For years, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team had faced the challenge from Baldwinsville and, for the most part, turned it aside without serious stress.
That changed Tuesday night, when the Northstars were continually unable to put the Bees away and found itself two points from a stunning defeat before pulling it out in five sets.
B’ville had lost to Fayetteville-Manlius on Sept. 13, so there was little indication that it would turn around years of dominance by C-NS in their head-to-head battles.
But a 25-19 win by C-NS in the opening set was the most lopsided result for either side. Close to gaining a 2-0 lead, C-NS instead saw B’ville pull out the second set 25-23.
It remained tight in the third set, but the Northstars won it 25-22 to go back in front, only to have the Bees again fight off a defeat and claim another 25-23 decision in the fourth.
The final set was the most tense of them all, each side inching toward match point but not getting there. Finally, at 25-25, C-NS got the serve back and held on to it to end the match 27-25.
On the back line, Trent Caviness gained 22 assists to go with his 12 kills, three blocks, five digs and two aces, while Brandon Millias earned 23 assists and seven digs.
Jake Den Bleyker produced 18 kills, with Kevin Felasco getting nine kills and six digs as Jon Hendry added five kills and three blocks. Josh Pickard and Carter Wisely had three kills apiece as Riley Kennedy and Trace LaRobardiere had six digs apiece.
B’ville featured Thomas Higman on its back line, who earned 37 assists passing it to Luc Jerome, who had 16 kills and 10 digs, while Connor Garvey and Aidan Priest had nine kills apiece and David Cornell got nine kills. Bradford Doubleday earned nine digs to go with three assists and two aces.
These two teams meet again Oct. 11 at the Baker High School gymnasium.
