BIG TEST NEXT FOR POLAND

In their first tournament game, Poland took care of business beating Alliance in four sets. (25-18 25-8 24-26 25-11)

Right out of the gates Poland did a tremendous job getting swings over the net. In the first set, they had 52 total attacks. With that high number they also hit pretty efficiently, the Bulldogs hit .135 in the set. The first and second sets were completely controlled by Poland. In the second set, the Bulldogs hitting percentage jumped way up. Poland totaled 15 kills in the set and had just 2 errors. Their hitting percentage was .361.

In the third set, Alliance showed some fight. They jumped out to an early 9-2 lead and maintained it until it reached 20-11. Then Poland came all the way back with a 9-0 rally to tie the set up at 20-20. The Bulldogs, however, just didn’t have enough momentum to push all the way to 25. They dropped a close set 3 24-26.

In set 4 it was back to business for the Bulldogs. They made quick work of the Aviators in a statement 25-11 set 4 wins. The Bulldogs only had 1 error in the set and hit at a .255 clip. Lauren Melillo has 6 kills in the set.

Lauren Melillo had a monster match with 18 kills, 4 digs, and 2 aces. Morgan Kluchar also got into double digits with 10 kills and a block. Maddie Wess tallied 33 assists, 3 kills, and 3 digs. Kenzie Szolek finished with 21 digs and a kill.

Poland advances to the sectional final on Saturday against Canfield. That match will be at 5:00 at West Branch High School.