Tigers fall in first regional tourney

By Tom Williams

Defending state volleyball semifinalist Gilmour Academy won in straight sets.

BARBERTON — In the first regional appearance for their high school volleyball team, Springfield’s seniors noticed the noisy atmosphere that awaited them Thursday at Barberton High.

“Our fans were behind us 100 percent,” Rachael Kennedy said. “Having a student section like we did tonight was absolutely amazing for such a small school.”

Morgan Fagnano said making the trip was “amazing because it’s never happened for Springfield. It was such a great feeling.”

Facing defending state semifinalist Gilmour Academy, the Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 lead with the help of Ashley Davis’ first three serving points.

But the experienced Lancers quickly took charge behind the power hits of Raysa Sylvester and Madison Mawby, winning the match in three games by scores of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-16.

“They were a good team, They brought it to us,” Fagnano said. “We were just not on our game tonight. I think it was a little bit of nerves.”

Kennedy said the Tigers “definitely knew what we were up against. We knew we were going to have to play our best game.

“But they are great team and you really don’t see many teams better,” Kennedy said.

The Tigers (22-4) were pleased they were able to help 21-year coach Bill Knight qualify for his first regional.

“What an experience,” said Knight, who has 314 wins. “It’s been a great year for these girls and myself.”

Kennedy said, “We were excited that we could share so many great experiences with him this year, not only [his 300th win] but also our first [Inter Tri-County League Tier One] championship.”

Knight said mistakes “hurt us and Gilmour takes advantage of your mistakes.”

Sylvester scored 10 points including eight aces in the first two games.

“She’s an awesome player — wow,” said Kennedy who made nine kills. “It’s great to see an athlete like that in high school. She does work very hard — she was everywhere.”

Knight said the goal was keep serves away from Sylvester and Mawby.

“That’s their bread and butter,” Knight said. “We did a pretty good job of keeping serves from them.”

Gilmour coach Jeff Grzybowski said, “Raysa was on fire with her topspin [serves].

“Mawby was hitting the floater [serve], then she hits the topspin as the defense is moving back on the floor. All of the sudden it’s dying in front of them,” he said.

After falling behind 5-0 as Sylvester served to open the second game, the Tigers regrouped for a 20-20 tie, with Fagnano serving six of her eight total points in that run.

But the Tigers couldn’t grab the lead, falling by two points.

Five points by Mawby and six by Jessica Hammer helped the Lancers cruise to a 22-11 lead in the final match.

Acknowledging the Lancers’ third-straight regional appearance, Knight said, “Experience helps, but I don’t think our girls backed down.

“We knew they served the ball very, very hard so we worked on that,” Knight said. “Eventually, that’s what hurt us. If you can’t receive the serve, you’re not going to win. That’s what happened.”

Pressed to pick whether his 2001 team that was 22-2 but didn’t win district was his best, Knight said, “This team made the regional so I’d have to say this one was my best. And this is a young team. Hopefully we can make it back here next year.”

Davis, a junior, made six kills while sophomore Larissa Santangelo made four kills and four blocks. Juniors Kallie Rogers and Andria Lyons made 19 and 12 assists, respectively.

“We’ve worked very hard to get to reach this goal,” Kennedy said. “It’s just amazing — as seniors we could not ask for much more.”

williams@vindy.com