ONONDAGA COUNTY – Once again this Friday night the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls volleyball teams will confront one another, the Warriors having pulled out a five-set thriller in their first meeting Sept. 24.
Before this, though, both sides would take their second shots at Baldwinsville, attempting to avenge earlier four-set defeats to the reigning sectional Class AAA champions – and both of them would push the Bees to five sets.
The Northstars went first. Having lost the opening set 25-16, C-NS took charge in the second set 25-20 to get even, then emerged from a tense third set to win it 26-24 and get to the brink of an upset.
B’ville pulled itself back, though, claiming the fourth set 25-17 and dominating the final set 15-7 to overcome several standout C-NS performances.
Kendall Rumble finished with 30 assists and five kills. Grace Murray got 19 kills and 10 digs, with Grace Turrell and Grace Schmid each netting seven kills and Turrell adding seven blocks. Allison Navarra paced the defense with 23 digs as Piper Adams added 12 digs.
When Liverpool got its turn with B’ville on Thursday night, the path was different but the result was the same, a match that lingered into a fifth set but resulted in a frustrating defeat.
The Warriors took the first set 25-20, but in each of the next two sets the Bees controlled matters by equal 25-17 margins, leading to a fourth set where, two points from victory, B’ville could not end it, Liverpool pulling it out 26-24.
Again, the Bees would win, for though the fifth set was tighter it still got past the Warriors 15-11, overcoming nine kills, 20 digs and four blocks from Lola Sageer and 23 assists from Georgia Spuches, who served up four aces.
Madison Ames got seven kills, as did Spuches, with Ames adding 12 digs. Nya Pedrosa had five kills and 10 digs, while Katie Liebiedzinski and Sarah LaTocha also finished with five kills.
C-NS started last week with an impressive performance against 7-1 Fulton, taking just three sets to put away the Red Dragons 25-21, 25-18, 25-13.
Improving as the match went on, the Northstars saw Grace Murray earn eight kills and Grace Turrell seven kills to go with five blocks. Piper Adams added four kills as Kendall Rumble gained 13 assists and Natalie Hughes six assists and Allison Navarra amassed 15 digs. Murray and Rumble had six digs apiece.
Then, after the B’ville’ match, C-NS swept Henninger 25-10, 25-9, 25-14 on the same Thursday where Liverpool battled the Bees. Rumble got 17 assists, Turrell pacing the front line with eight kills as Murray finished with five kills.
