BALDWINSVILLE – More challenges awaited the Baldwinsville boys volleyball team in its final week of the regular season as it started out with an up-close look at the reigning Section III Division I champions.
Fayetteville-Manlius came to the Baker High School gym last Monday night and, for each of the three sets, the Bees were able to stay competitive with the Hornets.
Still, B’ville lost, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, with Brayden Kudarauskas standing out as he put away 16 kills, helped up front by Ethan Davenport, who earned eight kills, and Xzavier Vanderstuow, who had six kills.
Nate Mekker, with 14 assists, and Brendan Micho, with 11 assists, split back-line duties, with Justin Diep earning five digs. F-M was led by Connor Sugar’s 29 assists and Mike McAndrew’s 10 kills.
Then Cicero-North Syracuse arrived two nights later, and that match was a near-replicate of the F-M encounter, with two close early sets (25-21 and 25-22) going in the Northstars’ favor and a 25-19 finale.
Mekker and Micho each got 12 assists, Micho adding four kills and Mekker two aces. Kudarauskas earned 10 kills and five digs, with Vanderstuow adding seven kills and Davenport getting six kills. Carter King (15 kills) and Jack Waite (29 assists) led the C-NS push.
The regular-season finale came Friday, against Syracuse City, with B’ville finding itself in the same frustrating pattern, close in all three sets but unable to win any of them.
Syracuse prevailed 25-20, 25-19, 25-21, led by Valentino Indelicato’s 30 assists as Ethan Nguyen had 11 kills and Dezmond McCurty added 10 kills. The Bees fell to 6-11 overall.
All this while, B’ville’s girls volleyball team rested and practiced, holding the no. 2 seed in the Section III Class AAA playoffs. These Bees meet no. 3 seed Cicero-North Syracuse in the sectional semifinals, the winner to get Liverpool or Henninger in the final Friday at Jamesville-DeWItt.
As for the B’ville boys, as the no. 4 seed in Division I it would host no. 5 seed Liverpool in a match to determine who faces F-M, the top seed, in Thursday’s semifinals, with the championship match Saturday at East Syracuse Minoa.
