By JOE SCALZO

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
itch senior Maggie Case can watch one of the area's best volleyball teams in a pretty familiar place.
Her couch.
"After every practice, I go home and watch film with my dad," said Case, whose father, Tom, is the Falcons' coach. "We go over our mistakes and what we did right.
"Not too many volleyball players do that."
Case, a 5-foot, 10-inch middle hitter, might be the area's best player on what is almost certainly the area's best team.
The Falcons, who have won three straight Division I district titles, return five starters -- including three from their 2001 state tournament team.
"We have a very solid team," said Tom Case. "I know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from me.
"We have a chance to be pretty good."
Coaching career
Case, who has a 268-51 record in 14 years at Fitch, will retire after this season. He started the program 17 years ago -- Joe Matulek coached from 1992-94 -- and has won 10 Steel Valley Conference titles since 1989, and twice made it to the state semifinals (1999 and 2001).
He won seven straight SVC titles from 1995-2001 -- at one point the Falcons had a 63-game regular season winning streak -- before Boardman won the league title last season.
Winning a league title will be even tougher this season now that the Falcons have moved to the Federal League.
"We're real excited about being in the new league," Maggie Case, who started on the 2001 team, said. "We want to show people we can compete. Personally, I'm looking to win it."
Area standout
Maggie has received looks from several Division I colleges -- Big Ten-power Penn State even asked her to walk on -- and has learned from her father and her sister, Ashlie, a former Fitch valedictorian who holds the University of Akron's single-game record for digs (33).
"It's been awesome," Maggie said of playing with her father. "It comes with pros and cons, but I wouldn't have changed anything. My sister and I got more attention and I think we worked harder so people wouldn't think we were playing just because we're the coach's daughters."
But Maggie also travels extensively with club teams in the offseason, exposing her to different coaches and elite players.
"I've learned so much," she said. "When you go to camps, you work on perfecting on the little things. And when you play with the best players, that just brings your game to a higher level."
Solid team
Three-year starters Rachel Terzak (5-8, senior) and Stacie Mang (5-4, senior) will complement Case, along with returning starters Jenn Drabison (5-8, senior) and Jessica Evans (5-71/2, junior).
Senior Allison Kenney and sophomores Rachel Ducay and Antaya James will also see time.
"I can't wait -- I've been looking forward to this year since I started high school," Terzak said. "We still have a lot of communication problems and our defense will be key, but we're picking up a little bit each day."
Terzak also brings an emotional element to the team -- "I've learned to tone it down," she said with a smile -- and thinks this one could be as good -- or better -- than the 2001 team.
"The 2001 team was different because I didn't know a lot of the girls," Terzak said. "These are the girls I grew up playing with and I think we're all on the same page.
"With the talent we have, we could go far."
scalzo@vindy.com