Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms Sheffield’s Emily Foster goes up to spike a ball during Thursday’s volleyball match against Elk County Catholic.

Coming off a dominating win over Forest Area a week ago, a well-rested Wolverines team fell in three sets during a hard-fought match Thursday night to Elk County Catholic (12-25, 16-25, 12-25).

“I thought that our girls were battling the whole time,” said Sheffield Head Coach Melissa Lemay. “I don’t think that they quit. I think that we shocked Elk County after they rolled over Kane. I think they probably thought they were going to roll over Sheffield, too. And they gave them a match. That’s what I asked them to do. Play your best, everytime, every ball, all out.”

The Wolverines were able to pull even in each match with the Crusaders, but Elk County’s consistent strong play meant that Sheffield had no room for errors.

“Elk County is always very strong,” said Lemay. “They’re hard hitters. When they hit the ball hard and we don’t pass well, then we give them free balls and they just continue to run their offense. For us, we need to continue to pass well and run our offense. We need to be able to give it to them.”

Kassidy Orinko had eight kills, three blocks, and 13 digs. Emily Foster added six digs and four blocks, while Kadence Steffan was solid with 12 assists and 12 digs. Peyton Wotorson had nine digs and Lexi Goldthwaite had three aces.

“We’re still playing with our defense, and who is going to play in the back row,” said Lemay. “I’m still trying to figure out who works best together in the back row. Sometimes we take people out to try something else, who might work better with the group that’s out there.”

Sheffield falls to 2-3 on the year and will travel to Allegheny-Clarion Valley on Saturday morning.