AVON, Ohio (Oct. 19, 2023) -- Rocky River closed out its season with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-13) to Amherst Steele in Thursday night Northeast 5 District Tournament action.

The Pirates (13-10) -- the No. 13 seed in DI Region 2 -- were held to a .100 attack percentage while also being tagged with eight service errors and 30 dig errors. The No. 17 Comets now move on to a Tuesday meeting with No. 3 Avon.

"We struggled tonight, but we cannot let this define our season," said coach Brittany Hensley.

River's struggles included a rough first game that set a tone for the match. The Buccaneers hit .000 and filed 13 dig errors in that set.

For the match, junior Ella Brokaw registered eight kills and a .285 hitting mark alongside a solo block. Sophomore Lyniah Campbell-Cass added 7K. Senior Katelyn Heavey logged 4K and five digs. Junior Ella Duffy had nine assists and 10D. Sophomore Kylie Spies clocked 12 assists. Senior Maggie Pfahl closed out her fine career with 21D and five service aces.

Thursday's loss closed out an injury-tinted 1-6 October for Rocky River.

"Things just didn't necessarily fall our way these past few weeks," said Hensley, "but our girls can learn from these challenges and adversities and grow into better players for next year."

For the Rocky River Swat Team, that next year will be one without four seniors. Katelyn Heavey, Maggie Pfahl, Lenore Wright, and Samantha Young closed out their prep careers with Thursday's result.

Their final fall campaign included plenty of ups before any downs. River opened the season 6-0 and over the first six weeks of the season played in a slew of impressive 3-2 matches gutted out by the Pirates. In finishing 13-10, Rocky River has now registered eight straight winning seasons.

In a game of volleys and rallies, the Swashbuckling Buccaneers of the Autumn Hardwood will look to move ahead with a horde of new Pirates jumping over the rail and taking the place of four talented vets headed out the door.  


by Skip Snow

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