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East Palestine gets best of M. Ridge in rematch
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Mineral Ridge’s Alyssa Harkins (21) tries to get a shot past East Palestine’s Logan Gatchel, left, and Kae Huff during Tuesday’s volleyball match at Mineral Ridge.
By BRANDON JUDEH
MINERAL RIDGE
It’s always a tall task to win a match on an opponent’s home court on Senior Night, but East Palestine did so by sweeping Mineral Ridge 3-0 in an Inter Tri-County League volleyball match Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (15-4) won by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-9.
East Palestine coach Denise Pickett gave credit to the play by her seniors, especially Ashley Morris.
“All three of our seniors had a fantastic game and they came ready to play tonight, trying to get ready for the tournament, and they really put it all together tonight,” said Pickett.
Morris led the way for the Bulldogs with 22 kills, seven digs and nine blocks, while her teammate Megan Brown added 19 assists.
Morris said the key to the Bulldogs’ victory was hard work and good communication between her teammates.
“We communicated very well out there and it felt good to come in here on their Senior Night and win,” said Morris. “This was definitely a revenge game for us because they beat us the first time around on our home court, so it felt good to return the favor.”
According to Morris, this win will give the Bulldogs plenty of momentum and a lot of confidence going into their first tournament game on Monday night.
The first game of the night was a tightly contested one, as both teams went back and forth exchanging points. With the score tied at 14, the Bulldogs went on an 11-3 run to close out the set 25-17.
The Rams (14-7, 8-5) did make things interesting in the second match. Coach Jennifer Staunton called a time out with her team down 7-1, and the Rams rallied to make the match close, but the Bulldogs were able to hold off a furious comeback.
“We made a lot of unforced errors out there today and we didn’t get many bounces out there,” said Staunton. “We would smash one down and somehow they would get it up, they played very well.
“The biggest thing we need to do before the tournament starts is clean up all of our errors we are making out there.”
Mineral Ridge did get good play out of seniors Lea Whitmer and Allissa Sparks.
Pickett is very confident of the way her team has been playing and feels they have a good chance headed into the tournament.
“We are still learning out there every single day. The girls are getting stronger with each game and tonight they proved that, I am very proud of them.”