ONONDAGA COUNTY – A full and exciting season for the area’s trio of high school boys volleyball teams will reach a conclusion this week, but not before all the sides tried to add to their substantial win totals.
Already having impressed so much in its varsity debut, East Syracuse Minoa moved to 6-3 last Tuesday by earning a 25-9, 25-22, 22-25, 25-11 victory over Syracuse City.
Devin Mascato-Buffaloe earned 35 assists and Cole Thomas got 25 digs on the Spartans’ back line. Up front, Nick Brown led with 10 kills, helped by Will D’Agostino, Sean Finnerty and Aidan Finnerty getting six kills apiece. D’Agostino got five blocks and Brown added four blocks.
A rematch with Central Square, whom ESM beat in its March 24 varsity debut, took place Thursday and had the same successful result for the Spartans, who rolled to a 25-7, 25-11, 25-19 sweep of the Redhawks.
Brown and Aidan Finnerty each gained 11 kills, helped by D’Agostino (six kills) and Sean Finnerty (five kills) on the front line. Mascato-Buffaloe finished with 32 assists and Thomas had seven digs, with Brown gaining five digs.
Then, against Chittenango Friday night, ESM remained impressive, taking just three sets to record a 25-13, 25-16, 25-20 victory over the Bears and move to 8-3 overall.
With Mascato-Buffaloe getting 28 assists and three aces and Thomas earning 18 digs, the Spartans could again spread around front-line duties.
To lead the attack, Brown picked up14 kills, while Sean Finnerty had 11 kills and four aces. Aidan Finnerty gained eight kills and Aiden Betts stepped up with six kills as D’Agostino added five kills.
Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt would square off once more last Saturday afternoon, and the Hornets, improving to 9-2 overall, roared past the Red Rams 25-23, 25-10, 25-20.
Quite unlike the five-set battle the two neighbors had on April 6, F-M earned all of the important points to keep J-D from catching up as Aidan Liddell had 27 assists, passing it to Brandon Rogers (12 kills), Cyrus Felton (10 kills) and Isaac Frechette, who had six kills.
On the Rams’ side, James Saroney had a team-best five kills and five digs. Ty Parker, Cooper Werner and Jack Moore had three kills apiece as Nolen Brann produced 16 assists.
This came after F-M handled Syracuse City on Thursday night in a 25-8, 25-9, 25-10 decision where 12 different Hornets recorded at least one kills.
With that much depth, Felton and Frechette could lead with just five kills apiece and rest otherwise. Jaden Duggal produced a team-best 13 assists as Liddell got six assists. Ryan Everding earned six digs. Felton and Liddell each served up three aces.
