ONONDAGA COUNTY – Ever since their respective championship runs in 2022, the Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius boys volleyball teams have pointed toward their regular-season matches for 2023.
The first one takes place this Thursday night, with the Red Rams and Hornets both in top form again.
Taking care of one other neighborhood foe, J-D, facing East Syracuse Minoa last Tuesday night, tore through the Spartans, claiming a 25-14, 25-17, 25-20 sweep.
Only the third set proved tight as the Rams saw Luke McQuaid blast his way to 14 kills and four aces. Helping out, Avery Kielbasinski had six kills, Aaron Ko adding five kills as Cam Moynihan and Phoenix McBride had four kills apiece. Tim Cooper dished out 30 assists, adding seven digs.
ESM kept battling, led up front by Austin Betts’ seven kills. No other Spartan had more than two kills, though, as Donovan Randall got 11 assists and Tommy Clonan had eight digs.
Later in the week, ESM had matches on three straight days against Liverpool, Wayne and Living Word Academy, starting out with a 25-23, 25-15, 25-21 sweep of the Warriors.
Randall finished with 25 assists and nine digs, Clonan gaining 17 digs. Betts, with eight kills and three blocks, led a front line where Ryan Sullivan managed seven kills. Tyler Quarry and Jayce Domres had six kills apiece.
Then ESM beat Wayne 25-12, 25-14, 25-18 behind 22 assists from Sullivan, who added three kills. Betts and Quarry led the front line with eight kills apiece, Clonan getting eight digs and Domres four kills.
Still having something left for Living Word on Saturday afternoon, ESM split the first two sets. An epochal third set followed, with multiple set points squandered before the Spartans pulled it out 34-32.
Even with that, ESM had just enough left to close it out 25-22 in the fourth, the same margin by which it won the opening set as Betts was joined by Jacob McGuigan, each of them putting away 10 kills.
Right behind them, Domres earned nine kills and Quarry had seven kills, all of them helped by Randall’s 31 assists and the defense of Clonan, who got 20 digs.
J-D would travel to Baldwinsville Thursday night, and though the Bees are much improved from a 2-19 mark in 2022, the Rams still won three consecutive sets by equal 25-16 margins.
McQuaid had nine kills, with McBride stepping up for eight kills. Moynihan had five kills and Kielbasinki four kills as Cooper led the back line earning 30 assists and seven digs.
F-M rolled last Tuesday against Liverpool in its only match of the week, sweeping the Warriors. The 25-19 first set was as close as it got, the Hornets taking the next two sets by 25-15 and 25-14 margins.
]Chris Cleary’s seven kills paced a well-balanced front line where Mike McAndrew, Charles Addonizio and Guy Juran had five kills apiece. Connor Sugar managed 26 assists as Jared Duggal had seven digs, Cleary six digs and Sean Kellish five digs.
