SVC VOLLEYBALL Fitch scores another league crown

Boardman won the second game but fell apart in the third.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- The Austintown Fitch High volleyball team is accustomed to winning Steel Valley Conference championships.
The Falcons (13-3, 7-0 SVC) won its 12th conference title in 13 seasons with a 15-9, 10-15, 15-2 defeat of visiting Boardman on Thursday.
"One of our goals every year is to win the league," Fitch coach Tom Case said. "We take a lot of pride in earning this championship and now we will move on to the rest of our season."
The only year the Falcons did not win the SVC title was 1994 and they have not lost a conference match since then.
The Spartans (17-3, 4-2) played well, though, despite losing the first game and trailing 7-0 in the second.
Boardman went on 8-0 run to go ahead, and the Spartans and finally ended their winless drought.
"That was a great effort by our team," Boardman coach Ron Slipkansky said. "We want to achieve the level of play that Fitch plays with and we took another step toward that with the win in game two."
Rebound: The Falcons, however, responded with a championship-level effort.
"We're used to playing at a high level and Boardman refused to let us in that game," Case said. "Our girls came out in the third game and because of our experience in playing in three-set matches, we were able to play strong."
Slipkansky said Fitch wore his team down in the third game.
"We've only played three sets four times this year," Slipkansky said. "Fitch is used to these types of games and it showed."
Austintown scored the first 12 points of the final game to put away the Spartans.
Case said that great passing in games one and three and overall teamwork were the keys to winning.
The Falcons were led by sophomore Maggie Case, who had 14 points, 15 kills, 13 digs and four blocks.
Teammate Katie McDermott added eight points, nine kills and 13 digs, while Ashlee Lemke had seven points, nine kills and 21 digs.
The Spartans' Mara Capraruolo led her team with seven points, 10 kills and four blocks.
Jen Feret posted nine kills while Lauren Craig had six kills and six blocks.