As it worked its way through the early part of its schedule, the Baldwinsville boys volleyball team understood that it would ultimately have to measure itself against the reigning Section III champions from Cicero-North Syracuse.
The Bees’ first challenge to the Northstars came last Tuesday night, and it didn’t last long. B’ville dropped the first set 25-15 and the second set 25-12, and though the third set was a bit more competitive, C-NS still took it 25-18.
Despite the brevity of the match, Bradford Doubleday still put away 14 kills, with Aidan Priest adding seven kills and eight digs. Carter Healey picked up 24 assists.
On C-NS’s side, Brandon Millias finished with 30 assists, with Trace LaRobardiere gaining 14 digs. Dan Seliger, with 11 kills, paced a well-balanced front line where Jon Hendr and 10 kills and two blocks, Kevin Felasco adding six kills and five digs.
B’ville knew it had to improve a lot if it wanted to rebound in Thursday night’s match against Fayetteville-Manlius. And it did so, defeating the Hornets in four sets.
Both of the first two sets were tight affairs, and each side claimed one by equal 25-23 margins. Only the third set had a big margin as the Bees took it 25-18 before holding off F-M 25-21 in the fourth set to finish it off.
Priest paced B’ville with 12 kills and 12 digs, though Doubleday was close behind and nearly matched those numbers with 11 kills and 12 digs. Adam Lobdell contributed six kills as Healey passed to all of them, earning 33 assists, and John Morrissey had five digs.
Meanwhile, in girls volleyball, Baldwinsville was quite impressive in last Monday’s match against visiting West Genesee, the Bees wiping out the Wildcats 25-13, 25-12, 25-5.
Kyrah Wilbur and Brooke Clute each had nine kills to lead B’ville’s front line as Sophia Kordas, with seven kills, was close behind. Jenna Garvey earned 18 assists and four kills, while Summer McClintic had 12 assists as Megan Brecht got three aces and Alexandra Molini had eight digs.
On Wednesday night, B’ville kept it up, sweeping Corcoran 25-11, 25-6, 25-20. Wallace was sensational, with eight aces, 15 assists and seven digs as Sydney Aiello added five aces. Megan Brecht got nine kills and Katie Naprawa added six kills.
B’ville would have a tournament in Victor last Saturday, but a much bigger event looms for the Bees this Saturday when it hosts its own “Fall Swing Tournament”.
It’s the biggest edition yet of this mid-autumn classic, with 28 teams competing in four divisions. Several top Section II teams, including Shenendehowa and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, are in the field, as are many Section V powers and plenty of area sides, too.
