Tag Archive for: Blue Devils

THE COSTANTINO EMPIRE

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MCDONALD OH- There is no greater act one can do for their team than stepping up in a tough situation. That is exactly what McDonald’s Gianna Costantino has done this season.  After their starting setter had to miss the remainder of the season, Gianna and her teammate Maria Rasile stepped right into a 6-2 offense and continued to set up the Blue Devil offense.  Gianna’s offensive output never slowed down either. Since stepping into a setter’s role McDonald’s success continued all the way to a district runner up campaign.

Constantino put up fantastic numbers this season.  In 82 sets played, Constantino finished the year with 256 kills. Averaging over 3 kills a set, Costantino was a constant threat for the Blue Devils to go to.  She also eclipsed the 200 mark in assists, finishing with 231 on the year.  If you thought that was the end of the impressive numbers, you’d be wrong. Costantino also finished with 310 digs on the year.  It’s not easy to find a player with triple digits in three different categories. Costantino is one of the few.

Gianna took the time out of her day to sit down with YSN’s Anthony Hartwig to go over her season. They also talk about her family, her well rounded numbers this season, and much more. Don’t miss the Blue Devils too much, check out one more McDonald Player Profile only on YSN!

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RESERVE CANT GET BY CRUSADERS

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COLUMBIANA OH- Western Reserve came in to Thursday’s district championship game in Columbiana hoping to add another trophy to the school’s case. They had a big task in front of them though with Canton Central Catholic staring at them across the net. The Crusaders may be a Division IV team, but they don’t play a Division IV caliber schedule. Their experienced showed up as they swept the Blue Devils to win the district. (25-19 25-19 25-9)

Alyvia Hughes led the offense for the Blue Devils with 14 kills. She also dug up 8 digs, and 3 blocks. Madison Leone finished her senior season with a double double acquiring 11 assists and 10 digs. Raelyn Meyer led the team in assists with 14.  Aly Jones finished with 12 digs out of the back row.
Western Reserve ends the season with a record of 20-5.

TIGERS ARE HEADED RIGHT BACK TO REGIONALS

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LISBON OH- Wellsville carried a 25 game winning streak in to Thursday’s district championship game. They hadn’t lost since their first game of the season to Western Reserve. Their championship opponent McDonsld boasted a win against that same Reserve team this season. But this was a different Tigers bunch. Focused, and highly motivated the Tigers swept a very good Blur Devil team.  (25-19 25-23 25-20)

Strong finishes to each set seemed to be the theme for Wellsville. In a back and forth set one, Wellsville pulled away late to earn the 25-19 win. In set 2, they jumped out to a big 17-6 lead before watching the Blue Devils climb all the way back to tie the set at 22-22. However, from that point the Tigers scored 3 of the next 4 to win 25-23.  Plays down the stretch of set 3 would tell the story as well as the Tigers win their third consecutive competitive set 25-20.

District player of the year Presley Stokes showed up big for the Tigers all night. But her leadership shined brightest in the third set after a long stoppage of play, she kept the team calm and they forged ahead to take the sweep.  Wellsville has been here before so you can imagine that not much would phase them.

McDonald was in their first program District Championship. That is particularly impressive since the program started just four seasons ago.  The Blue Devils end the season at 20-6.  A fairly young roster only graduates two seniors, so expect even more growth from the Blue Devils to come.

The Tigers advance to the Division IV Regional Semifinals. They will be matched up with Ashtabula St John on November 3rd at 7:30 in Strongsville.  They’ll be the second game of the night.

 

MCDONALD PACKS UP FOR BIG TITLE GAME

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LISBON OH- McDonald spent their Tuesday night grinding their way to a big win in the District Semifinals. The Blue Devils were matched up with 8th seeded Dalton.  The Bulldogs are historically successful and fought like crazy. McDonald pushed their way to a four set victory.  (25-22 19-25 25-15 25-22)

Maria Rasile put on a show in the semifinals.  She finished with a triple double with 22 kills, 24 assists, and 18 digs.  Gianna Constantino also had a triple double with 12 kills, 28 digs, and 21 assists.  The defense for the Blue Devils was on full display as they got three other players in double digit digs.  Megan Zajack finished with 14 digs, Miley Titus grabbed 19 digs, and Juliana Krumpak gathered 22 digs.

McDonald will now set their sights to the Division IV Lisbon District Championship.  They will meet top seeded Wellsville.  That match is slated for 7:00 on Thursday at Lisbon High School.

RESERVE RUNS THE SHOW IN DISTRICT SEMIS

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COLUMBIANA OH- The reigning district champion Western Reserve Blue Devils punched their ticket to another district championship on Tuesday night. They came out on top in a four set battle with Southern Local.  (25-12 20-25 25-15 25-22)

Alyvia hughes had 22 kills 18 digs and 3 aces  Lisa Eichert had 18 kills 16 digs 3 aces Angelina Cappabianca had 5 blocks and 3 aces Allison Jones had 35 digs and 2 aces, Raelyn Meyer had 22 assists.

The Blue Devils advance to the Division IV Columbiana District Championship game. They’ll play against the fifth seeded Canton Central Catholic Crusaders.  The championship match is slated for Thursday at 7:00 at Columbiana High School.

HEART OF A LEONE

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BERLIN CENTER OH- Every one knows how important of a position setter is in volleyball.  They are your quarterback, your point guard, your captain on the floor.  So for a coach to pick a player to step in to that role on the varsity level, that is a big amount of trust that is being put in that player. For Western Reserve, they needed someone to do it, and they asked senior Madison Leone to be that girl.

