Salem advances; Canfield ousted

The unbeaten Quakers will play Field for the Division II district title.

By RYAN JONES

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — In 24 volleyball matches this season, Salem has lost four games.

One of those defeats came in Monday’s Division II district semifinal against Southeast as the Pirates did what only two teams have done before falling to the Quakers (24-0) this year — force them to play game four.

With the 25-19, 22-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory, Salem will meet Field for the district championship Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Boardman High

After taking the first game 25-19, the Quakers made several unforced errors while Southeast (17-8) took control of the game.

Salem coach Don Conser said he didn’t tell his team to settle down after dropping the second game, 25-22. In fact he didn’t have many words for them.

“I do most of my work when were not out here on the court competing,” he said. “This team really doesn’t like to lose. Losing the second game was a wakeup call for them. They knew if it was meant to be, it was up to them.”

The Salem offense was buttressed by the play of sisters Amy and Katie Scullion, who combined for 38 kills.

“We like to spread it around on offense, but it all starts with Amy and Katie,” Conser said. “We like to get them the ball early, and after the defense starts keying on them we go to someone else.”

Katie, a 6-foot senior, recorded eight kills in the third game to lead the Quakers’ attack.

“Katie put down a couple of exclamation points out there tonight,” Conser said.

Amy and Katie Scullion had 19 kills apiece, and combined for seven blocks. Taylor Toothman had 49 assists and three aces, while Sarah Brobeck chipped in eight kills and four blocks for the Quakers.

Conser said Field split with Southeast during the regular season and that his team will need another good effort to advance to regional tournament for the second straight year.

“To make a successful run at the state title you need to play good competition along the way,” he said. “We’ll see how far along we are Wednesday.”

Field 19-25-25-25,
Canfield 25-13-20-14

Canfield coach Ronie Haurin said her team played almost flawlessly in the opening game.

“You always want to get up a game right away, and we did that,” she said. “But we made too many mistakes after that.

“It started with serving errors and passing errors and kind of got away from us,” Haurin said. “But give Field credit, they played a smart game.”

The Cardinals went up 10-0 to start the third game before Field went on a 15-4 run. The Falcons (21-3) went on to take the game 25-20.

“I thought we matched up with them in terms of size,” Haurin said. “We weren’t as aggressive as they were. We sat back some and let them take control of the game. Even though we lost this is the furthest we have advanced in awhile and I’m proud of the kids.”

Kelsey Owen led Canfield (15-10) with 10 kills. Rachel O’Hara had seven points and 16 assists.

Field was led by Traci Vandegrift, who has 12 kills, 12 blocks, 11 digs and three aces.