Rested Falcons sweep Tigers
By Greg Gulas
AUSTINTOWN
Six days after losing to Poland in five games, the Fitch High School volleyball team showed what rest can do.
Tuesday against undefeated Howland, the Falcons swept the Tigers by scores of 25-17, 25-10 and 25-19 in the All-American Conference Red Tier opener.
“A sweep tonight against Howland doesn’t surprise us because we had six days to prepare for our league opener,” Fitch coach Steve Mohr said. “We changed up our serve-receive and it worked perfectly.
“Our game-plan was to feed off of Sarah [Obradovich] and let her swing away so it would open up the right side,” Mohr said. “I was very pleased with our effort.”
Mohr said the Falcons had one night to celebrate before beginning preparations to play at Lakeview on Thursday.
“This tier is a challenge, especially with Boardman coming into the league so we have to play our best each and every night if we expect to win,” Mohr said.
Obradovich, who had 18 kills, eight aces and seven digs, said the key was being able to answer the Tigers’ runs and not falling too far behind.
“We were able to work for the most part with a lead,” Obradovich said. “The important thing was that we worked together.”
Trailing 15-14 in the opening game, Fitch’s Keara Katcher reeled off five service points for a 19-14 advantage. Obradovich added four game ending points.
The Falcons (1-1, 1-0) built a 17-6 margin in the second game as Kat Lewis registered six points. Katcher added the final two points.
Lewis, who posted 10 assists and five digs, said it was important to bounce back from that opening loss.
Five points by Obradovich and four by Marissa Marks staked the Falcons to a 16-6 lead in the final game.
Andrea Fitzgerald played well defensively and registered both a kill and ace.
“The teams on our schedule aren’t easy so we must improve to compete,” Fitzgerald said. “We did that tonight from the first game and that’s just a good feeling.”
Howland coach Amanda Lingenfelter felt as if her troops could have played better.
“We need to cut out unforced errors because those are rally killers,” Lingenfelter said. “The upside is that you learn the most from a loss and we will address that as we now prepare for Boardman on Thursday night,” Lingenfelter said.
For the Tigers, Cassie Murcko had 10 kills and six points. Alexis Miner posted 18 assists and Christian Carr made four digs.