In the wake of a three-match skid in the last week of September, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys volleyball team roared back to winning form as soon as the calendar turned to October.
Taking on Liverpool last Tuesday night, the Hornets ran through the first set 25-8, only to get surprised by the Warriors in a 25-12 second-set defeat.
But F-M took over from there, claiming the next two sets by 25-13 and 25-19 margins as Chris Blum picked up 28 assists and Brandon Rogers gained 10 assists.
Up front for the Hornets, Aaron Costanza and Anderson Fuller each had 12 kills, with Fuller adding three blocks and two assists. Joe Powless finished with nine kills and five digs, with Isaac Frechette gaining five digs.
It was the same in Thursday’s match against Syracuse, F-M tearing through the first set 25-8 and the second set 25-14 before finishing it off, 25-20, in the third for a sweep.
Powless led this time with 11 kills, while Fuller had nine kills to go with three aces, two assists and two blocks. Blum got 20 assists and three aces as Nathan Royce had four kills and Cyrus Felton three kills. Evan Bybee picked up four blocks.
Jamesville-DeWitt faced a far tougher path, starting with last Tuesday’s match against Baldwinsville. Somehow, after dropping the first set 25-7, the Red Rams got even, 25-20, in the second set.
However, the Bees took the third set by that same 25-20 margin and closed out J-D 25-16 in the fourth. Sam Fechtner gained 13 assists, while Matt Cieplicki had six kills and Nick Mandelis got three kills. Tom Higman (33 assists) and Luc Jerome (13 kills) paced B’ville.
Two nights later, J-D had to face the same Oswego side that had just handed Cicero-North Syracuse its first defeat of the season. Now the Buccaneers took on the Red Rams.
Each set was close, but Oswego won them 25-20, 25-23, 25-21. Still, J-D’s effort was first-rate as Liam Kaplan got 11 assists and Fechtner 10 assists, with Cieplicki getting nine kills.
Mandelis and Ian Freezman had five kills apiece. Kenny Hildreth got three kills and Brevin Scullion earned four digs. For the Bucs, Nate Devinny had 27 assists and four aces behind Riley Mahoney (eight kills), Cole Pratt (seven kills) and Mike Douglas (six kills).
