ONONDAGA COUNTY – For much of the last quarter-century, the Baldwinsville girls volleyball saw the Section III playoffs as the continuation of its domination over every other local large-school foe.
In 2023, though, the Bees found everything more of a challenge, even as it moved to a smaller Class AAA post-season group and only had to win twice to claim the sectional crown.
Yet when they handed out the championship banner Friday night at Jamesville-DeWitt High School, it again went to B’ville, whose four-set victory over top seed Liverpool had to rank with the most satisfying of these many titles won through the years.
This was because the Warriors had the clear upper hand on the Bees during the regular season, twice winning league matches and only dropping one set in them, and also topping B’ville in a weekend tournament, too.
And when Liverpool jumped out 5-0 in the opening set of the sectional final, the season’s pattern appeared permanent. The Bees battled back, though, ultimately pushing the set beyond the limit.
The Warriors took that set 27-25, but B’ville’s resolve was already on display, and in close second and third sets the Bees earned all of the crucial points to take those sets 25-20 and 25-21.
Then, perhaps summoning the spirit of all those great B’ville teams of the past, it pulled away in the fourth set to win it 25-15 and again earn a sectional title, led by Mallory Offredi’s 19 kills and Madison MacKaig’s 39 assists.
Of course, just getting to the final was difficult enough, with B’ville rallying from a 2-1 deficit last Monday night at Baker High School
to edge no. 3 seed Cicero-North Syracuse in five sets.
Only 6-9 going into the match, the no. 3 seed Northstars responded well to a 25-14 defeat in the opening set, surviving several set points in the second set to take it 28-26 and then pulling out the third set 25-23.
Things turned from there, though. The Bees pulled away 25-18 in the fourth set and, in a final-set race to 15, claimed it 15-12 to make another sectional final.
Offredi got 15 kills and five aces, plus had 13 digs on defense. Addy Garcia moved from the back line to the front and offered major contributions, finishing with 15 digs.
Amelia Hahn earned 12 kills, with Nela Loftin getting nine kills and Natalie Dauphinias adding seven kills. MacKaig amassed 41 assists and Sadie Phelps paced the defense with 20 digs.
Grace Murray, with her 11 kills and nine digs, led C-NS, Grace Schmid adding five kills and eight digs as Grace Turrell got four kills and three blocks.
Also for the Northstars, Ellie Blumer finished with 12 assists and 10 digs. Payton LaMott put together seven assists, three blocks and two kills as Kendall Rumble managed four assists. Piper Adams and Gabby Penizotto had three kills apiece.
B’ville endured all of this, then proved against Liverpool that it still set the standard for area volleyball to earn a trip to this Saturday’s regional final at Gloversville against a familiar Section II opponent, Shenendehowa.
