ONONDAGA COUNTY – As it went to Liverpool High School last Saturday afternoon, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys volleyball team was bent on completing its mission to earn the Section III Division II championship.
Just as determined was Fayetteville-Manlius, who after outlasting defending champion in a five-set epic had a chance to upend top seed Cicero-North Syracuse with the sectional Division I title on the line.
Both accomplished their goals in memorable fashion, J-D by sweeping Living Word Academy, and F-M somehow finding a way to shock C-NS and end a 26-year wait for a sectional banner.
When they had met twice in the regular season, F-M was twice swept by C-NS. And when the opening set of the final went 25-18 in the Northstars’ favor, it appeared, at least at the outset, that nothing had changed.
Then came the second set, one that will live long in both teams’ memories for very different reasons.
Down by a slim margin, F-M had to defend as C-NS had a set point to take a two-set advantage, but did not convert. Then the Hornets had to do the same again, and again.
Incredibly, F-M turned back 10 set points, five times the Northstars having serves hit the net. Finally, at 32-32, the Hornets gained the serve and, with a lone set point, was able to earn it 34-32 and even the match.
The effect of that set was delayed somewhat by C-NS winning the third 25-21. And the fourth set proved close, too, but F-M again earned the critical points and, at 25-23, pulled level once more.
Having gone through that final-set race to 15 in the previous round, F-M would get in front and hang on to win the match 15-12.
Connor Sugar had 43 assists and Chris Cleary had 21 kills, adding eight digs as Kieran Egan had nine kills, Max Danaher seven kills and Mike McAndrew six kills.
Then, when it was J-D’s turn to go for a sectional title, it did not let Living Word get settled, claiming the first set 25-15. Though the next two sets were tighter, the Rams, by 25-21 and 25-23 margins, reclaimed the sectional crown.
Many of Tim Cooper’s 31 assists went to Luke McQuaid, who put away 15 kills. Aaron Ko and Michael Ryan had six kills apiece, with Avery Kielbasinski adding three kills.
J-D reached the final with an impressive effort against no. 4 seed Oswego in last Wednesday’s semifinal, earning a 25-19, 25-13, 25-14 sweep of the Buccaneers.
McQuaid had 11 kills. Ko got eight kills and eight digs, with Ryan adding seven kills and four blocks. Aidan Bates had three kills as Kielbasinski earned three kills, three blocks, three aces and three digs. Cooper got 31 assists.
Earning 31 assists, Tim Cooper passed it to a front line where Luke McQuaid led with 11 kills. Aaron Ko had eight kills and eight digs, with Michael Ryan
East Syracuse Minoa wanted to join J-D in the finals, but could not quite complete a comeback from a two-set deficit, taking a five-set defeat to Living Word.
Having lost the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21, ESM did not panic. Instead, it steadily pulled away 25-19 in the third and 25-16 in the fourth, only to have the Lions win the final-set race to 15 by a 15-9 margin.
Cole Thomas had 18 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Tristan Henderson added 13 kills and 11 digs as Ben Clappin got seven kills and Jayce Cormes six kills, plus six digs. Donovan Randall had 41 assists and Jacob Sehn 15 digs to anchor ESM’s back line.
As this went on, F-M found itself winning the first two sets against Liverpool by margins of 25-23 and 25-21, only to have the Warriors win the third 25-22 and, two points from defeat, pull out the fourth set 26-24.
With its power and depth, though, the Hornets took charge in the final set and won it 15-5, seeing Cleary earn 26 kills, four aces, nine digs and three blocks, aided by Sugar’s 55 assists.
Danaher, Egan and McAndrew helped out with nine kills apiece, Danaher adding 11 digs as Jared Duggal got 10 digs, with Charles Addonizio (who had five kills) and Sean Kellish notching digs apiece.
Now both J-D and F-M go into the regional round, F-M hosting the Section I champions Wednesday and J-D playing at Cicero-North Syracuse, both looking to advance to regional finals later in the week.
