NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (Sept. 28, 2023) -- The Pirates won their fourth consecutive match and remained unbeaten in five-set affairs, as they defeated the North Olmsted Eagles 3-2 in Thursday evening Great Lakes Conference West Division action. Rocky River setters were on their game in conducting a Pirate attack that posted a .183 hitting percentage for the match while coming up with key runs and points throughout. The visiting Maroon & White prevailed 25-20, 18-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-7 in the marathon contest.
Junior setter Ella Duffy registered 23 assists and 15 digs. Sophomore setter Kylie Spies clocked 28 assists, two aces, and eight digs in a match that saw the Pirates (12-4, 4-2) rally from a 2-1 deficit after three games. Duffy and Spies were instrumental in setting up hitters Ella Brokaw and Katelyn Heavey in River's key, come-back equalizer in the fourth set. Brokaw and Heavey combined for nine kills in the fourth.
The Pirates hit .387 in the fourth and an errorless .500 in the fifth-and-final frame.
"[Ella and Kiley] were really mixing it up, and that got a lot of our hitters involved," said coach Brittany Hensley, whose River squad is now 3-0 in five-set matches. "It was a great team effort tonight. We made some adjusts during game 4 that helped us get on more runs; that gave us the momentum going into game 5."
Six different Double-R players scored points in game 5.
For the match, Lyniah Campbell-Cass and Heavey each had 14 kills. Heavey, Brokaw (12K), and Emma Yezbak (5K) all hit .300 or better. Maggie Pfahl had 35 digs against just six errors.
With the victory, Rocky River pulls off a season sweep of the Eagles (8-10, 1-5). The Pirates downed North Olmsted 3-1 in Rocky River Sept. 5. The Buccaneers have now defeated the Eagles in eight straight matches.
CANNON FIRE ...
ON DECK: Rocky River will swing into the month of October with a Tuesday home match against GLC West foe Westlake. The Pirates and Demons played a five-gamer in Westlake on Sept. 7; River won that contest 3-2.
MISS ASSIST: For the season, Kylie Spies has logged 5.3 assists per set which leads the team. Spies has has been particularly helpful of late, racking up 134A over her last 23 sets (5.8 average). Defensively, the talented sophomore has given the Pirates 2.2 digs per set which ranks third on the squad.
by Skip Snow
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