ONONDAGA COUNTY – For the second time this fall, the Baldwinsville girls volleyball team found itself dropping a five-set decision to an SCAC Metro division rival.
This time it was Fayetteville-Manlius maintaining its unbeaten mark, fighting past the Bees in a back-and-forth classic last Tuesday, exactly two weeks after West Genesee did the same.
It was the Bees claiming a close opening set 25-23, only to have the Hornets pull out the next two sets, each of them by equal 25-21 margins.
Moving to the fourth set, B’ville had the most lopsided win yet, 25-19, yet it could not carry over into the final set, where F-M got the crucial points and won it 15-11.
Kalyna Dannenberg put away 25 kills to go with 16 digs, while Rebekah Beasley managed 14 kills and 16 digs. Malana Noble added six kills as Ava Zerrillo amassed 48 assists and Kathryn McNany had nine digs.
B’ville got nice balance on its front line – 11 kills from Amelia Hahn to go with 18 digs, 11 kills from Nela Loftin and 10 kills from Natalie Dauphianis, who added three blocks. Maddy Gulich had 35 assists and six aces as Sadie Phelps got 22 digs. Ava Wickes managed six kills, 12 digs and three aces.
At least that match went five sets – which wasn’t the case two nights later at Liverpool, where the Bees could not get the crucial points in a three-set loss to the Warriors.
Each set was close, and after Liverpool took the opener 25-20, B’ville had great chances to answer, only to drop the second set 26-24 and the third 25-22.
Sophie Sageer, with nine kills, and Madison Ames, with seven kills, led the Warriors’ front line, with Allyson Crandall recording 13 assists and Addie Tanton adding 11 assists.
In boys volleyball, Baldwinsville ran into F-M, the defending sectional champions, last Tuesday and lost in three sets to the Hornets 25-13, 25-11, 25-20.
B’ville was led by Nate Mekker’s 10 assists. Xzavier Vanderstouw had seven kills, with Ethan Davenport adding five kills. Brendan Micho got four assists and Justin Diep earned 11 digs.
For F-M, Connor Sugar’s 18 assists were complemented by Axex Charmot’s seven assists and Charles Addonizio’s five digs. Chris Cleary led the front line with 10 kills.
More frustrating was Thursday night’s match against East Syracuse Minoa, where B’ville twice led, having won the first set 25-17 and, after dropping the second by that same score, went back in front with a 25-21 victory in the third.
All of that couldn’t keep the Spartans from pulling out a tense fourth set 25-22 and claiming the final set 15-13, led by Austin Betts’ 16 kills and Donovan Randall’s 35 assists.
Vanderstuow earned 13 kills and eight digs, with Davenport getting 10 kills and Micho nine kills to go with his 10 assists. Mekker finished with 19 assists and Diep got 13 digs.
