ONONDAGA COUNTY –

Is this a season where the Liverpool boys volleyball team, so long in the shadow of its rivals from Cicero-North Syracuse, make up some ground?

On Friday afternoon, the two sides would meet at C-NS, with a rematch on April 21. Before that, though, the Warriors made a strong early-season statement in last Monday’s sweep of Baldwinsville.

In the first set, Liverpool throttled the Bees 25-7, and was dominant in a 25-13 second set, too, before a close third set ended 25-21 in the Warriors’ favor.

Anthony Pezzino not only provided power with his 14 kills, but also earned 11 digs. Elliott DeForge set the tone with seven aces and went on to produce 12 kills, two blocks and six digs.

Quinn Moore worked on the back line to earn 23 assists, adding four digs and two blocks, while Jackson Furr contributed nine digs.

Following up Thursday against Living Word Academy, Liverpool won each of the first two sets by equal 25-15 margins before closing out the Lions 25-22 in the third.

DeForge and Pezzino both recorded 10 kills, with DeForge adding five aces and 13 digs and Pezzino eight digs. Furr had a team-best 14 digs, with Moore earning 29 assists and adding seven digs.

Then in Saturday’s match against Oswego, Liverpool, after taking the first set 25-18, survived an epic second set that went well beyond regulation with multiple set points on both sides.

Somehow, the Warriors outlasted the Buccaneers 34-32 in that set and then won the third 25-14, seeing DeForge gt 10 kills, four aces and 16 digs as Moore got 27 assists and Furr finished with 13 digs.

C-NS, meanwhile, kept on rolling, having its own match against B’ville last Wednesday night that resulted in a 25-9, 25-12, 25-16 sweep in between victories over Central Square and the new varsity program at East Syracuse Minoa.

Against the Bees, 11 different players got at least one kill, with none more than the six put up by Kevin Felasco as Gabe LaRobardiere and Jamie Courtright had four kills apiece.

Brandon Millias picked up 17 assists and Robbie Siechen gained seven assists as Trace LaRobardiere again provided strong defense through his 10 digs.

Before that, C-NS blitzed Central Square 25-11 in each of the first two sets and 25-7 in the third set as Millias finished with 18 assists and Robbie Siechen earned eight assists.

Nick Espinoza’s eight kills led a deep front line where Felasco and Gabe LaRobardiere each got six kills, with Grant Sennett and Reece Congel earning five kills apiece. Chris D’Agostino had five digs.

Then, after defeating B’ville, it was on to the match against ESM, who had earned its first-ever varsity win when it defeated Central Square in four sets last Wednesday.

The Northstars gave the match full attention and handled the Spartans 25-9, 25-13, 25-13 as Felasco led the way, getting eight kills and five aces.

Espinoza and Gabe LaRobardiere both produced seven kills, with Courtright adding four kills. Millias fed all of them with 23 assists and Siechen contributed five assists. Sennett and Millias had two blocks apiece.