ONONDAGA COUNTY – Coming off one of its most difficult stretches in recent memory, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team had an urgency to turn things around before the Section III playoffs arrived.
The Northstars’ attempt to rebound began last Monday night against Central Square, and everything clicked here during a 25-14, 25-17, 25-18 sweep of the Redhawks.
Jack Waite, aside from his 31 assists, set a tone with five aces and added three kills. Josh Luce had four aces to go with eight digs, with Carter King also earning eight digs aside from his 12 kills. Luke Wieczorek stepped up with nine kills and Tyler Sisco steppe dup with six kills.
Then, at Baldwinsville two nights later, C-NS battled through two close sets, 25-21 and 25-22, before getting away 25-18 in the third set to close out the Bees.
King earned 15 kills, helped by Wieczorek, who had seven kills. Phillip Greer got four kills as, on the back line, Waite amassed 29 assists and six digs, Luce adding 11 digs.
At Oswego on Friday in the regular-season finale, the Northstars got beat 25-17 in the first set, but claimed the next three sets 25-22, 25-20 and 25-23 to top the Buccaneers.
Colin Deitz had his best performance of the season, earning 13 kills and three blocks to top King’s 11 kills and six digs.Wieczorek added six kills as Waite got 35 assists and 10 digs. Luce had 14 digs and Noah Hendry managed 10 digs.
Liverpool played, too, trying for a second time this fall to knock off unbeaten, reigning state Division II champion Jamesville-DeWitt.
Though it was close in the second set, the Warriors lost, 25-14, 25-22, 25-15 to the Red Rams, though Jack DeForge picked up 11 kills and Kellen Conway passed to him with 14 assists, adding six digs.
For J-D, Tim Cooper directed his 39 assists to a nearly perfectly balanced front line. Luke McQuaid led with 12 kills, but Aaron Ko and Avery Kielbasinski each got nine kills, Phoenix McBride had eight kills and Cam Moynihan stepped up with seven kills. McQuaid (11 digs) and Cooper (seven digs) led the defense.
Faring better on Thursday night, Liverpool had its own match with Central Square where, in four sets, the Warriors topped the Redhawks 25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-15.
After three competitive sets, the Warriors played at its best in the fourth, DeForge notching 19 kills and four aces as Sean Frawley earned seven kills and four aces.
Helping out on the front line, Chase Loveless got five kills and Ben McHerron added four kills. Conway passed to all of them and finished with 34 assists as Shah Sahak earned nine digs and DeForge had six digs.
For the sectional playoffs, Liverpool, as the no. 5 seed, meets no. 4 seed Baldwinsville in the opening round, the winner to get F-M, the top seed, in Thursday’s semifinals, while C-NS, the no. 2 seed, meets no. 3 seed Syracuse City in the other semifinal. The championship match is Saturday at 4 p.m. at East Syracuse Minoa.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool girls volleyball team rested with the top seed in Class AAA, awaiting a semifinal against no. 4 seed Henninger as C-NS, the no. 3 seed, challenged no. 2 seed Baldwinsville, the winner of these two matches advancing to Friday’s night’s title match at J-D’s gym.
