Even as it basked in its first-ever win over multiple-time state champion Penfield in a five-set classic on Oct. 19, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team still had an undefeated regular season to complete.
And the Northstars will have a chance to do just that next Tuesday night when it faced Liverpool, who again showed its improvement with a pair of memorable victories during this week’s action.
First, the Warriors outlasted Fayetteville-Manlius on Monday, avenging a Sept. 24 sweep at the hands of the Hornets. Close sets went 25-23 and 25-20 in Liverpool’s favor, only to have F-M rebound to take the next two sets 25-21 and 25-19.
Proving its ability in the clutch, the Warriors won the final set 15-9 as Quinn Moore finished a 48-assist, 10-dig performance and Jagger Alberici got 26 digs.
Up front, Elliott DeForge led with 14 kills, with Justin LaManche getting nine kills and Anthony Caimano adding seven kills.
Then, against Baldwinsville on Wednesday, the Warriors, who topped the Bees in five sets late in September, did so again, following the same pattern as the F-M match by claiming the first two sets 25-12 and 25-23, dropping the next two sets 25-16 and 25-23 and then dominating the final set 15-7.
Moore did it all on the back line, from 33 assists to 16 digs and four aces. Pezzino got 15 digs to go with his 11 kills as Alberici piled up 28 digs. LaManche had seven kills and four blocks, with DeForge getting six kills and four aces as Anthony Caimano added four kills.
A mere two days after the Penfield win, C-NS was on the court again, and avoided a letdown against Oswego, recording a 25-18, 25-19, 25-17 sweep of the Buccaneers for its 17th win in a row.
Dan Seliger put away 14 kills and six digs, with Kevin Felasco gaining 12 kills and four digs. Carter Wisely had 10 kills and Johnathan Hendry had five kills and four digs. Brandon Millias passed to all of them, finishing with 42 assists.
It expected to get tougher two nights later at F-M, and the Hornets got as close as any local opponent this season before the Northstars pulled it out in four sets over the Hornets.
Having made it through a 25-23 opening set, C-NS took care of the second set 25-17, only to have F-M, two points from getting swept, claim the third set 26-24 and then push the Northstars in the fourth set, too.
Only by a 25-22 margin did C-NS avoid going to a fifth set. Millias, with 42 assists, passed it to Seliger, who had 18 kills, three aces and nine digs. Felasco had 11 kills and seven digs as Hendry got eight kills. LaRobardiere earned 15 digs as Wisely got four kills and three aces.
In girls volleyball, Cicero-North Syracuse issued a challenge to undefeated Baldwinsville last Tuesday night, but like so many others the Northstars were overwhelmed by the Bees in a 25-18, 25-22, 25-8 defeat.
Jennifer Carl had 14 assists and seven digs. Hannah Mingle got 12 digs as Aurora Lesinski produced eight kills, with Brooke Segars and Brooke Nicolaos getting four kills and five digs apiece. McKenna Johnston and Adrianna Houston each had three kills.
Liverpool had plenty of struggles of its own, indicated by last Tuesday’s match against Fayetteville-Manlius where the Warriors never established any sort of rhythm during a 25-11, 25-19, 25-10 loss to the Hornets.
Then C-NS and Liverpool faced each other Thursday night, and just like their first meeting two weeks earlier, the Northstars prevailed in three sets, topping the Warriors 25-9, 25-17, 25-23.
Houston had nine kills and Segars eight kills and 12 digs, with Nicolaos adding six kills. They worked in front of Carl, who had 21 assists, and Cassidy Ormond, who chimed in with 13 assists as she and Johnston both had eight digs. Mingle finished with 12 digs.
On Liverpool’s side, Helen Nash finished with 10 digs as Lexi Carfi finished with five digs, to go with seven assists. Sarah Ayling had a team-best three kills.
