ONONDAGA COUNTY – For more than a month, the Baldwinsville varsity volleyball teams had drifted off in totally opposite directions, one flourishing, the other unable to find the win column.
All of that changed last Tuesday night – at least for the boys volleyball Bees, whose 11-match skid finally ended with an emphatic three-set sweep of Central Square.
Once B’ville claimed a 25-21 victory in the first set, it confidently rolled through the second set 25-13. And though the Redhawks bounced back a bit, the Bees still won the third 25-20.
Brendan Micho, earning 18 assists, passed it to Aidan Delaney, who not only had a team-best eight kills, but served up a season-best five aces.
Brayden Kudarauskas earned five kills, adding four digs. Xzavier Vanderstuow had four kills, with Ethan Davenport adding three kills as Justin Diep led the defense, gaining seven digs.
Following this up, B’ville faced Division II front-runner Jamesville-DeWitt on Friday and nearly made it back-to-back wins, falling in five sets to the Red Rams.
They split the first two sets, each ending 25-22, before B’ville, with a strong third set, went in front 25-19. However, the Rams dominated the fourth set 25-12 and then won the final set 15-10.
Through it all, Kudarauskas gained 15 kills, Vanderstuow adding nine kills. Caleb Way got six kills as Davenport and Aidan Delaney had five kills apiece, Micho dishing out 30 assists.
J-D’s Luke McQuaid earned a set’s worth of points just with his 25 kills, adding seven aces as Tim Cooper picked up 48 assists. Aidan Bates had nine kills and five digs, with Aaron Ko getting eight kills, Michael Ryan seven kills and Avery Kielbasinski five kills, four blocks and three aces.
Of course, the B’ville girls volleyball team was unbeaten and, moving to 10-0 on the season, roared past Henninger last Tuesday in a 25-18, 25-8, 25-10 sweep.
B’ville had 30 aces, 10 each by Amelia Hahn and Addy Garcia, with Maddie Gulich adding six aces to go with her 15 assists. Sophia Connors had a team-best four kills, with Garcia and Erin Gregoire getting three kills apiece.
Then it was Thursday’s match against West Genesee, which was Senior Night for the Bees’ group of seniors that included Gregoire, Kyrah Wilbur, Madalyn Diep, Sarah Coomes and Kathryn AuClair.
The Wildcats did not make it easy, staying close in the first two sets before B’ville claimed them 25-20 and 25-23. Then WG won the third, 25-19, before the Bees played its best in the fourth set to close it out 25-18.
For the Wildcats, Sonya Dunham had 13 assists and five digs, with Olivia Snyder getting 12 assists to go with her six kills and six digs. Cami Zajac was strong, too, earning 12 kills, seven digs, three blocks and three assists as Claire Devore had seven kills and Celia Spicer equaled Snyder’s six kills.