Leone has done everything in her power to become the best setter she can be for her team.  The fact that she has hitters like Alyvia Hughes, and Lisa Eichert to set to has made things smoother.  They are experienced enough to know where they want the ball to be to give them the best chance to get a good swing.

Leone is second on the team in assists with 287.  She averages nearly 4 per set.  In 869 total chances she’s only made 26 errors. Pretty impressive for a first year setter.  Leone is a quality defender as well as she has dug up over 100 digs on the year.

Leone has been gracious enough to share her time with us and hop on an interview with Anthony Hartwig. They talk about being back on the team, what makes this team so tight, and much more.  Check out the latest Western Reserve Volleyball Player Profile only on YSN.

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RASILE RISES UP

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MCDONALD OH- Maria Rasile is part of a senior class that WS literally the building blocks of McDonald volleyball.  The program started four years ago. Here they are in just four years sitting as a top 5 seed in the district tournament and set up to fight for a chance to go to a district championship.

Maria has been an irreplaceable asset to this team. Unfortunately they have been without stand out setter Megan Klockner for a big chunk of the end of the season.  Maria, and her teammate Gianna Constantino have been asked to revert to a 6-2 offense and both set up the offense when they’re in the back row. It’s not a completely new position for either of them, but to be able to go right into that setter’s mentality on a moment’s notice is what is impressive.

Because of this change, Maria’s stats have become very well rounded.  Not only does she lead the team with 308 kills, but she also now sits at the team lead with 230 assists, and also leads the team in digs with 329.  There aren’t too many players in the area that have proven to be that important to their team’s success.

Rasile took the time this week to talk to YSN’s Anthony Hartwig. They talk about her family legacy at McDonald and what it’s like living up to it, watching the program build from the ground up, and so much more. Check out the latest McDonald Volleyball Player Profile with Maria Rasile.

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BLUE DEVILS SWEEP THEIR WAY TO SEMIFINALS

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MCDONALD OH- McDonald had no problems in the sectional final on Saturday as they pinched their ticket to a district semifinal. The Blue Devils broke out the brooms to sweep the Youngstown Academy For Urban Scholars (25-5 25-9 25-6)

Halie Shiley led the Blue Devils in kills with 5. The offense for McDonsld was spread out. They finished as a team with 25 kills from 12 different players.  Cierra Shiley added 4 kills on the night.  Ava Salamone led the Blue Devils setting with 12 assists. Halie Shiley also served up 8 aces to lead the Blue Devils. Maria Rasile had 7 aces.

McDonald will advance to the district semifinals in the Lisbon bracket of Division IV.  They’ll be matched up with 8th seeded Dalton.  That game is slated to start at 7:30 on Tuesday at Lisbon High School.

MILTON ENDS LONG STREAK AGAINST MCDONALD

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MCDONALD OH- Jackson-Milton Football team beat McDonald Friday night by a score of 20-7. This is the first time a Jackson-Milton team has been victorious over the Blue Devils since 2006, when they beat McDonald in a 4 overtime game.

The Jays played great defense all night and nearly had their 5th shutout of the season before a McDonald score late in the 4th quarter. Leading the Jays offensively was Qb Alex Schivai who completed 13 of 22 passes for 192 yards and 2 passing touchdowns. Junior Aiden Stanke led the Jays in rushing yards with 105 on 11 carries. Leading the Jays in receiving yards was Sr. Gavin White with 4 receptions for 82 yards including a receiving touchdown. Also scoring touchdowns were Sophomore Keegan White (rushing touchdown) and Stanke (receiving touchdown).

Defensively the Jays were led by Sr. LB Ezekiel Brock with 9 tackles 3 tackles for loss and 1 quarterback sack. Keegan White and Sr. Owen McDevitt followed with 7 tackles of their own. Brody Pugh recovered the games only fumble. Sam Conn was 2/3 on extra points and punter Gerald Ihrig pinned the Blue Devils inside the 10 on a punt in the fourth quarter.

Jacks0n-Milton finishes the regular season with a record of 7-3 and will continue their season next Friday night as they have qualified for the Division IV playoffs.

*Contributed By Nathan Brode at jacksonmiltonathletics.org

CLIPPERS END THE SEASON WITH THREE STRAIGHT WINS

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COLUMBIANA, OH- After having a tough season, it is always a great feeling to close out the regular season with a victory over a conference rival. For Columbiana, not only did they finish off with a win against Lisbon Friday night, they capped the season off with a 3-game winning streak. Although the Blue Devils struck first, the Clippers fought back in the second and third quarters to score twice in each to ultimately come away with a 27-6 victory over Lisbon.

Lisbon started the game off with an onside kick that they recovered and drove down to Columbiana’s 4-yard line. From there, Trevor Siefke found Austin Dailey in the endzone to go up 6-0. The pace would slow down going into the second quarter until Spencer Pruitt for Columbiana had an 18-yard run to put the Clippers on the board, then Joe Guido found Dylan Bregar for 26 yards to give them a 13-6 lead in the second quarter. In the third, Columbiana would just stack on more points thanks to Jesse Szmura who added a 4-yard rushing TD and Guido who scored on an 11-yard run and added the two-point conversion to finish the game off.

Lisbon has earned a playoff spot and will be on the road in round one. YSN will have the game available along with many others with the Playoff Power Pass on October 28th.

*Contributed by YSN’s Brendan Miller