It was an early, high intensity match-up contest of the NDCL Lions and the Mentor Cardinals that felt like postseason volleyball.
More photos click here.
It was an early, high intensity match-up contest of the NDCL Lions and the Mentor Cardinals that felt like postseason volleyball.
Head Coach Samantha Weaver and her Cardinals got out to a 4-1 lead in the first set.
After sophomore Frankie Brkic tied the score with her serve at the back line and grabbed the lead, 7-6, with a kill out of the middle from Audra Smith, the Lions forced Mentor to call a timeout, then stretched the lead to 9-6.
Finally, a kill from senior right side Melody Garrett caught the Lions sleeping on a tip and ended NDCL’s run.
Back-and-forth the opening set would go before Weaver’s team reclaimed the lead, 17-15,
midway through the set. Long at the helm, NDCL Head Coach Tom Ray called a time out to gather his team and regroup.
Senior right side attacker Tora Forte compared this contest with a previous five-set loss against Avon Lake and talked about how she and her teammates are used to playing from behind.
“Something that Coach Ray did say was, again on Saturday, we had the same kind of
thing happen to us,” Forte said. “We were down in a few sets, and we are used to that as a team. He said we needed to keep our energy up, not to let up. Mentor is going to get a good kill. Let them have the kill and come back.
“That really motivated us because we kept our energy high and we believed in each other, and played together as a team.”
After a hitting error from Kayden McKinney in which her tip attempt ran out of bounds, Coach Weaver was forced to call her final timeout. The Lions were awarded the first set point after Brkic recorded a kill off the block, setting the Lions up for the win, 24-23.
The teams would have to play for extras in the opening set after middle blocker Anna Cassidy found an
open spot on the court for the Cardinals, notching the set up at 24 apiece. This time, McKinney
had the Cardinals on the brink of the opening set when she recorded a kill off the block.
Strategically well played, Coach Ray called his second timeout as the Cardinals were leading 26-25. From there, Smith recorded another kill out of the middle, tying things up again at 26.
Finally, after five set points, it was junior Mia Moissis who found an open spot in zone one and ended the set 31-29 in favor of the Lions.
NDCL had a rough start in the second set, recording some uncharacteristic errors.
Trailing 16-11 at one point, Coach Tom Ray called his first time out in the second. Then the Lions pulled within two, 19-17, behind a couple of aces for the Lions and miscues for the Cardinals.
A hard shot down the line from McKinney stopped a 4-0 run by the Lions. An overpass kill from Moissis tied the set up at 23, then a McKinney kill and a black for the Cardinals ended set two, 25-23, and tied the match up at one apiece.
Mentor earned the first point to start the third match with a successful slide play and a kill recorded by Anna Cassidy out of the middle. Mentor led by as many as four before the Lions tied the set up at 23.
A timely block from Brkic and Smith gave the Lions some momentum to close out set three, 25-22, and go up 2-1 in the match.
“After falling behind in the sets, we really just talked about taking care of our side of the court and making Mentor earn their points,” Ray said after the match. “We were kind of playing a bit slow and unorganized, so we stressed communication and energy.”
Despite the Cardinals being just one point away from tying the match, a free ball pass was dropped on the Cardinals’ net, resulting in a point for the Lions and tying the set once again, at 24. Forte gave her team the only set point they would need to close out the set, following a kill and an ace from Moissis. This ended the fourth set at 26-24, and the Lions came away victorious, 3-1 overall.
“Our coach really kept his composure the whole game, which helped us on the court a lot,” junior Grace Loeser said after the win. “We saw that he was calm and we started playing calm, but we also had a fire that we really wanted to win and to be competitive. We knew what we needed to do, and we went and did that.”
Leading the way for the Lions offensively were Brkic and Moissis, who each added 15
kills on the night. The Lions also found production out of the middle from Smith and junior Jane
Rottinghaus, who added nine and eight kills, respectively.
Senior setter Grace Daniels recorded 34 assists, while Leah Bender dished out 24. Daniels also recorded 17 digs, while Abby Tolin led the way in the back row with 35 digs.
Rottinghaus led the team with three blocks; Bender recorded five aces at the service line.
With the win, the Lions improved to 1-1, while the Cardinals fell to 0-1 to start the season.
“I feel any win will always help get a team more prepared for the rest of the season,” Coach Ray said, “but at NDCL, we stress learning in all situations, good or bad. I think that is what kept us composed and pressed to win the match, because our focus was really on getting better and winning the next point, not so concerned with the big picture of winning the whole match.
“Our mid-match adjustments were really attacking Mentor’s defense a little differently with our
hitters. We changed our defense at times to keep their hitters honest, and our serving strategy was to keep their big hitters from getting comfortable and gaining momentum.
“I think the players that showed up tonight — (the ones) that might not show on stats — were our middles Audra Smith and Jane Rottinghouse. They really focused on our blocking schemes and put pressure on their hitters when we needed it. They were getting better and better as the match went on. Jane came through with a crucial block when Frankie, our outside hitter, got the wind knocked out of herself, giving us a chance to win the set.”
The Cardinals’ offense went through McKinney, who recorded a team-high 23 kills, while Garrett added 16. Freshman libero Ava Garrett paced the back row with 16 digs.
“This win sets the tone that even if we are down, we can come back up,” Forte said. “It can really only go up from here. If we keep that mindset and attitude, I think just as a team we are going to grow in practice and in games.
“It is going to get tougher than this, and it will also get easier than this, but if we stick together as a team, we will have a strong mentality.”
Added Loeser, “We came into that game with an open mindset of not thinking that we would lose or win this game. We came in thinking that we can compete with anyone that is on the court. If we work together as a team and listen to our coaches, we know what we are capable of with so much to build off of, but based off of this game, we have already taken so many steps forward.”
