The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida tops Mount Markham in four games
The Oneida boys volleyball team rebounded from a loss in the second game to defeat Mount Markham 25-22, 2527, 25-23, 25-14on Saturday afternoon and improve to 10-1 on the season.
ONEIDA >> The first three games of Saturday’s boys vol leybal l match between Oneida and Mount Markham were almost as close as could be with two decided by two points and the other by three.
The fourth was a different story.
Coach Rik Ano’s squad started the final game with a 5-0 run and ended it by scoring six of the last seven points, putting the Mustangs away for a 25-22, 2527, 25-23, 25-14 non-league victory.
Dylan Ano tallied 33 as- sists for Oneida with Derek Connelly tallying 15 kills and Brandon Dibble adding 14.
Brady Wheelock had 33 assists for the Mustangs and Dakota Davenport recorded a match-high 16 kills.
Untimely serving errors cost the Mustangs in the first game. The first serve of the match went into the net and an ace from Dibble helped the hosts take a 5-1 lead. Oneida wouldn’t trail in the game although Mount Markham did tie the score once at 14-14. Another missed serve cost the visitors the next point and Dibble followed with a kill. The Mustangs stayed within striking distance but couldn’t even the score, ending the game with another missed serve.
The second game started much like the first with Oneida maintaining a lead until Mount Markham tied the score at 12-12. The hosts again retook the lead on a Dibble kill and extended their advantage to 15-12 but the Mustangs answered with six straight points to take the lead.
Oneida came back to tie three times before a kill by Connor Manion and an errant pass gave Mount Markham the game and evened the match at 1-1.
The third game was equally close with neither team opening up a lead bigger than four points. Oneida had that edge at 20-16 but Dillon Bleaking’s strong hitting allowed Mount Markham to tie the game at 21-21. Connelly, as he has for much of the season, came through for Oneida with kills on the hosts’ final three points to give them the game and a 2-1 lead.
A strong start from Dibble made sure the fourth game was never in doubt. He had two kills during Oneida’s 5- 0 run to start the game and the hosts never looked back.
Dibble added a kill and two aces during a 5-0 run that got Oneida to match point, a point Ano’s squad would get on a missed Mount Markham serve.