine digs and Alexis LeClair contributed six digs.

Bishop Grimes debuted on Friday against Homer, where it dropped the first two sets 25-21 and 25-18, and then kept it alive with a 25-23 win in the third before falling in the fourth set to the Trojans 25-8.

Raquel McDonald led the Cobras’ front line with nine kills, set up by Mara Gutchess, who got 11 assists. Maddy Mowers and Lexi Emmi had six digs apiece as Bella D’Andrea got five digs. Kaia Hubbard (11 kills) and Delaney Hartnett (14 digs) paced Homer.

Then Grimes took on Bishop Ludden Wednesday night and, after splitting the first two sets by equal 25-19 margins, rolled through the third set 25-15 and closed out the Gaelic Knights 25-16 in the fourth for its first win of the season.

McDonald not only had 14 kills, but served up seven aces. Gutchess gained 14 assists, adding two aces as D’Andrea earned three kills. Becca Vinciquerra picked up four aces as Audrey Hathaway added four digs. Aurora Deshaies (10 kills) and Sarah Morrell (10 digs) would lead Ludden’s efforts

F-M, meanwhile, visited West Genesee in its SCAC Metro opener and, on the brink of defeat, fought back and beat the Wildcats in five sets.

Though the Hornets won the opener 25-19, it couldn’t quite take control as WG pulled out the second set 26-24 and then won the third set 25-19.

The fourth set decided matters because F-M, two points from a loss, claimed its own 26-24 decision and, with that momentum, dominated the final set 25-15 to put away the Wildcats.

Sophie Thomas managed 42 assists, with Myagkota getting 12 kills, 13 digs and three aces. Quilty-Koval had 12 kills and 10 digs as Williams added nine kills and Napolitano earned eight kills. Broddus put together six kills, 10 digs, two aces and two assists as Avery earned 17 digs and four aces.

In Friday’s action, Grimes beat Jordan-Elbridge, losing the first set 25-17 but then handling the Eagles 25-21, 25-20 and 25-21 in the next three sets.

With her 25 assists, Gutchess set up McDonald’s 20 kills as Ajak Ater contributed eight kills. D’Andrea added four kills and five digs, with Maddy Mowers contributing six digs and Vinciquerra four digs.