ONONDAGA COUNTY – If ever there was a time for the Cicero-North Syracuse boys volleyball team to bring out its best performance, it was now, with a chance to reclaim the Section III Division I championship after seeing it go elsewhere the last two years.
And that’s exactly what the Northstars did, taking just three sets to stun top seed and defending champion Fayetteville-Manlius Saturday at East Syracuse Minoa High School and gain redemption both for itself and the 2021 and 2022 teams that were stopped at this same stage.
The final was a rematch of the five-set epic of 2022 that C-NS dropped to F-M. More immediately, though, was the fact that the Northstars only gained a single set off the Hornets in two regular-season meetings.
Where this title match and last year’s was similar was the fact that C-NS got the jump, winning the first set 25-20, but it was in the second set that it all proved different.
Instead of a 34-32 marathon claimed by F-M that turned the 2022 final around, the Northstars fell behind by five points and then, patiently, worked its way back until it took the lead late and won that set 25-23.
The third set was just as close. Pushed to the brink, the Hornets got it to 24-24, only to have C-NS gain back the serve and finish off match point 26-24 to earn back the sectional crown.
As he had done all season, Carter King set the pace on the C-NS front line, pounding out 14 kills, but Luke Wieczorek stepped up in a big way with 11 kills and Phillip Greer had nine kills. Jack Waite was steady on the back line, finshing the night with 36 assists, Josh Luce adding 11 digs as Waite and Jeff Goldberg had eight digs apiece. Noah Hendry got six digs.
C-NS first had to get past Syracuse City in last Thursday night’s sectional semifinal, which it did in a four-set decision.
Having lost to this same Syracuse side in three sets two weeks earlier, the Northstars started strong, winning the first set 25-18, only to drop the second set by that same margin.
But once C-NS won the third set 25-20 it carried that momentum over to a 25-16 romp in the fourth set to end it, Waite setting the tone with his 42 assists, five aces, four kills and three blocks.
King again took advantage of Waite’s passes, recording 18 kills and adding nine digs. Colin Dietz, with eight kills, provided depth, as did Greer (seven kills, two blocks),Wieczorek (six kills, three blocks) and Joey Lukasiewicz (five kills). Hendry had 11 digs and Luce equaled King’s nine digs.
F-M swept Baldwinsville in the other semifinal, this after the Bees had put an end to the season for Liverpool in last Monday night’s opening round.
Just as those first two matches between the Warriors and Bees had gone four sets, this one would, too, with the same result as those earlier contests.
A tight first set went 26-24 in Liverpool’s favor. From there, though, B’ville controlled matters, dominating the second set 25-15, taking the third 25-18 and holding off the Warriors 25-22 in the fourth to end it.
Jack DeForge finished with 16 kills, helped on the front line by Sean Frawley and Chase Loveless, who each had six kills and three aces.
Kellen Conway earned 30 assists and Shah Sahak gained 16 digs, Dylan Lane adding three blocks. DeForge had seven digs, with Loveless, Conway and Ben McHerron each producing six digs. B’ville got 22 kills from Brayden Kudarauskas, with Nate Mekker earning 14 assists and Brendan Micho 10 assists.
Liverpool is not done hosting volleyball matches, though, as next Saturday C-NS would play its Division I regional final against the Section I-II winner with a berth in the Nov. 18 state finals in Albany on the line.
