SPARTANS SURVIVE AND ADVANCE

BOARDMAN OH- It took everything they had, but the Spartans came back from the brink to beat Aurora in five sets, and give head coach Alyssa Birch her first career tournament win.

Aurora came out swinging. They definitely looked better than a 20 seed. They won back to back tight sets using clutch serving, and a spread out attack. Boardman helped them out with a few errors here and there, but all in all it was a pretty clean two sets of volleyball. The Lady Greenmen were just getting the big plays.

Boardman seems to become a different team with their backs against the wall. After losing two sets to the score of 23-25, the Spartans came out with even more energy. They dominated sets three and four to force a decisive set five.

That set five was much like the first two sets, back and forth each team grabbing some momentum. Aurora jumped out to a 6-3 lead, to which the Spartans responded with a 7-0 run to go up 10-6. The Spartans then saw that lead dwindle as Aurora tied the set up at 10. Boardman had the last laugh as they finished off a nail biter 15-13 with a Maria Torres kill.

Boardman was led by Torres who had an impressive 18 kills. Katie Stamp added 16 kills to the Boardman attack. Kathryn O’Horo stepped into the libero position tonight and led the defense with 24 digs. Torres completed a double double with 15, Stamp did the same collecting 14 digs. Raegan Burkey ran the offense to perfection. She set up 44 assists on the night.

Boardman advances and will now travel to face 10 seeded Lakeside for the sectional championship on Thursday at 6:00.