ONONDAGA COUNTY – In Baldwinsville, where high school girls volleyball is played as well as anywhere in New York State, they had counted the days since they had last competed.
When the Bees hit the court for last Friday’s opener against Fayetteville-Manlius, a total of 461 days had elapsed from the time it lost to Connetquot in the 2019 state Class AA championship match at Glens Falls.
Having lobbied long and hard just to have a season after “high-risk” sports were canceled in the fall, B’ville was eager to prove that it still loomed over all of its Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division challengers.
That was severely tested right at the outset, with B’ville going to Fayetteville-Manlius and squandering a two-set advantage before recovering in time to edge the Hornets in five.
Excelling in all phases, the Bees took the first set 25-16 and rolled through to the second set 25-12, which made F-M’s revival in the third set quite shocking as it rolled B’ville 25-5 in that set and 25-14 in the fourth.
With all this momentum, the Hornets also took a 12-10 lead early in the final set. But the Bees regrouped, tied it 16-16, then edged out in front and stayed there to claim the match 25-21.
Brooke Clute did it all, from serving up 10 aces to putting away 11 kills in addition to earning four digs as Kyrah Wilbur, fresh from starting for the B’ville girls basketball team, had seven kills and five blocks.
Working on the back line, Jenna Garvey gained 19 assists and Sophia Ianno earned six digs. For F-M, Morgan Napier dished out 36 assists and Zoe Myint gained seven aces. Harper Stoppacher finished with 12 kills and Nina Avery got nine kills
A night earlier, the Baldwinsville boys volleyball team made its own successful 2021 debut.
The Bees swept Central Square, taking the opening set 25-11 and the second set 25-13 before rolling through the third set 25-15 to close things out.
Carter Healey contributed both 16 assists and five aces, with Adam Lobdell adding four aces to go with his five kills.
Up front, Xzavier Vanderstouw led the way with eight kills, just ahead of James Brussel, who picked up seven kills. Austin McClintic had a pair of blocks and John Morrissey got two digs.
The big test for B’ville would arrive Wednesday against reigning sectional champion Cicero-North Syracuse right after a Monday-night meet at Liverpool. The girls Bees would have its own match with C-NS Monday before a Saturday visit from West Genesee.
