In the wake of the five-set girls volleyball battle on Sept. 19 where Fayetteville-Manlius rallied from two sets down to defeat Jamesville-DeWitt in five, both sides would find more success.
This was especially the case in last Saturday’s Baldwinsville Fall Swing Tournament, where the Hornets and Red Rams both made the finals of won their respective divisions amid a 28-team field.
F-M was the champions of the Silver division, defeating Cicero-North Syracuse in the quarterfinals, Horseheads in the semifinals and Gates-Chili in a three-set final.
J-D’s run in the Bronze division was nearly as good, for it included a semifinal win over Homer before a three-set defeat to reigning state Class B champion Westhill in the title match.
After beating J-D, F-M did not have a letdown in last Monday’s match against Liverpool as it claimed a 25-14, 25-17, 25-20 sweep.
Fine defense was everywhere for the Hornets, from the 19 digs by Juliana Myagkota to the 18 digs from Nina Avery, while Lauren Avery finished with 11 digs.
In addition to her 10 digs, Morgan Napier got 30 assists as Harper Stoppacher augmented her 11 digs by putting away 10 kills. Anna Williams with a team-best 11 kills as Myagkota added four kills and Mackenzie Helmer three kills.
F-M swept Corcoran on Wednesday 25-2, 25-8, 25-19. Amaya Nash had six kills, 11 digs and four aces, with Stoppacher adding five kills. Sophie Thomas and Nina Avery had eight digs apiece as Napier produced nine assists and Zoe Myint had seven assists.
J-D had bounced back well from the F-M defeat, sweeping Auburn just one day later on Sept. 20 and then doing the same last Monday as it handled Auburn 25-14, 26-24, 25-11.
Only the second set proved close for the Red Rams as Sophia Ferris earned eight kills, while Linda Shen and Fiona McNeil had four kills apiece. Aurora LeClair got 13 assists as Jessica Burgess had eight digs and Cassandra Cappelletti had six digs. LeClair, Cara Glazier and Erica Schewedes had five digs apiece.
Then J-D swept Fowler 25-6, 25-13, 25-12 on Thursday night, with LeClair getting eight aces and 19 assists. McNeil added six aces as she got five kills, just behind Shen, who had six kills. Amber Hamernik and Skylar Hardt each had four kills.
Bishop Grimes nearly upended Cazenovia last Monday, taking the first and third sets 25-21, only to have the Lakers pull out the second 26-24 and rally again to claim the fourth set 25-14 and then edge the Cobras 25-22 in the final set.
Through it all, Lexi Emmi gained 35 assists, while Maddie Mowers had 30 digs. Up front, Izzy Kinsey led with 13 kills, while Bella D’Andrea had 11 kills, Ajak Ater got nine kills and Abbey Clapper added eight kills.
In boys volleyball, Jamesville-DeWitt won in four sets over Baldwinsville last Monday, taking the opener 26-24 and the fourth set 25-23 to close it out, with a 25-17 second set in between as the Bees could only claim the third 25-22.
Up front, Matt Cieplicki put away 16 kills, with Kenny Hildreth adding six kills. Brevin Scullion passed to both of them and finished the night with 25 assists as Nick Kemmis had three blocks and three aces.
During Thursday night’s 25-19, 25-16, 25-11 sweep of Syracuse City, Scullion came up with 30 assists, while Cieplicki led the front line with 10 kills. Kemmis had seven kills and three blocks, with Hildreth and Josh Duby earning five kills apiece.
Fayetteville-Manlius swept Liverpool 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 last Tuesday, with Andersen Fuller earning 18 kills and five digs. Cyrus Felton contributed 10 kills as Brandon Rogers had 28 assists and Aidan Liddell finished with six digs.
Wednesday’s match with Cicero-North Syracuse was also the annual fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with the Hornets unable to top the Northstars in a 25-19, 25-16, 25-19 defeat. Rogers still had 20 assists, with Felton earning 11 kills and Fuller contributing seven kills.
