PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – Rocky River bounced back from an opening-night loss and a game-two setback to defeat the Valley Forge Patriots, 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 24-14, 25-15), on Saturday.

 

Pirate swatters collected a .386 hitting percentage in the four-game Great Lakes Conference match. Senior Austoria Miller hit .541 in compiling a team-high 14 kills. Sophomore Madie Shoaf added 11 kills against no hitting errors; she hit .647. Junior Paige Waite peppered the Patriots with 12 kills while spiking her way to a .409 figure.

Miller has a team-high 23 kills through two matches.

 

Rocky River (1-1, 1-1 GLC) hit just .063 when the Pirates fell to Normandy, 3-1, on Tuesday.

 

On Saturday, the Maroon & White also maintained an edge on the initial ball in play. Led by Waite and senior Emma Liszeski (three each), River clocked 11 service aces.

 

Elsewhere on the box score, junior Taylor Spies chipped in with nine digs and Miller added eight. Senior Emily Slyman (23) and junior Estella Giomini (14) combined for 37 assists. As a team, Rocky River was tagged with just 17 back court errors after committing 32 in the Normandy match.

 

The Patriots’ 25-23 win in game two marked their first set win against the Pirates since 2015; River had won the previous eight series meetings (2016-19) by scores of 3-0. The Buccaneers battled back in resolute fashion, earning a 25-14 win in set No. 3. In the fourth game, River bolted to a 4-1 edge only to have the home side battle back to within one (4-3). The Pirates took 8-of-the-next-10 points to open up a 12-5 lead. Valley Forge again whittled away at the River lead, but with sprawling back court efforts and well-placed hits up front, the Pirates closed out the fourth set with a 10-point cushion.

 

With the victory, the Pirates are now 11-0 over 11 all-time GLC matches against the Patriots.

 

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