All the work for the Jamesville-DeWitt boys volleyball team did this fall boiled down to a single match against an opponent it could not conquer twice in the regular season.
The Red Rams, on its home court last Saturday afternoon, met Oswego in the sectional Division II finals. When these teams had met Sept. 6 and Oct. 4, J-D could not gain a set in either defeat, so it had to vastly improve in order to challenge the Buccaneers.
It was quickly apparent this match would not be as lopsided as the first two. A close first set went back and forth, but J-D captured it, 25-23, immediately signaling that it could make Oswego worry.
However, the Bucs answered by controlling the second and third sets, winning them 25-16 and 25-19. Now pushed to the brink, the Rams pushed back, holding off Oswego in the fourth set 25-21.
So the sectional title rode on a fifth set that would race to 15 points. The Bucs got the crucial jump, taking an 8-3 lead before switching ends, and went on to win the set 15-9 to defend its championship, Nate Devinny earning 44 assists as Riley Mahoney got 18 kills and Mike Douglas added 13 kills.
Up in Division I, Fayetteville-Manlius fully expected to challenge Cicero-North Syracuse for the sectional title, but could not get to the championship round, falling in four sets to Baldwinsville in last Thursday night’s semifinal round.
The Hornets and Bees had split two meetings in the regular season, each of them also lasting four sets. And they split the first two sets here, too, with B’ville taking the opener and F-M fighting it out to claim the second set 28-26.
Things stayed close, with every single point important. But it was the Bees able to inch in front and, by 25-23 and 25-22 margins, take the third and fourth sets to end the Hornets’ season.
F-M still had Chris Blum dish out 41 assists to a front line led by Anderson Fuller, who got 15 kills. Joe Powless had nine kills and seven digs, with Aaron Costanza adding seven kills. Evan Bybee and Adam Tantalo had five kills apiece.
To lead the Bees, Thomas Higman produced 37 assists, also feeding it to a deep, well-balanced front line. Luc Jerome had 12 kills, followed closely by David Cornell (10 kills), Connor Garvey (eight kills) and Aidan Priest (seven kills, seven digs, three aces).
