ONONDAGA COUNTY – Though it was the first full week of the regular season, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls volleyball team may have already gone through its most important stretch.
From taking on perennial powerhouse Baldwinsville to hosting its annual Hornet Pride Tournament last Saturday, F-M would learn plenty about where it was good and what still needed work.
B’ville would arrive and take the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-21. Extending the match, F-M won the third in another 25-18 decision, but was overwhelmed in the fourth set as the Bees closed it out 25-12.
Kalyna Dannenberg gave the Hornets 12 kills and 11 digs, with Kara Evans getting six blocks as she and Malana Noble both had seven kills. Laila Duggal dished out 28 assists as she, along with Noble and Larah Schepp, all finished with 12 digs. Amelia Hahn (18 kills) and Madison MacKsaig (22 assists, 14 digs) led the Bees.
Bishop Grimes pulled off the rare 25-0 set to open its season last Monday against Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, only to get beat in the second set 25-21 before rolling through the next two sets 25-12 and 25-5.
Busy all match long, Ava Christdoulou managed 40 assists, with most of her passes going to Kayla Duenkel, who piled up 24 kills to go with a team-best eight digs. Riley Abernethy had 10 kills, with Elizabeth Corl adding seven kills.
Grimes kept it up Wednesday against Weedsport, and while the scores were not as lopsided, the Cobras still won in three sets by margins of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-23.
The duo of Duenkel, earning 13 kills, and Abernethy, getting 11 kills, accounted for nearly a full set’s worth of points just based on their power. Olivia Vitale added five kills and Abernethy eight digs as Christodoulou gained 27 assists and six digs.
A third win in four nights featured Grimes handling Hannibal 25-19, 25-15, 25-11.
Jamesville-DeWitt was part of the field at F-M, this after back-to-back sweeps of Syracuse city school opponents earlier in the week that began with a 25-16, 25-12, 25-12 win over Corcoran.
Alana Bates managed five aces and Quinn Pfister added four aces, with Aaliyah Anderson picking up six kills in front of a back line where Yeva Balayan earned seven assists and Lacey Phaneuf added five assists.
Then J-D handled Nottingham 25-15, 25-12, 25-13 on Friday night. The Red Rams served up 26 aces, seven of them by Balayan, with Audrey Turner getting five aces and Bates four aces as Balayan earned 11 assists and Turner a team-best four kills.
