Wednesday, August 27, 2014
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Hubbard’s Caitlin O’Hara (12) slams a shot into the head of Girard’s Mackenzie Olesky (17) during their match Tuesday at Girard High School. The Eagles shut out the Indians, 3-0.
By Ryan Buck
GIRARD
Thanks to a three-sets-to-zero road victory Tuesday over rival Girard, the Hubbard High School volleyball team sent a powerful message to the rest of the All-American Conference.
These Eagles are ready to soar.
Hubbard (3-0), led by five seniors in the starting lineup, broke open a tight first set with help from 10 Indians miscues, then dominated the second set before escaping the third set for a straight-set win.
“Our conference this year is really tough,” third-year Hubbard coach Jeremy Porter said. “Anyone in our conference can win on any night. Anytime you can get a conference win on the road is a plus.”
In set one, Eagles senior Macey Sarisky’s emphatic spike from the middle of her own side of the net built the Hubbard lead to 18-13.
Three unforced errors from Girard in the next five points broke the set open and Hubbard had a critical 25-14 opening set win.
“We struggled,” said Girard coach Phil Walters, who is in his 15th season with the Indians. “I think that’s because it’s Hubbard. It’s always a tough game and I think the girls might over-think it too much instead of just going out and playing their style.
“We made a lot of silly errors and — Hubbard — they were the reason for that,” Walters said. “They played very aggressive defense.
“It’s the best defense I’ve seen so far this year. It’s early, but they didn’t let many balls touch the floor.”
Hubbard led by as many as 10 points in the second set and cruised to another 25-14 set win. The Eagles — with Sarisky’s athleticism, an imposing front court and Emily Krinas’ distribution (a match-high 23 assists) — were overpowering.
They finally saw adversity in the third set.
Hubbard watched Girard methodically erase an early five-point lead before the Indians took their first lead in a significant part of the match.
Porter immediately called timeout, where he called on his seniors (Sarisky, Michelle Peachock, Kiana Martinez, Effie Starheim and Caitlin O’Hara), who were all on the court.
“It’s great with five seniors because we love each other and we work so hard together,” said Sarisky, an aspiring chemical engineer and reigning All-AAC selection. “We all get along well so it’s easy to stand together and pull through.”
Like veterans, they responded.
Seamless ball movement set up Peachock for a finishing spike and a 19-18 lead. With a 22-20 lead, sophomore Annie Zagorec’s critical point gave them an insurmountable lead from which Girard could not recover.
On match point, O’Hara punctuated the evening with a cross-court slam that clipped the sideline for a 25-21 third set win.
Girard standout Taylor Bell paced the Indians with 10 kills while Melanie Bakes and Lexi Crown had 11 and 10 assists, respectively.