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 last 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.

A 25-19 win 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.

C-NS had a far easier time beating Central Square Thursday night. The 25-17, 25-19, 25-18 sweep of the Redhawks included eight kills and 14 assists from Caviness as Millias gained 17 assists, with Den Bleyker earning 14 kills and three aces. Pickard had four kills as Felasco gained four kills and three blocks.

Liverpool had lost Sept. 13 to Oswego 25-19, 25-20, 25-21. Then, in last Monday’s match with Jamesville-DeWitt, the Warriors won the second set 27-25 after dropping the opener 25-21, only to have the Red Rams take the next two sets 25-19 and 25-18.

Twice in as many weeks, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls volleyball teams had faced each other, and emerged from those battles dead even.

The Northstars won a five-set clash on Sept. 5. A week and a half later, it was the Warriors prevailing in a best-of-three set final in the Marcellus Tournament, needing all three sets to pull it out.

They won’t meet again until Oct. 9, and in the meantime there were plenty of league contests to get through, none more important for C-NS than last Wednesday’s visit to Baker High School to face powerful Baldwinsville.

Once again, the Bees proved too good, prevailing 25-18, 25-12, 25-18, though Kim Barry managed four aces and seven kills, with Jennifer Carl adding eight kills and seven digs. Brooke Segars got 12 digs. Gracie Gleason had six kills and Adrianna Houston gained five kills.

Two nights earlier, C-NS had routed Nottingham 25-13, 25-7, 25-4 as it picked up 27 aces, seven of them by Madison Fortin, with help from Barry and Carl, who each had five aces and three assists.

Emily Overend gained a team-best three kills, with Fortin getting three assists. Houston and McKenna Johnston each got three aces, with Segars contributing two aces.

As C-NS was dealing with B’ville, Liverpool was putting away Corcoran 25-11, 25-7, 25-6. Sydney Caviness and Gianna Pezzino each had four aces as Caviness got nine assists, with Alicia Nash earning six kills and three blocks.

Now, on Friday, Liverpool had a big road test at Fayetteville-Manlius. A close 25-22 defeat in the first set hurt as the Warriors, who also lost the second 25-18, won the third set in a 25-10 romp, but was beaten 25-17 in the fourth.

Caviness, with her 30 assists, fed it to Nash and Sarah Ayling, who had nine kills apiece. Bryanna McRobbie got seven blocks as Hayley Feldt had five kills and Morgan Michlovitch produced seven digs.