CENTRAL NEW YORK – Continuing a vast turnaround from its 2022 struggles, the Baldwinsville boys volleyball team met the challenge from Living Word Academy last Monday night, prevailing in four sets.

This night’s second set would prove quite memorable. Already the Bees had nipped Living Word 25-23 in a tense opener, but that drama paled next to what would follow.

Both B’ville and Living Word traded blows and missed set-point opportunities until, at 32-32, the Bees gained the serve and finally finished off that set 34-32.

This gave B’ville a cushion against the Lions winning the third set 25-22, and in yet another tight battle the Bees, in the fourth set, held on 25-23 to close out the match.

Brayden Kudarauskas put away 20 kills, adding six digs. Xzavier Vanderstuow had 13 kills and six digs, with Ethan Davenport adding nine kills.

Brendan Micho, aside from his five kills, got 18 assists to pair up with Nate Mekker, who had 20 assists. Davenport and Micho each had three blocks as the Lions’ Dan Maloney, with 48 assists, fed it to Jeremiah Plewak (19 kills), Tai Connor and Jack Connor (12 kills apiece).

B’ville now faced reigning state Division II champion Jamesville-DeWitt on Thursday night and lost in three sets, each of them by equal 25-16 margins.

Vanderstuow finished with nine kills and Kudarauskas added seven kills. Mekker got 12 assists as J-D’s Tim Cooper got 30 assists, often passing it to Luke McQuaid (nine kills) or Phoenix McBride (eight kills).

Meanwhile, the B’ville girls volleyball team was impressive last Tuesday night against visiting Oswego, putting together a 25-16, 25-20, 25-16 sweep of the Buccaneers to move to 3-1 on the season.

Now the Bees traveled to Central Square on Thursday night and found itself pushed by the Redhawks, too, though it was able to survive and persevere for a five-set victory.

A long first set went 29-27 in B’ville’s favor. The Redhawks won a tight second set 25-23, only to see the Bees win by that same margin in the third.

Cushioned from defeat, the Bees absorbed a 25-16 loss in the fourth and, in a tense final-set race to 15 points, reversed the West Genesee outcome from Sept. 5 and took it 15-13.

B’ville then would play in the Victor Tournament Saturday before meeting C-NS and J-D this week, the boys at home to take on Living Word Academy and Oswego.