Canfield volleyball team sweeps Fitch in regular-season finale

October 10, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

By RyAN BUCK

CANFIELD

As they had done 20 straight times since their season opener, the Canfield girls volleyball team won to close out the regular season.

The Cardinals (21-1, 12-0 All-American Conference Red Division) soundly defeated Austintown Fitch three games-to-none, 25-13, 25-13, 25-6, on Thursday in Canfield’s James W. Watkins Gymnasium.

Cardinals middle hitter Darby Hepola was one of four celebrating Senior Night and the best regular season in school history.

“It felt really whole, like a good way to end it,” said Hepola, who had eight kills and tormented Fitch with her aerial feats at the net for most of the evening. “The entire time I was just always happy and I was never worried. I’ve never felt so good to play with my team.

“It’s the sisterhood that we have that’s incredible and we really felt it out there tonight.”

Canfield coach Maria Householder wanted to soak in the atmosphere and enjoy one more game on the Cardinals’ home floor. Her team will be at Stow-Munroe Falls High for next week’s Division I sectional-district tournament.

“It was so fun to just sit and watch those girls play,” Householder said. “They have found their stride. They’ve been playing well all season, but the last three-to-four matches, it’s just been a well-oiled machine. They just go and they adjust and they work.

“’It’s just smooth,’ I told them tonight.”

After a convincing win in Game 1, the Cardinals scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a 17-8 lead. Sophomore Maddie Johns broke a 7-7 deadlock with an emphatic kill. Two points later, Johns — thanks in part to the consistent pass game facilitated by twin seniors Janie and Rachel Rafoth — came through again.

Junior Morgan Leonard’s acrobatics brought the score to 15-8 before Hepola followed suit on the next sequence.

At 18-9, Leonard had another kill. Hepola charged the net for another well-timed sideout for a 21-12 lead.

Fitch coach Steve Mohr lauded Canfield’s consistency and teamwork, forged with year-round training that’s peaking at the right time.

“They have that cohesiveness that they all know what they’re going to do,” Mohr said. “That’s what makes them good is that they can do anything. They function as one unit.”

Canfield minimized Fitch standout Sarah Obradovich’s impact early.

“We couldn’t pass to get Sarah involved in the offense and that was her downfall,” Mohr said. “She had one good hit to open the game that got blocked and as a hitter, that kind of gets in your head. We just never got a chance to get her started.”

In Game 3, Canfield raced out to a 7-0 lead and cruised with precision back-to-front movement and the advantage Johns and the middle hitters had at the net against Fitch (9-13, 4-8).

Obradovich had 11 kills while Katarina Lewis led Fitch with seven assists. Alex Conners had seven digs.

Janie Rafoth had 34 assists and Rachel Rafoth had 21 digs for Canfield. Fellow senior Krista Kollat had 12 points.