ELYRIA, Ohio (Oct. 6, 2022) -- It wasn't necessarily smooth sailing the whole match, but the Pirates did manage to reach their port of call and claim a Great Lakes Conference West Division road victory, as Rocky River downed Elyria Catholic 3-1 (16-25,25-15,25-9,25-12) Thursday. With the win, River clinched the flag as West Division champs; the Pirates will meet the Holy Name Green Wave in a GLC Championship match Oct. 13.
"Our defense was not great early," said coach Brittany Morris, whose Pirates closed out GLC West play with an 8-2 mark. "But we showed some depth and determination as the night moved forward."
The Rocky River (13-4, 8-2 GLC West) defense was tagged with 14 dig errors in the opening game. Up front, River hit .153 and the Maroon & White lost by 9 (25-16).
Maggie Pfahl and Kylie Spies combined to register 12 digs against just one error in the second set, and the defense became a part of a River rally to an eventual win. Six players logged kills in that second game, and River hit .256 en route to a 25-15 win.
The Pirates hit .400 in the third and .314 in the fourth, and they emerged victorious by taking three straight games. Rocky River hit .272 for the match.
Samantha Young swatted her way to a .437 mark and logged 25 kills. Young -- fresh off a program-record 36 kills on Tuesday (vs. Westlake) -- has now registered 25-or-more kills six times in her career. On Thursday, she also led the Pirates in digs, with 26.
Five players had five kills or more in the match. Ella Brokaw had 10 while hitting .346. Sophia Goldberg clocked a career-high five kills while hitting .400.
The River hitters were set for success on the passing work of Spies (25 assists) and Ella Duffy (20). Duffy (five aces) and Spies (three) also combined to produce all of Rocky River's eight aces. Pfahl finished the match with 18 digs against five errors.
River, Westlake, and Bay entered the evening tied at 7-2 in circuit play. The Pirates hold the edge in a tiebreaker that includes head-to-head records and set scores in those match-ups.
"I'm proud of this group," said Morris, "and I'm excited to see what it can do against Holy Name next week."
CANNON FIRE ...
ON DECK: Rocky River will play three non-conference matches before next Thursday's title bout against Holy Name. That stretch opens with the Pirates hosting Berea-Midpark and Vermilion in a tri-match on Saturday.
SLAMMIN' SAMMY: Samantha Young's final kill Thursday marked her 300th of the season. The junior standout has now reached that milestone in back-to-back years: she had 358 kills in 2021. (The program record -- set by Maureen Kessler in 2008 -- is 380.) On the same night, Young collected her 200th dig on the season. ... Young is now within 50 kills of Rocky River's career record which is held by Ava Rauser, who banged out 928 kills from 2015-18. Young has 879 kills heading into Saturday.
by Skip Snow
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