CENTRAL NEW YORK – All through their recent existence the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls volleyball teams have shared the common experience of looking up to, and getting turned back by, the neighboring dynasty at Baldwinsville.
One chance to turn this around in the Bees’ own backyard was the annual Fall Swing Tournament which took place Saturday, the Warriors and Northstars both in the field along with B’ville.
Leading up to it, Liverpool was sharp, starting Monday with the three-set sweep of Fayetteville-Manlius where it won a tight opening set 26-24 and gradually took charge 25-20 and 25-13 over the ensuing two sets.
Josie Shaw finished with 29 assists, her passes mostly going to Lola Sageer, who had 14 kills, four blocks and nine digs, and Madison Ames, who got 11 kills and 14 digs. Lily Correll finsihed with 15 digs as Natalie Nederveld (five kills) and Katie Lebiedzinski (four kills) offered front-line help.
Liverpool then rested Sageer and Shaw and swept Henninger on Friday night 25-9, 25-13, 25-16, Georgia Spuches stepping up with seven aces to go with 13 assists as Sydney Nestor added nine assists. Ava Thomas got five aces, Madison Williams adding three aces as Ames and Borrell led the front line with six kills apiece.
C-NS began its week well with a solid effort against Jamesville-DeWitt Monday night, sweeping the Red Rams by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18.
With her 25 assists, Kendall Rumble often passed it to Grace Murray, who put away 11 kills to go with three aces. Grace Turrell had six kills, with Piper Adams notching five kills and four aces. Payton LaMott added four kills, Allison Navarra pacing the defense with 10 digs ahead of Rumble’s six digs.
West Genesee arrived two nights later, and in a back-and-forth battle the Northstars were able to outlast the Wildcats in five sets.
After dropping the opener 25-16, C-NS claimed the second set 25-17 and then pulled out what proved to be a pivotal third set 26-24 after both sides had set points.
Thus, the Northstars could afford to lose a close fourth set 25-21 and pull it out 15-12 in the final set led by Murray’s 22 kills and 10 digs, Rumble’s 26 assists and Navarra’s 24 digs. Turrell (five kills) and Grace Schmid (six kills) helped up front as Rumble contributed eight digs.
On WG’s side, Eliana Becker piled up 45 assists to a well-balanced front line where Bella Vallely and Miley Ginty both got 10 kills, with Alaina Dudzinski adding nine kills, Norah Emery eight kills and Celia Spicer six kills. Defensively Hollis Pfeiffer picked up 19 digs, Becker adding 16 digs as Sophia Simiele got 13 digs and Sidney Hamilton 12 digs.
Then C-NS beat Oswego on Thursday night, sweeping the Buccaneers 25-11, 25-20, 27-25 even as it got progressively tougher as the match went on.
Rumble saw most of her 19 assists go to Murray, who put away 17 kills. Turrell added six kills and Payton LaMott stepped up with five kills as Navarra gave the defense eight digs.
