South Range captures D3 crown

Staff report

SALEM

Before the season started, South Range’s second-year volleyball coach, Rachell Storm Baker, had her team write down its season goals.

“One of them was to get through districts,” Baker said. “That was our biggest goal, to achieve that.

“Maybe we should have set the bar a little higher.”

Considering their 2011 season, that seemed pretty high. The Raiders had gone 6-16 and lost in the first round of the tournament. But Baker, a 2007 Crestview High graduate, had decided from Day 1 to instill a bulldog mentality into her team, knowing her undersized, inexperienced players weren’t going to win any other way.

“I was trying to create a program where you have to fight for every point,” she said. “No one was going to hand us anything.”

That approach paid off on Wednesday night as the fourth-seeded Raiders completed an unlikely run to the Division III district crown, rolling past second-seeded Springfield 25-23, 25-22, 25-15 at Salem High School.

Ashley Shetter had 12 kills, 13 digs, three aces and 11 points for the Raiders (18-7), who won what Baker believes is the first district title in school history.

“My girls do play consistent,” said Baker, whose team finished third in the Inter Tri-County League’s top tier, behind Jackson-Milton and Springfield. “Sometimes we let the other team make a run but we controlled that really well tonight.

“We learned on Monday [against top-seeded Waterloo] that if you grab that first game, you make it a lot easier on yourself.”

Stevie Taylor added 10 kills, 10 digs and four points, Madison Juillerat had 41 assists, two aces, six digs and 16 points added Jordan Youngs had 14 digs for the Raiders, who will meet either Orrville or Dalton in the regional semifinal on Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. at Barberton High School.