Cicero-North Syracuse coach Mike Lucia said it was a challenge to scout and prepare for Syracuse before Thursday's Section III Division I boys volleyball semifinal contest.
The Northstars and Cougars both dealt with sickness and injuries throughout the regular season, which meant the starting lineups were different each time.
Despite facing third-seeded Syracuse's new-look lineup on Thursday, second-seeded C-NS found its way to a 3-1 win.
"It was all about ball control and executing a service plan. We did a good job of that tonight," Lucia said.
C-NS won the first set at 25-18. The Cougars, however, took the second set by the same score to knot the match at 1-1.
The Northstars came away with victories in the third (25-20) and fourth (25-16) sets.
C-NS bounced back on Thursday after Syracuse won by a 3-0 score on Nov. 2. The Northstars beat the Cougars, 3-0, on Sept. 12.
"I'm so proud of the guys to just respond like they did," Lucia said.
Carter King racked up 18 kills, a block and nine digs for the Northstars. Jack Waite chipped in 42 assists, three blocks and five digs. Phillip Greer provided seven kills and two blocks, and Colin Deitz tallied eight kills. Luke Wieczorek had six kills and three blocks.
For the Cougars, Dezmond McCurty led with 12 kills, four blocks and four digs. Valentino Indelicato added 25 assists, a block and five digs. Xavier Ramos had 10 digs, and Alex Ervin contributed six digs, two blocks and an ace. Mohamed Ali and Badr Aly combined for 11 kills.
C-NS (13-6) will now make its second-straight trip to the Division I championship game. The team goes up against top-seeded Fayetteville-Manlius.
For the Northstars, it's redemption time. The Hornets edged C-NS, 3-2, in last year's sectional final. F-M also beat C-NS twice during this year's regular season.
"That feeling is still there. We use it as motivation (against F-M)," Lucia said. "We just have to play our best match and hope to play more volleyball after this final."
Lucia noted even with last season's loss still "burning a bit," his Northstars squad is still looking forward to the challenge.
"(F-M is) a really tight program," Lucia said. "We just hope to play a little better (on Saturday)."
The Cougars finished with an 8-11 mark on the season.
