ONONDAGA COUNTY –
Just a few points ended up separating the Fayetteville-Manlius girls volleyball team from a landmark accomplishment at the start of its long-delayed 2021 season.
The Hornets, challenging the area’s dominant large-school power in Baldwinsville, pushed the match all the way to a close fifth set before the Bees pulled it out.
Still, it marked a memorable start for a season that was in doubt for so long because New York State had deemed volleyball a “high-risk” sport due to its indoor setting and close quarters.
But when those sports were okayed late in January, a season was soon at hand, with F-M scheduling a B’ville side that, when it last played, went all the way to the 2019 state Class AA title match.
When the Hornets lost the first two sets 25-16 and 25-12, it looked like it would find difficulty turning the match around, but then went out and, in the third set, blitzed the Bees 25-5.
Confident from this outburst, F-M then won the fourth set 25-14, setting up a tense final set where the Hornets went out in front 12-10, but the Bees fought back, gained the lead and held on to take the match 25-21.
Morgan Napier dished out 36 assists and Zoe Myint gained seven aces. Harper Stoppacher finished with 12 kills and Nina Avery got nine kills as Amanda Groesbeck added four kills. On B’ville’s side, Brooke Clute got 11 kills and 10 aces, with Jenna Garvey contributing 19 assists.
While all this was going on, East Syracuse Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt also went through season-opening matches, with the Spartans sweeping Auburn and the Red Rams falling to Cicero-North Syracuse.
Once it made it through a tight 26-24 opening set, ESM would tame Auburn 25-16 in the second set and then finish off the Maroons 25-21 in the third.
Alana Day led the way, earning eight aces, picking up eight assists and adding four kills. Helaina Scolaro picked up five kills and three aces, with Laura Sitnik adding four aces and five digs.
In J-D’s case, it was a closely-fought match against C-NS, with no set decided by a margin larger than four points, 25-21. The Red Rams had plenty of chances to pull it out, only to see the Northstars gain most of the late points.
Still, Linda Shen finished with 19 kills, while Sophia Ferris earned six kills. Amber Hamernik had five kills and Elsa Hardt put up four kills as Maris Ryan worked on the back line, gaining 34 assists.
For C-NS, Cassidy had 34 assists as libero Hannah Mingle was everywhere keeping points alive thanks to her 27 digs. McKenna Johnston earned 12 kills, even aces and eght digs as Brooke Segars had 10 kills and four aces.
