ONONDAGA COUNTY – More than three decades had passed since anyone other than Mary Jo Cerqua led the Baldwinsville girls volleyball team from the sidelines.
That changed last Tuesday night when Danielle Sayler made her head coaching debut for the Bees, with one goal in mind – add to the 20 Section III and pair of state championships Cerqua’s teams earned during her legendary tenure.
And it started well for B’ville, who after a Sept. 3 tournament appearance in Penfield once again got the best of its neighbors from Liverpool in a tough four-set decision.
After taking the first two sets 25-17 and 25-18, the Bees nearly got a sweep, but the Warriors pulled out the third 26-24 and were close in the fourth set, too.
Still, by a 25-22 margin, B’ville closed it out, led by Kyrah Wilbur’s 15 kills, Madalynn Gulich’s 25 assists and Sadie Phelps’ 17 digs.
Amelia Hahn, with seven kills, gave Wilbur front-line help as Ava Wickes earned three assists to equal Gulich. Nela Loftin and Maddie Diep had four kills apiece, Diep contributing eight digs.
On the Warriors’ side, Sophie Sageer had nine kills and seven digs, while Lola Sageer got eight kills and nine digs. Lauren Poland contributed six kills as Allyson Crandall (17 assists) and Addie Tanton (11 assists) worked on the back line and Tanton tacked on seven digs. Madison Ames had six digs, four kills and three aces.
In boys volleyball, Baldwinsville also started out against Liverpool, who dethroned Cicero-North Syracuse as sectional Division I champions a season ago.
Here, the Bees fired up the home crowd by winning the first set 25-20. The Warriors took the second 25-10, and a close third set proved pivotal as Liverpool pulled it out 25-23 before it won the fourth 25-15.
Brendan Micho’s 22 assists, to go with three kills and four digs, often went to Brayden Kudarauskas, who had 11 kills and four aces. Caleb Way added five kills and Xzavier Vandershaw three kills. Liverpool was led by Anthony Pezzino’s 16 kills and Jack DeForge’s 25 assists.
B’ville met C-NS two nights later and lost 25-14, 25-17, 25-11 to the Northstars. Way had three kills, with Justin Diep getting four digs. Joe Seliger and Carter King each had 11 kills to lead C-NS as Jack Waite got 25 assists.
