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Dream season ends for Canfield in regional semi
By Joe Scalzo
Photo
Canfield senior Abby Malsch dives for the ball during the second game of the Division II regional volleyball semifinal against Beaumont on Thursday in Stow. The Cardinals’ season came to an end at the hands of the Blue Streaks, who won 3-0.
stow
It’s hard to say whether Canfield’s best would have been good enough to beat Cleveland Heights Beaumont in Thursday’s Division II regional volleyball semifinal.
Cardinals coach Ronie Haurin wished she could have found out.
“I can’t explain how disheartening it is when you’re so much better than that,” she said after falling in three sets, 25-18, 25-12, 25-15, at Stow High School. “You just want to sit down and cry.”
Canfield (24-2) was coming off arguably its best match of the season, a three-set victory over Salem in the district final, and went toe-to-toe with the Blue Streaks for the first part of all three matches, only to give up big runs down the stretch.
In the first set, the Cardinals led 9-7, then got outscored 13-4 over the next few minutes.
In the second game, they led 9-6. Beaumont finished the game on a 19-3 run.
The third set was tied at 10 and ... well, you get the idea.
“The girls just seemed like they were in shock,” said Haurin, who led Canfield to a Division II state softball title in 2008. “They played flawless against Salem and I don’t know if they were just overconfident tonight.
“We just couldn’t get anything going. We had a couple good attacks but our passing game wasn’t where it needed to be and our whole game was off.”
Setter Ellie Rafoth, one of five seniors in the rotation, had 18 assists for the Cardinals, whose only previous loss this season came against Hubbard. Junior Sabrina Mangapora had 10 kills.
“This is a great group of girls,” said Rafoth, who had two freshmen sisters (Rachel and Janie) and a senior cousin (Alyssa) on the team. “I think we’re the only team in school history to make it this far. It was a great season and even thought we didn’t play our best tonight, I’m really proud of everything we were able to accomplish.”
Lauren Youngblood led Beaumont (16-9) with 12 kills and Molley Davet had nine kills and eight digs. The Blue Streaks advanced to Saturday’s regional final against perennial power Lake Catholic, which beat Beaumont in two of their three meetings this season.
“Our schedule wasn’t real strong this year and these guys [Beaumont] play in the toughest conference in the state,” Haurin said. “They brought it tonight and we just couldn’t stop them.
“I’m sad for the girls because most of them have been playing together for years and had high hopes of getting into the state tournament.”
Instead, Canfield will try to replace seven seniors off the first district championship team in school history. Rafoth believes the team’s success will trickle down to the younger players, who can draw inspiration from watching a district championship team.
That can start with her younger sisters, who helped make this season so special for Ellie.
“They’re the only ones who are honest with me on the court,” she said, smiling. “If I made a mistake, everyone else would say, ‘That’s OK, it was a good shot.’ And they’d be like, ‘That was terrible, you need to pick it up.’
“I loved playing with them.”