COPLEY, Ohio -- Rocky River defeated St. Martin de Porres, 3-0 (25-5, 25-9, 25-14), in Tuesday evening district tournament action at Copley High School.
The Pirates (13-10) move on in the
district bracket and will now face Woodridge Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Copley.
Eight Pirates recorded kills on a night that saw the Rocky River Swat Team hit .341. Samantha Young had 16 kills while hitting .520. Paige Waite and Madie Shoaf added eight and five kills, respectively. River's attack percentage marked the program's best in a single match since Aug. 29, 2020 (.368 vs. Valley Forge).
Young has banged out 34 kills over River's last six sets. She has averaged a robust 5.4 kills per set since Oct. 7.
In Tuesday's match against the Lions, Rocky River also logged a season best in service aces (19 aces, 6.3 per set) and committed a season-low four dig errors.
Stuffing the stat sheet were Waite (nine aces, three total blocks), Maggie Pfahl (three aces, five digs), Estella Giomini (29 assists), and Taylor Spies (two aces, eight digs).
CANNON FIRE ...
MAKING A BRACKET RACKET: Rocky River failed to earn an OHSAA playoff win in three tries from 2014-16. With Tuesday's win over St. Martin, the Pirates have gone 6-4 in 10 playoff matches since. River squads in 2017 and 2018 won two OHSAA games each.
HITTING STREAK: River went into Tuesday's match hitting .166 on the season, but the Pirates have been clicking with loftier averages of late. The Pirates have now hit .230-or-better in four of their last five matches.
BACK-LINE BRILLIANCE: From Sept. 22-Oct. 5, Rocky River averaged 8.1 dig errors per set while going 2-4 across six matches. In six matches since, the Pirates have averaged just 3.8 dig errors per set. The Double-R is 5-1 over those half-dozen contests. Against St. Martin, River had 33 digs against four errors, with the four miscues being the program's fewest in a match since Sept. 24, 2020 (four vs. Valley Forge). ... Taylor Spies has registered 23 errorless digs over the Pirates' last two matches; she has 218 digs on the season. Maggie Pfahl has logged 56 digs against just four errors over her last 13 sets. Pfahl leads the squad in digs, with 245.
by Skip Snow