RESERVE RUNS ROUGHSHOD OVER TIGERS
By Ty Bartell
COLUMBIANA OH- Another year, another volleyball season and The Western-Reserve Blue Devils are in the
District Championship picture. Some things like that are a given, similar to how the sun will rise in the morning. A dominating 23-1 record entering the district semi-final on Tuesday night, The Blue Devils were looking to take the next step. However, across from them was a scrappy and gritty Newton Falls Tigers team who was 15-7 prior and had won 10 of their last 13, including their last six matches! Simultaneously setting up a cross conference battle in The Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) with Reserve representing the Scarlet Division and Newton Falls the Grey Division.
Playing as a part of the Division 4, Region 13, Northeast 2 bracket, it was #2 seeded Western Reserve versus #12 seeded Newton Falls at Columbiana High School. Despite an intriguing matchup on paper, The Blue Devils were not concerned with storylines other than their own! Claiming the matchup in straight sets 25-16, 25-16 and 25-14 Western Reserve displayed their dominance this year as they rolled to a District Championship match!
Alyvia Hughes and Lisa Eichert doubled up double-double performances, as Hughes notched a 13 kill, 14 dig night, while Eichert recorded 16 kills and 12 digs. Hughes would also lead the team in aces on the evening with 6. Angelina Cappabianca had a great all-around night with 6 blocks, 5 kills and 2 aces. Ally Jones held down the fort defensively with 21 digs while pitching in 2 aces of her own. Setting the tone from the setter position was Haylee Fellows who had 17 assists and an ace in the victory!
Western-Reserve (24-1) has now set up an all Blue Devil battle for the District Championship as they will take on their well-known rival, the #9 seeded McDonald Blue Devils
(17-7) on Thursday, October 26th at Columbiana High School, slated for a 7 p.m. start time. The last time those two squads met was back on September 21st where Reserve won in a five set thriller, setting up a more than intriguing third matchup of the season!
We here at YSN want to wish the best of luck to all The Newton Falls seniors in everything they set out to accomplish in the future. It always is a pleasure of ours to cover Tiger athletics! Stay tuned with YSN to get all your MVAC scores, stats, stories and more!
