ROCKETS LAUNCH STALLED BY GARFIELD

GARRETTSVILLE OH- In a renewed rivalry from the old Portage Trail Conference (PTC) days, The Streetsboro Lady Rockets met The Garretsville Garfield Lady G-Men on the volleyball court, Saturday morning, for the first time since 2014!

Since that time, Streetsboro had stayed in The PTC, when it added The Metro Division. Nowadays it is now being called The Metro Athletic Conference (MAC). Garretsville, ended up joining The Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference’s (MVAC) Gray Tier in 2021.

At the start, The Rockets jumped ahead early on Garfield and maintained their lead over The Lady G-Men throughout Set 1. Garrettsville attempted a comeback several times, but some key serving and hitting errors put The Lady G-Men behind the eight ball. Unable to overcome the mistakes, Streetsboro capitalized and took a 1-0 set lead, with The Rockets winning by 8 points.

Set 2 was a back-and-forth battle from the jump. With the urgency from Garfield trying to avoid falling behind in sets 0-2. On the other side, Streetsboro was trying to ride a wave of momentum to take a commanding set lead on the road. Working on a short staff, Garfield’s Lily Shay and Mandy Cardinal stepped up big time in the middle, while Montana McGranahan was a smooth operator on the outside. A combined team effort willed Garrettsville to a 4 point set victory to draw the match even 1-1.

Momentum being as powerful as it is in sports, was harnessed and used in the coming sets for The Lady G-Men. Streetsboro had the hustle and heart on the defensive side of the ball, with nothing coming easy for Garfield. However, some mistakes behind the service line derailed The Lady Rockets, allowing Garrettsville to win the following two sets in convincing fashion. After drawing even

The loss will now set Streetsboro (10-10) up with a matchup against conference rival Ravenna (1-12) on Tuesday, September 27th. While the win for Garrettsville Garfield (11-4) will keep the home to host “The Cardiac Cats” in The Liberty Leopards (7-6) also on Tuesday.

Set Scores

S1: Streetsboro 25 – 17 Garfield

S2: Garfield 25 – 21 Streetsboro

S3: Garfield 25 – 16 Streetsboro

S4: Garfield 25 – 13 Streetsboro

Match: Garfield 3 – 1 Streetsboro

Stats (Garrettsville)

Montana McGranahan: 23 Kills, 2 Aces, 2 Blocks, 10 Digs. (Player of the Game)

Gabby Barnard: 20 Kills, 2 Aces, 1 Block, 7 Digs.

Madeline Shirkey: 7 Kills, 2 Aces, 4 Blocks, 12 Digs, 42 Assists.

Mandy Cardinal: 7 Kills, 2 Aces, 7 Blocks, 6 Digs.

Kyla Grace: 1 Ace, 23 Digs.