Fallsnewspress.com - Falls volleyball survives marathon with Mayfield

by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

It may have taken a little longer than the local fans would have liked, but the end result couldn't be sweeter.

The host Cuyahoga Falls volleyball team earned a hard-fought 25-22, 25-15, 20-25, 18-25, 15-10 victory over Northeast Ohio Conference Lake Division rival Mayfield Aug. 28.

Mayfield, which shared the Lake Division title with Hudson last year, looked dead in the water until the Lady Wildcats made an impressive comeback.

In the end, the Lady Black Tigers (1-0, 1-0) had a key weapon who Mayfield couldn't stop.

Her name is Kelsey Beatty.

The standout outside hitter dominated the deciding fifth set and finished with a match-high 20 kills.

"Kelsey had a great game," Falls head coach Scott Nickol said. "After the first two games, Mayfield kind of camped out on her. I told [setter] Christina Vineyard to re-establish our middle hitters. That opened things up for the outside. Kelsey took over in the fifth game."

Mayfield (0-1, 0-1) was led by Amy Kole, who finished with 15 kills. Although the Lady Wildcats may not be as strong as they were a year ago, they still have plenty of talent on the roster.

"We made a couple of substitutions in the third game and got off to a slow start," Nickol said. "Mayfield played very well in the fourth game and then we played great in the fifth game."

Nickol knew his team needed to make some adjustments after Mayfield forced the contest to a fifth set.

"We served very tough and we played very good defense," Nickol said. "Our offense got a little stagnant and predictable in the third and fourth games. We changed some things in the fifth game and we addressed them recently in practice."

Junior Sophie Moskowitz get many rallies alive with 28 digs and senior Ashley Lawrence contributed three blocks. Vineyard had 42 assists and Marita Magyar had 17 service points and four aces.

"It was a nice win for the program," Nickol said. "Our middles hit better than .600, which was absolutely fantastic."

Falls was scheduled to visit NOC rival Garfield Heights Sept. 2. Results were not available at press time.

The Lady Black Tigers are set to host NOC foe Strongsville Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m. before heading to Mayfield for an NOC showdown Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m.

"Strongsville is going to be a handful for anyone," Nickol said.

Falls is set to host a three-team competition Sept. 11. Play is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Others teams expected to play are Woodridge and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.

E-mail: faceto@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3914