NORTH ROYALTON (Sept. 19, 2022) -- With some daring Buccaneer thievery on the road, the Pirates stole a 3-0 (25-22,25-20,26-24) conquest at North Royalton Monday night.
Rocky River played exceptional defense in a match that saw all three games decided by 5 points or less. The Maroon & White registered 67 digs against just 21 errors. Six blocks also loomed large on a night the Pirates filed a .107 hitting percentage.
Maggie Pfahl had 15 digs to lead a crew of four Raiders logging double digits in that department.
"Our defense really came through," said coach Brittany Morris, whose River squad bounced back from a hard-fought 3-2 defeat at Westlake on Thursday. "The girls made adjustments and picked up a lot of tough balls."
Pfahl logged her 15 digs against just four errors and added three service aces for good measure. Samantha Young added 14 digs and was Rocky River's top threat at the net with 13 kills. Ella Brokaw added seven kills and three blocks.
Ella Duffy filed 11 assists and 10 digs, while Kylie Spies added 10 assists and 11 digs.
Rocky River (6-1) is scheduled to host Great Lakes Conference West Division matches against Elyria Catholic Tuesday and North Olmsted Thursday.
CANNON FIRE ...
MILESTONE KILL: On Thursday at Westlake, Samantha Young registered her 700th career kill among the 22 she recorded at Westlake. The River junior has 15-plus kills in five matches this season, and she went into Monday contest hitting a career-high .375. Young registered 221 kills as a freshman and 358 last fall as a sophomore. With her 13 kills Monday at North Royalton, she has 135 this season (career 714).
PLAYING WITH BLOCKS: Rocky River got six blocks Monday against the Bears. The Pirates went into the road tilt averaging 1.8 blocks per set. That marks River's best would-be season average since 2016-17, when the Double-R averaged 1.9 blocks per set. Heading into Monday, the team's 2022 leaders in total blocks were Ella Brokaw (21), Sophia Goldberg (12), and Madie Shoaf (11).
by Skip Snow
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