ONONDAGA COUNTY – Before they scattered off to spring sports or to a brief off-season, area high school girls volleyball teams fit in one more week of matches.
And it started with Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse Minoa squaring off, the two neighbors meeting last Monday and the Hornets prevailing in three sets.
After a 25-17 first set, F-M rolled through the second set 25-7, then had to work a bit harder in the third set before closing out the match 25-22.
Harper Stoppacher had nine kills and six digs for the Hornets, with Kaylene Nobel adding seven kills. Molly McNany picked up six aces 11 digs as, on the back line, Morgan Napier earned 14 assists and Zoe Myint added 12 assists.
ESM, in defeat, got seven assists from Alana Day, with Helaina Scolaro and Laura Sitnik earning seven digs apiece. Sitnik also had three kills as Lily Talarico and Jazmin Tyo both gained four digs.
That same night, another local rivalry renewed itself when Jamesville-DeWitt faced Christian Brothers Academy, and it was the Red Rams prevailing in three sets.
Improving to 6-5 overall, J-D featured Maris Ryan getting 25 assists and nine digs, and Cassie Cappelletti adding 15 digs.
Linda Shen did it all for the Rams, from 11 kills to eight digs to six aces. Sophia Ferris finished with seven kills, four aces and six digs, while Emma Saroney chimed in with five kills.
Moving on from there, F-M prevailed again 24 hours later, sweeping Liverpool as it roared through the first set 25-6 and then took the next two sets 25-19 and 25-21.
Nobel, with 14 kills, paced the Hornets’ front line as Stoppacher got 11 kills and nine digs. Nina Avery picked up seven kills as Napier amassed 41 assists, helped on the back line by 14 digs from McNany and 12 digs from Myint.
Then J-D and ESM clashed Thursday night, and the Red Rams needed just three sets to put away the Spartans 25-10, 25-15, 25-16 as Shen and Amber Hamernik both set the tone with five aces apiece.
Shen also got seven digs and five kills to equal Ferris and Ryan, who amassed 19 assists and five digs. On ESM’s side, Day earned eight assists, while Scolaro got three kills and eight digs.
Bishop Grimes improved to 6-3 overall with its sweep last Tuesday over Institute of Technology Central, the Cobras handling the Eagles 25-12 in each of the first two sets and 25-22 in the third.
Leah Perry earned eight aces to lead Grimes, with Izzy Kinsey adding six aces. Lexi Emmi and Tori Sikorski had four aces apiece.
Two nights later, Grimes could not keep Solvay from finishing a perfect 11-0 season, the Bearcats prevailing 25-14, 25-14, 25-20, though Natalie Musolino put together eight assists and 10 digs.
On Saturday, Grimes gained the second set from 9-2 Living Word Academy but still lost 25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 25-9 to the Lions. Kinsey had eight kills and 15 digs, with Sikorski getting 20 assists and Emmi adding 18 assists. Avery Brunette also had 15 digs.
Manlius-Pebble Hill played four sets against Syracuse Acacemy of Science last Tuesday and won them all by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 26-24 and 25-20.
