CENTRAL NEW YORK = When the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls volleyball teams entered the Section III Class AA playoffs late last week, they did so under differing circumstances.
The no. 3 seed Warriors were at home, taking on no. 6 seed Auburn, while the Northstars, as the no. 5 seed, had to beat no. 4 seed West Genesee in Camillus to get a shot at top seed Baldwinsville in the semifinals.
And they did so off a head-to-head match in last Tuesday’s regular-season finale where, once again, Liverpool got the best of C-NS in just three sets.
Having swept the Northstars back on Sept. 28, the Warriors found itself heavily challenged in each of the first two sets, but C-NS could not quite get the points it needed at the end.
So Liverpool claimed both of those set 25-23 and then breezed through a 25-14 third set led up front by Lola Sageer, who got 12 kills and six blocks, adding two aces.
Lauren Poland, with nine kills and two blocks, was close behind, with Sophie Sageer getting seven kills and eight digs as the Warriors also displayed plenty of depth on the back line.
Allyson Crandall earned 16 assists, while Addie Tanton got 11 assists. Defensively, Madison Ames led with nine digs as Eliana Page finished with six digs.
On C-NS’s side, Maddy Howell earned eight kills and Karley Eymer gained six kills. Allison Navarra led the defense with 13 digs as Marissa Baker amassed 13 assists, four aces, six digs and three kills, with Ellie Blumer earning nine assists.
Now the Northstars tried to turn it around in its playoff match at West Genesee – but could not do so, the season ending in a 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 loss to the Wildcats.
Cami Zajac (15 kills), Olivia Snyder (10 assists, five kills) and Sonya Dunham (17 assists) led WG as it advanced to face top seed Baldwinsville in the semifinals.
Liverpool would not play until Saturday afternoon against Auburn, and when it did take the court the Warriors were quite ready, as demonstrated by its 25-13, 25-8, 25-1 romp over the Maroons.
So at 14-4 overall, the Warriors will challenge no. 2 seed and defending champion Fayetteville-Manlius Wednesday night in the semifinals, the winner to get Baldwinsville or West Genesee in Friday’s sectional final at Chittenango High School.
Only this week would we find out if the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team could parlay its season-long dominance into another Section III Division I championship.
All the Northstars have to do is win one match to get that title, with a bye straight into this Saturday’s final at Liverpool, where the host Warriors will await if it beats Fayetteville-Manlius in the semifinals.
As the team who dethroned C-NS in the finals a year ago, Liverpool closed the regular season strong last Thursday with a three-set sweep of Central Square.
The Warriors’ 25-14, 25-17, 25-15 victory over the Redhawks included 14 aces, five of them by Anthony Pezzino, who put away 19 kills and added eight digs. Jack DeForge earned 28 assists, plus four kills and two aces.
Shah Salak had three aces to go with his 12 digs. Derek Grimshaw and Nate Fingerman had two aces apiece, Grimshaw getting five kills as Fingerman had four kills and Aiden Hunter got three kills. Dylan Lane picked up three blocks.
