ONONDAGA COUNTY – A season ago, the boys volleyball rivalry between Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool, once sleepy and lopsided, took quite a turn.
There were two close regular-season battles won by the Northstars, one of them a five-set epic where C-NS fended off multiple match points to prevail.
That was followed by a Section III Division I final where the Warriors, so long in the shadows, finally got the best of the Northstars to claim a championship.
All of this was quite tough to follow, and when these sides reunited last Tuesday night on the court, C-NS wanted no part of all the tension and changed fortunes of 2021.
In three sets, the Northstars prevailed, seeing Jack Waite record 23 assists to set up a front line where Joe Seliger had 13 kills to lead the way.
Helping Seliger out, Carter King finished with seven kills and three aces, while Colin Dietz had five kills to match Reece Congel. Peter Gill finished with four assists.
Liverpool, who fell to 4-2 on the season, saw Anthony Pezzino amass 15 kills, mostly from passes by Jack DeForge, who got 17 assists, plus five digs, three blocks and three aces. Dylan Lane finished with seven blocks.
From there, Liverpool rebounded in a big way on Thursday night, taking on Syracuse City and emerging with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-21 sweep to improve its overall record to 5-2.
C-NS was back in action on Saturday, against visiting Canisius from Buffalo, and would win the first two sets 25-18 and 25-20 before a long third set nearly extended the match, but was claimed 30-28 by the Northstars for a sweep.
Congel picked up 13 kills and two blocks as Seliger, who served up seven aces, and King had seven kills apiece. Gill gained five kills and Josh Luce had five digs as, passing to everyone, Waite finished with 32 assists.
