FALCONS CATCH FIRE AGAINST BOARDMAN

AUSTINTOWN OH- The Austintown Fitch Falcons have sat, perched atop The All-American Conference (AAC) for the past two years. Staking claim to two consecutive conference championships in 2020 and 2021, Fitch goes into the year looking for a three-peat. Going into Thursday evening, The Falcons were 2-0 in conference play, winning both matches having not dropped a set in the conference this year.

The Thursday evening matchup? None other than the age-old rival in The Boardman Spartans, who were coming off a straight set victory against The Warren Harding Raiders on Wednesday. With the high energy rolling around, both teams came out with a fire! Exchanging blows in the early going, both teams battled in a back-and-forth affair in the beginning of Set 1, drawing even 13-13 at one point. However, Fitch grabbed a lead and flew away with it, going on a set-clinching run to emerge victorious by ten points!

Leading 1-0 in sets, Austintown looked to bring out the same intensity they used to end the previous set. But similar to Set 1, The Spartans were filled with a ton of fight to start Set 2. THis time around, it was the freshman play of Rylie Simons behind the service line that catapulted The Falcons to a 25-13 Set 2 win.

With a big lead in sets 2-0, Fitch was looking to close out the victory. Girls like Jocelyn Jourdan were great per usual, slamming down multiple kills per set to help her team throughout the night. For Boardman in Set 3, The Spartans were determined to avoid a big Falcons run, and did they ever! Putting up a great fight with girls like Gia Triveri and Gianna Cicchillo stepping up and battling the entire set. Austintown ultimately emerged the four point victors in Set 3, but not without a great battle with Boardman.

Kylie Folkwein was another Falcon freshman that was very impressive! Stepping up big on both offense and defense with great efficiency was more than enough to earn her Player of the Game!

Both teams will travel into The Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) in the coming days. Fitch (6-1) set for a battle of the birds, as they take on Hubbard (1-5) on Saturday, September 10th at 1:00 p.m. As for Boardman (3-4) they will hit the road down 224 to Poland (4-3) next Monday, September 12th at 7:00 p.m. in a matchup with The Bulldogs!

Set Scores

Fitch 25 – 15 Boardman

Fitch 25 – 13 Boardman

Fitch 25 – 21 Boardman

Match: Fitch 3 – 0 Boardman

Stats (Austintown)

Kylie Folkwein (Player of the Game) : 11 Kills, 1 Ace, 9 Digs, 10 Receptions, 55.0 Kill%, .400 Hit%.

Jocelyn Jourdan: 14 Kills, 3 Aces, 1 Block, 9 Digs, 5 Receptions.

Afton Roby: 5 Kills, 2 Digs.

Jordan Smith: 5 Kills, 2 Aces, 8 Digs, 2 Receptions.

Rylie Simons: 3 Kills, 1 Ace, 7 Digs, 34 Assists.

Jordan Binion: 1 Kill, 1 Block, 1 Reception.