Youngsville's girls volleyball team showed exactly how well it can play in a sweep over cross-county rival Sheffield Tuesday at Sheffield High School.
The Eagles (2-5) won by scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-2. That's not a typo. Youngsville held Sheffield (0-9) to just two points in the final game, one of those points coming on a service error. Arielle Clark served the final 20 points of the game. Clark finished with 30 service points on the night.
"I'm always nervous when we play against Sheffield because it's always a brawl," said Youngsville coach Terry Schrader. "Tonight, we played focused and we played composed."
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Times Observer photo by Brian Hagberg
Pounding the rock
Youngsville’s Kennedy Cratty spikes the ball over the outstretched hands of Sheffield’s Erica Boutelle during their girls volleyball match Tuesday at Sheffield High School. The Eagles swept the Wolverines 3-0.
Youngsville jumped out to a 10-4 lead in game one. Sheffield was able to get back to within one at 11-10, but the Eagles were able to go on a 4-1 run to push the lead to 15-11. The Wolverines again tried to comeback, pulling to 17-14, but the Eagles were able to pull away for the 25-17 win.
The Wolverines took an early 4-1 advantage in game two, but the Eagles went on a 10-2 run to go up 11-6. Sheffield tried to pull even, getting to within three several times, but Youngsville was able to pull away to take a 20-13 lead. The Wolverines went on a 5-0 run to make it 20-18, but the Eagles answered with a 5-0 run of their own to win 25-18.
"Mentally, we're just not putting it together," said Sheffield coach Scott Olson. "I'm not taking away from Youngsville, they played well tonight, but it's been frustrating because (the girls) know they're talented. We just can't seem to put it all together."
Olson added that his team hasn't been able to find its identity yet this season.
"The first two games we gave up runs that put us in a hole, and we're struggling to get out of holes," Olson said. "We're lacking that identity, knowing what it is that we do well and trying to figure out who or what we go to when we're in a bad spot."
Youngsville dominated play in game three. The Eagles took the first three points before a service error gave the ball to the Wolverines. The teams traded points with Youngsville getting the serve leading 5-2. Clark then stepped to the line and didn't give up the serve for the remainder of the game as the Eagles won 25-2 to complete the sweep.
"We played very well tonight," Schrader said."Everyone did their job, we made good passes and ran the offense."
Savanna Schoedel lead the Eagles with 11 kills and three blocks. In addition to her 30 service points, Clark had 16 digs and seven kills. Amber Fox chipped in with 19 assists.
Brandy Rockwell had six kills and four digs on 16 hits for the Wolverines. Juli Ely had two blocks and two kills, Anna Baldensperger and Kayla Curtis both had two kills. Hannah Vile added ten assists, four digs and an ace and Paige Moldovan had two aces and four digs. Justine Barr chipped in with 16 digs.
"Brandy had a strong game hitting," Olson said. "Barr played very well defensively, as did Moldovan who also served well. Vile passed the ball well and gave our hitters chances."
Schrader said that the "real test" for his team will come Thursday when the Eagles look to avenge an early season loss as they play host to Eisenhower.
Youngsville won the JV game, 21-25, 26-24 and 15-3. Piper Olson had seven kills in the win.
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Franklin 3, Warren 0
FRANKLIN -Warren is coming into its own, and came close to upsetting Franklin Tuesday.
"Those first two games were both back and forth and we hung tough toward the end," said Warren coach Mike Dolan, whose Dragons lost, 23-25, 30-32 and 19-25. "(We have) come a long way already. They're definitely playing way better than in August."
Dolan said if the Dragons win one of those first two games, the momentum shifts significantly.
Brittni Merenick had nine kills and Rachel Lasecki and Valerie Latimer seven each. Rachel Hasselman had 10 aces, and helped Warren get back into the second game, which was 62 total points.
Franklin improves to 5-1 in Region 4 and Warren is 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the region.
Warren's junior varsity team lost in two games.
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WCCS 3, Jamestown Bethel 0
JAMESTOWN, N.Y. - Warren County Christian School improved to 9-1 overall with a 25-6, 25-18, 25-11 win on the road.
Allyssa Kerr had 27 service points and 12 aces in the sweep, Dymphee Zortman eight and five, respectively, and Kaitlin Weidner nine kills. Caitlin McCall added 10 digs for WCCS, which hosts Erie First Christian on Friday.
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Titusville 3, Eisenhower 0
Eisenhower had a bit of a run in the second game, but couldn't grab a game from unbeaten in Region 4 Titusville, losing 15-25, 22-25, 16-25.
"It's game of runs and we got on a bit of a roll there, got the momentum," said Eisenhower coach Tom Firth. "Then they picked it back up. They are a very good team, and we made mistakes, obviously."
Marion Sherer had nine service points in the loss, Lexi Dalrymple four digs and three kills, and Alyssa Peterson three digs and five kills.
Ike's J.V. team fell, 15-25, 21-25.