PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – Rocky River Volleyball concluded its 2019 season with a 3-1 loss to Firelands in DII
Parma Heights District Tournament play on Thursday.
The fifth-seeded Falcons and fourth-seeded Pirates battled
over three taut sets before Firelands doubled up Rocky River in a decisive
fourth frame. The Falcons advanced in the postseason bracket by way of a 25-23,
25-22, 23-25, 25-13 win on neutral hardwood at Holy Name High School. Firelands
will now face No. 1-seed Holy Name on Wednesday.
Rocky River (14-9) bowed out of the bracket with a hit percentage (.039) that marked the team’s lowest since a 3-0 loss to Holy Name on Aug. 27. Prior to Thursday’s district bout with the Falcons, River hadn’t lost a four-set affair in 22 previous matches this season.
Individually, the Pirates were led by Paige Waite (13 kills, five blocks), Emily Stanciu (11 kills, 20 digs), Madie Shoaf (eight kills), Taylor Spies (31 assists, 19 digs), and Amanda Franz 22 digs, two aces. Spies’ 19 digs came against just three digging errors. River was tagged with 33 digging errors for the match.
River had been 8-0 against Firelands since 2007.
Rocky River’s season-ending 14-9 mark puts the team over .500 for a fourth consecutive season.
CANNON FIRE …
700 CLUB: Senior captain Amanda Franz crossed a career milestone in her final Pirate match. Franz moved past 700 career digs; she registered over 5.0 digs per set in her senior campaign and finished with 712 over a three-year varsity career. … Fellow captain Emily Stanciu closed out her RRHS career with an all-around line of 483 kills, 518 digs and 100 aces.
SUPER SOPHS: Sophomore Taylor Spies closed out her season by hitting the 500-mark in assists. The sophomore setter logged over 6.0 assists per set in finishing the season with 504. … The leading beneficiary of Spies’ work was sophomore hitter Paige Waite who swatted her way to 263 kills and a .299 hitting mark.
by Skip Snow
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