Once again, the Baldwinsville boys volleyball team’s primary aim is to try and take down the budding dynasty at Cicero-North Syracuse.

Before it could face the Northstars next Tuesday though, the Bees first had to deal with Fayetteville-Manlius on Thursday, and it lost in four sets to the Hornets.

The opening set was close, but went 26-24 in B’ville’s favor. F-M pulled even 25-21 in the second, won the third set 25-19 and, with the Bees close to forcing a final set, held on in the fourth 25-23.

Tom Higman led B’ville with 18 assists, seven kills and four blocks. Luc Jerome had a team-best 10 kills as Aidan Priest got six kills. Bradford Doubleday mixed in six digs and three aces as Nick Shultz contributed three kills.

On F-M’s side, it was Anderson Fuller (18 kills) and Joe Powless (13 kills) manning the front line, the passes coming from Chris Blum, who accumulated 41 assists.

B’ville opened at Central Square last Tuesday, and was quite impressive, especially in a 25-10 second set that bridged 25-19 and 25-23 wins in the other two sets during a sweep of the Redhawks.

With his 22 assists, Higman set up points for many teammates, including Jerome, who posted nine kills and three aces.

David Cornell had six kills, while Priest had four kills. Connor Garvey managed four aces to go with his three kills as Doubleday contributed three aces and Shultz had two kills.

B’ville would look to bounce back from the F-M loss with a tournament appearance in Victor, the first part of a tough stretch that included the C-NS match and Thursday’s home opener against Oswego.

Meanwhile, B’ville’s girls volleyball team would visit West Genesee Wednesday night in its only match of the week and start to unleash it best form during a 25-7, 25-18, 25-14 sweep of the Wildcats.

Summer McClintic settled in as the Bees’ back-line anchor, not only earning 31 assists, but getting seven digs to go with two aces, two kills and a block.

Up front, Rileigh Kimball and Katie Welcher each notched 13 kills, Kimball adding six blocks and seven digs. Sophia Cronk had six kills as Welcher gained five digs. Carly May had three blocks and two kills as Sophia Cordas dealt a pair of aces.

Another week of practice would follow before a key match this Wednesday against C-NS, followed by a trip to Henninger Friday and, a week after the boys were in Victor, a girls tournament Sept. 22 on that same Blue Devils court.