Both of the Fayetteville-Manlius volleyball teams would beat city foes during the last full week of September, and the female side went further to move back to the .500 mark for the season. First, the girls Hornets swept Institute of Technology Central 25-3, 25-13, 25-12, the Eagles being a first-year varsity program. Meghan O’Leary had nine assists, three kills and two aces, with Kristen Russell picking up five kills. Heather Cooper had four kills and Caroline Gadsden served up five aces as Stephanie Bousquet and Shannon Dahlin picked up three aces apiece. On Thursday, F-M went up against the more established Rome Free Academy — but had the same successful result, only getting scared in the second game as the Hornets beat the Black Knights 25-12, 25-23, 25-10. Improving her numbers, O’Leary earned 11 assists, while Bousquet picked up seven assists and Alexis Rios had five assists to go with her three digs. Carmen Sorrentino had a team-best six kills, with Colleen Bisaccio adding three kills and Jillian Schwab three aces. The Hornets then made it wins on back-to-back nights Friday, losing the first game to Utica Proctor 25-19, but taking the next three games by scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-20. Through it all, Cooper stood out with 33 assists, to go with nine kills and six digs. Russell had 10 kills and three blocks, while Rios got nine kills, four aces and 13 digs. Shannon DaRin had 13 digs of her own as Schwab contributed four kills. In boys volleyball, F-M pushed past Fowler 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 last Tuesday night, Jason Zipprich leading the way with 10 kills and five aces. Seth Braddock had six kills and five digs, with Justin McKeever, Matt Weiner and Parker Harris getting three kills apiece. Matt Nash fed them all with 21 assists. Two nights later, the Hornets lost to Cicero-North Syracuse 25-22, 25-20, 25-17. Competitive in each game, F-M could not get on the board despite Nash’s 12 assists. Zipprich had five kills and four digs, with Seth Braddock contributing three kills and five digs. CNS saw Jim Coleman, with 33 assists, feed it to Tyler A. Smith (11 kills), Ethan Irish (eight kills) and Billy Werksman (seven kills). In Saturday’s 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 loss to Midlakes, the Hornets saw Nash earn seven assists and five digs as Zipprich picked up six kills. Both F-M sides meet Liverpool this week, with the boys Hornets also dealing with Oswego and the girls playing West Genesee before competing in Saturday’s Baldwinsville Fall Fling Tournament.