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Canfield rallies to defeat Boardman
By Greg Gulas
BOARDMAN
Trailing Lakeview by a game in the league standings, the Canfield High School girls volleyball team needed a win over Boardman to keep pace.
Trailing 2-1 and pushed to five games for just the second time this season, the Cardinals rallied to defeat the Spartans in five games in Tuesday’s All-American Conference Red Division action at the Spartans’ gymnasium.
The only other time Canfield has trailed 2-1 was on Sept. 3 against Crestwood, also a road match.
With the score knotted 1-1 in the fifth game, the Cardinals’ Jenny Smith reeled off nine straight points en-route to a 15-2 victory.
“At first I was just thinking about how tired I was, but that feeling went away real quick and I was able to focus on just getting the ball over the net with my serves,” Smith said. “Each team had a lot of energy and there was plenty of excitement on both sides throughout the match.
“Tonight, when they were on we were off and vice-versa,” Smith said. “The key was that we were able to get out to a nice lead in the final game and then hold on to it.”
In the opening game, Boardman’s Ashley Clark staked the Spartans (7-4, 3-4) to the early 4-0 lead, increasing that margin to 19-13 on Jessica Mowery’s point.
Three points by Canfield’s Lara Quirk cut the deficit to 20-17, but Boardman held on for a 25-21 victory.
Morgan Cleevely, Smith and Quirk combined to give Canfield (10-1, 6-1) an 11-3 lead in the second game, using eight points by Maddie Johns to build a 19-3 margin and a 25-9 victory.
“We didn’t bond as well as we had hoped in the first game so we struggled,” Johns said. “We played together as a team in the second game and then continued to build our confidence as the sets went on.
“Tonight was a very big win for us.”
The Spartans won the third game, 27-25, coming back from a 16-6 deficit with Haley Blangero notching the final point.
Charlotte Voytko capped a 13-4 run with four points, which allowed Boardman to get back into the game as they pulled to within one at 20-19.
An eight-point service run by Quick turned a 10-10 tie into an 18-10 lead for Canfield in the fourth game, forcing a deciding game with a 25-16 victory.
“Jenny [Smith] came up huge for us in the final game,” Canfield coach Maria Householder said. “You always want to build a lead right off the bat, which allows for some breathing room and a chance to build your confidence.”
Spartans coach Danielle Siembida said it was a matter of momentum.
“The second and fifth games were carbon copies,” Siembida said. “We couldn’t side out and they had all of the momentum.
“I tell our team it takes just one play to break momentum and tonight we just couldn’t get that done.”
Smith led the Cardinals with 26 assists and 17 points while Quirk added 17 points, Johns 16 kills, Cleevely 17 digs and Natalie Maras nine blocks.
Kaylin Burkey had 15 kills and 21 digs, and Ashley Cook 23 assists for the Spartans.