ONONDAGA COUNTY – Ever since the Liverpool boys volleyball team dethroned Cicero-North Syracuse in the 2021 Section III Division I championship match, this long-time rivalry had returned to the Northstars’ control.
Or at least that was the case until Wednesday night when, on C-NS’s home court, the Warriors put together an inspired effort and prevailed in five sets.
When they met Sept. 19, the Northstars won in four sets, and as they entered the rematch C-NS had a 9-4 record, far ahead of Liverpool’s 4-10 mark.
A 25-14 romp through the opening set suggested another C-NS cruise, but when a tight second set went 25-23 in Liverpool’s favor, it gave the visitors a cushion against a 25-20 third-set defeat.
Still in the match, the Warriors battled through a close fourth set and, winning it 25-22, forced a final-set fight to 15 points that it won 15-10.
Jack DeForge led the way, amassing 22 kills and 21 digs to go with four aces. Sean Frawley had six kills and Cody Badger five kills as Kellen Conway got 30 assists.
On the other side for C-NS, Carter King put away 23 kills, with Luke Wieczorek adding nine kills. Collin Deitz and Joey Lukasiewicz each had five kills as Jack Waite earned 45 assists and King got 12 digs ahead of Max Wolanski’s 10 digs.
Swept by Fayetteville-Manlius in early September, the Northstars put up a much stronger effort in last Monday’s rematch, only to take a four-set defeat.
F-M controlled the opening set 25-15, but C-NS rebounded well, claiming a 25-21 victory in the second set to pull even. However, the Hornets responded with 25-14 and 25-16 wins in the next two sets.
A big difference was the depth on the front line. King had 15 kills, but no one else had more than the six kills from Wieczorek and Lukasiewicz as Deitz had five kills and Waite fed them with 31 assists.
Meanwhile, for F-M Chris Cleary led with 17 digs, but Mike McAndrew (11 kills) and Charles Addonizio (10 kills) also reached double digits, with Guy Juran adding six kills and Charlie Schroeder five kills. Connor Sugar managed 48 assists.
Back on Monday night, Liverpool faced Syracuse City and twice made comebacks, winning the second set 25-16 after dropping a 27-25 opener and then taking the fourth set 25-19 after losing the third 25-17.
But Syracuse had the final push, winning the fifth set 15-9 led by Valentino Indelicato’s 49 assists that went to Dezmond McCurty (17 kills), Mohamed Ali (16 kills), Ethan Nguyen (12 kills) and Badr Aly (10 kills) up front.
The Warriors got 54 assists from Conway and 29 kills from DeForge, with Frawley contributing 12 kills as Shah Sahak had 12 digs and Chris Baker added nine digs.
This loss offered no hint at what Liverpool would do at C-NS two nights later, but it had a long-term effect on the Northstars, who fell again Friday when it faced Syracuse City in three sets.
Close 26-24 and 25-22 decisions in the first two sets were followed by a 25-19 third set as King had 18 kills, but no teammate had more than Greer’s four kills as Waite earned 26 assists. Nguyen (11 kills) and Dishan Mangar (eight kills) paced Syracuse as Indelicato earned 24 assists.
