Springfield rallies against rival, clinching another ICL title

South Range put up a strong fight against the Tigers.
& lt;a href=mailto:scalzo@vindy.com & gt;By JOE SCALZO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NORTH LIMA -- The players were hugging, the loudspeakers were blaring Ohio State fight songs and Bill Knight was just smiling and shaking his head.
"This is a crazy game," the Springfield High girls volleyball coach said. "I've been in it for 17-18 years and I still don't understand."
Tuesday's win over South Range didn't make much sense, but Knight wasn't complaining. The visiting Tigers beat their rivals 15-4, 4-15, 15-3 to win their second straight Inter-County League title.
"This game is special," Springfield senior Carrie Davis said. "It's an awesome feeling."
Springfield, which carried a 13-game winning streak into the match, cruised in the first game and seemed poised to repeat their earlier two-set win over the Raiders.
Then the Tigers stopped passing, the Raiders started and South Range was cruising.
Strong finish
"We haven't played in many three-game matches," Davis said. "But [senior teammate] Lindsay Johnson came over to me after the second game and said, 'You know, we don't always have to win it two games. We can win it in three.'
"So we just went out and treated it as game one."
Springfield (19-2, 11-0 ICL) scored the final 12 points in the third game to close it out. Davis collected eight points, three aces, 10 kills and two blocks in the match for the Tigers, who played six three-year starters -- all seniors.
"All the girls on the team are like sisters," Davis said. "We're all best friends and the camaraderie is incredible."
Christy Warren added 11 points, one ace and two kills, Johnson had 13 kills and Meghan Louttit had six points and 23 assists for Springfield, which opens tournament play Oct. 15 against either East Palestine or Campbell Memorial in the Division III sectional tournament at Salem.
"Who knows what will happen," said Knight, whose team is the tournament's top seed. "Our goal is to get out of Salem, but anything can happen on any given night."
Solid showing
Jodi James had two points (both aces), eight digs, 11 kills and five blocks for the Raiders (13-6, 9-2), who are seeded third in the tournament and will play the Streetsboro-Mineral Ridge winner Oct. 16.
Jessica Toth had three points, seven digs and three kills and Kelly Skrinyer added six points, 12 assists, four digs and four kills.
South Range coach T.J. Irons said his team didn't play its best, but had nothing but praise for the Tigers.
"They outplayed us, period -- they're awful good," Irons said. "It's hard in a rivalry game to handle the emotion. It was senior night and we have six seniors and we didn't handle that emotion well.
"But I didn't question the effort. I'm happy with the season. If we play well in the tournament, maybe we'll see them again."
& lt;a href=mailto:scalzok@vindy.com & gt;scalzo@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;