Cardinal's volleyball team forced a slam into the net Oct. 18 on the first point of its Division IV sectional matchup at home against the Chalker Wildcats.
Match photos click here.
Cardinal’s volleyball team forced a slam into the net Oct. 18 on the first point of its Division IV sectional matchup at home against the Chalker Wildcats.
Maddie Ehrhardt then stepped up, fired two service aces to open a 3-0 lead, and that was all it took to propel the Huskies to a 3-0 victory. Set scores of 25-8, 25-15 and 25-18 make the night look closer than it really was.
Cardinal, now 12-11 overall with a 4-6 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division record on the season, got superior defensive action from everybody on the floor all night long. The team also got a big night putting the ball to the floor on the Chalker side from their hitters, mainly Ali Puruczky, Lizzie Lucariello and Morgan Csontos, with Ehrhardt and others playing stellar defense in keeping the ball alive so Chalker could get no momentum in any way.
After Ehrhardt’s fast start, the next two servers for Cardinal Head Coach Anne Mann each fired home three points as the Huskies front lines tool control. Leading the way was Puruczky, who had a night to remember, recording her 500th kill in just her sophomore season.
Carissa Loucks took over from there, firing home seven points serving, and after the Wildcats stopped the bleeding briefly with a trio of points served up by Morgan Strock, Puruczky ended the set with five more points. The last came as Chalker tried to respond to the Cardinal power display with a bit of their own, but the final point flew beyond the back line to end the set.
The Wildcats (7-15) tried to battle back as the night went on, but the Huskies had far better defense. They consistently kept the ball alive before either forcing Chalker errors or slamming the ball down Chalker throats. Cardinal played totally dominating volleyball no matter the spot on the floor.
“We did something a little different tonight in our rotations on the floor,” Coach Mann said. “We wanted to be quicker on defense to keep the ball alive, and we wanted our serving to be more aggressive as well, and the girls executed all of the changes very well. “
Puruczky put 22 kills to the floor over the match while serving up 12 points, including six bullets to the floor that were unreturnable. She did not get things done alone, however.
Lucariello also had a big night at the net with seven kills and eight huge blocks. Any time it seemed the Wildcats might stage a comeback, Lucariello swatted balls away.
Combining the powerful serving of Carissa Loucks, great setting from Ehrhardt, and superb sets from everybody else, Chalker really never stood a chance.
Puruczky had a lot to smile about, in relation to this match and beyond.
“I’ve been playing since I was 11 years old now,” she said. “Both of my parents played volleyball when they were younger, and I got to go with them and watch. I had so much fun watching, I just really caught on to the game. Now I play at JO and other camps that I can get to, and with this team, we’re having so much fun playing together, it’s just giving us the desire to keep moving along in the tournament, too.”
