Wednesday, September 24, 2014
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Canfield’s Janie Rafoth (1) attempts to block a spike made by Hubbard’s Macey Sarisky during Tuesday’s match in Hubbard.
By Steve Wilaj
HUBBARD
Tuesday’s trip to Hubbard High School gave the Canfield volleyball plenty to focus on.
First, it was a showdown with the a top league rival.
Second, the Cardinals seniors had never won a match at Hubbard.
Third, after receiving a tough test from the Eagles earlier in the season, the Cardinals knew they were in for a battle with the Eagles seeking revenge.
Still, Canfield snapped its Hubbard jinx, winning by scores of 25-23, 25-7, 23-25 and 25-19.
Cardinals coach Maria Houselholder admitted it was a matchup she was “worried about.”
Senior Darby Heopla said the Cards were motivated.
“We’ve been preparing for this,” Hepola said. “This was the big game that we definitely wanted to win.”
Their preparations paid off.
“They’re one of our biggest rivals, so it feels so good coming out and beating them with this pretty young team,” Hepola said. “To come and beat them at their home gym for the first time in the four years I’ve been here, it’s a good feeling.”
Householder noticed a determined squad from the get-go.
“They came in here and said they were gonna win,” Householder said. “We knew it was going to be a tough one and probably our toughest match of the season so far. But the girls just played amazing.”
Canfield (15-1, 8-0 All-American Conference Red) definitely played its best in the second game, as it jumped out to a 17-2 lead.
But it was adjustments made midway through the first with Hubbard leading 19-14 that really propelled the Cardinals.
“We changed the rotation a little bit,” Householder said. “We knew we had to shut down [Macey Sarisky]. She’s a great line hitter, so we put a better blocker up against her.
“And then we’re a good rally-back team — that’s the one thing we pride ourselves in. Even if we’re down five, six, seven points, we never quit.”
Hubbard (10-5, 6-2) did some rallying of its own, winning game three behind a strong performance by Sarisky, who led the Eagles with 15 kills.
However, the Eagles couldn’t carry that momentum into the fourth game.
“That’s a really good team and you have to almost play a perfect game when you play against them,” Eagles coach Jeremy Porter said. “We did that a little bit in that third game and we did it most of the first game, but we couldn’t pull it out.”
Emily Krinos paced Hubbard with six points and 30 assists, while Caitlin O’Hara notched four blocks and Kiana Martinez had 31 digs.
Hepola led the way for the Cardinals with 17 points, 12 kills and seven blocks. Morgan Leonard also had 17 kills, Maddy Johns recorded eight blocks and Janie Rafoth tallied 44 assists and 32 digs.
“We just came together in that first game,” Hepola said. “We realized we had to think about what we were doing instead of just going out there — smarter plays, figuring out the tips and just how to play a really good team.
“We adjusted well.”