ONONDAGA COUNTY – A mid-season tradition for the Baldwinsville girls volleyball team involves welcoming top squads from across the Section III ranks to its annual Fall Swing Tournament which starts next Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
Another tradition involves the Bees testing itself in every conceivable manner in other fall tournaments, whether it was at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake on Sept. 21 or going to Victor for another tournament on Saturday.
In between, there was Monday night’s match with Cicero-North Syracuse where the Bees controlled matters with the Northstars and prevailed in four sets.
To its credit, the Northstars didn’t get discouraged after dropping the first sets 25-17 and 25-19, rising up in the third set to win it 25-19 before the Bees put in its top players in the fourth set and closed it out 25-13.
B’ville got 14 kills and 10 digs from Amelia Hahn in front of a back line where Madison MacKaig recorded 21 assists and Addy Garcia finished with 19 digs, MacKaig adding five digs.
Avery Davenport had eight kills and two blocks, with Mallory Offredi earning five kills. Natalie Dauphianis and Aaniya Johnson also got two blocks.
Still at home Wednesday night to face West Genesee, the Bees dealt with a Wildcats team which had gone five sets against Jamesville-DeWitt two nights earlier, but still found itself in a tough battle.
B’ville won in three sets, but they were all close. The 25-22, 25-20, 27-25 decision involved Hahn getting 15 kills helped by Offredi’s nine kills as MacKaig recorded 14 assists and Garcia got 21 digs.
In boys volleyball, Baldwinsville still was in search of its first victory in 2024 and did not get it last Thursday at Oswego, falling to the Buccaneers in three close sets.
Oswego took the opener 25-22 and, in both the second and third sets, thwarted the Bees’ chances of catching up, claiming each of those sets by equal 27-25 margins.
Nate Mekker led B’ville with nine kills and eight assists, Chase Johnson adding 12 assists. Nico D’Ella had six kills and four blocks, while Ryan Levy had four kills and Justin Diep 13 digs. The Bucs got 20 kills from Maria Garabito, 10 kills from Ed Kuzawaski and 33 assists from Maclain Fitzgerald.
B’ville’s boys would look to turn it around next week in matches against East Syracuse Minoa and Fayeteville-Manlius, with the girls going to Henninger and Skaneateles right before its tournament.
