Newton Falls volleyball team stays perfect

October 7, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

Kline’s net play, Wainwright’s setting help Newton Falls continue its perfect season

LIBERTY

On Tuesday, the Liberty High School girls volleyball team did something no other team this season has been able to accomplish against the Newton Falls Tigers.

The Leopards won the very first game of the match.

But Liberty found it tough to maintain the momentum, however, as the Tigers rallied for a 3-1 victory to remain undefeated and atop the All-American Conference’s Blue Tier.

Gabby Kline had 18 points, 20 kills and seven blocks and Kate Wainwright added 51 assists to pace the Tigers.

With the win the Tigers (18-0, 8-0) also remained one of just a handful of teams statewide without a blemish on their record.

“We started off slow tonight and after that first game, I just told our players that the game is over so we need to start all over as well. Liberty is an excellent team and they really pushed us, something we needed as the season winds down with tournament play around the corner,” Newton Falls head coach Kristina Baker said.

“Gabby was strong at the net tonight while Kate was solid defensively. She does anything that she can in order to get our hitters the ball.”

The Leopards (11-5, 5-3) raced to a 10-3 lead, then held on to notch the final two points of the contest as they won the opening game, 27-25.

The loss was only the fourth in 58 games this season for the Tigers.

“After that first game, coach [Baker] told us that we needed to play together if we expected good things to happen,” Wainwright said. “In the second game, we got a couple of good passes, ran our offense and were able to get the momentum back.”

The Tigers took a 13-8 lead in the second game on Heidi Hauck’s three service points and increased the lead to 21-13 on six points by Olivia Hedge as they evened the match at a game apiece with a 25-16 victory.

“A match like this can only help us get ready for tournament play,” Kline said. “We weren’t really focused at the outset, but after that first game we refocused, regrouped and then got our heads together.”

Newton Falls opened a 16-11 advantage in the third game on a point by Wainwright and used Hedge’s final four points of the game for a 25-17 victory to go up 2-1 in the match.

Five points by Hedge in the final game propelled the Tigers to an 11-7 lead, only to have the Leopards pull to within 19-18 on Allie Adler’s two service points.

They won the final game by a 25-12 count.

“This was a great game between two fundamentally sound teams. We’ve grown as a team since our opening practice; more so than any team that I have ever coached,” Liberty head mentor Josh Howard said. “There’s a lot of fight with these girls as they’re a very competitive group. You need that as you look toward the tournament. We were fired-up and played really well that first game. We just need to sustain that emotion the rest of the match.”

Hedge finished with 26 points for the Tigers while Kayla Barreca had 20 kills and Hauck three aces.

Isabelle Kline also had four blocks while Autumn Hutson had 32 digs and Hauck another 13 digs for the Tigers.

Adler registered 21 points, 16 kills, 18 digs and a game-high four aces to pace the Leopards.

Also for Liberty, Amy Mikulich added 10 kills, Raven Watson 16 digs and Maleah Schiavone nine blocks.