Following two tough matchups with both The Mineral Ridge Rams and The Austintown Fitch Falcons, The Western Reserve Blue Devils went into Tuesday night with hope of ending their six set losing streak. Their opponent? The Waterloo Vikings made the trip from Atwater to Berlin Center in an Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference battle on The Scarlet Tier.
Needless to say, The Blue Devils showed their frustrations, taking their anger from the last week out on The Vikings. Wasting little time, Western Reserve claimed the straight set victory over Waterloo, sweeping the season series 6-0 in sets against The Vikings.
The win set up Western Reserve (9-4) for a rematch in The Battle of Blue Devils, as they will travel to McDonald (11-3) on Thursday, September 22nd. Coming off the loss, Waterloo (3-8) will look to turn things around against the conference leading Mineral Ridge Rams (12-1), also on Thursday.
Set Scores
S1: W.R. 25 – 10 Waterloo
S2: W.R. 25 – 9 Waterloo
S3: W.R. 25 – 8 Waterloo
Match : W.R. 3 – 0 Waterloo
Stats (Western Reserve)
Madison Leone : 13 Assists.
Haylee Fellows : 12 Assists.
Alyvia Hughes : 11 Kills, 9 Aces.
Ally Jones : 7 Digs.
*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell
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BERLIN CENTER OH- If you happened to have a bad case of “The Mondays” The Austintown Fitch Falcons and The Western Reserve Blue Devils had the cure in last night’s contest at Berlin Center. Anytime these two opponents square-off, it is sure to be a great volleyball match! Both teams went into Monday night having some really good attackers, with each side having a player with 150+ Kills in the season already!
Heading into Monday, Austintown had been winners of six straight matches, dropping just three sets total in that stretch. For Western Reserve, they have played some of the best competition in the area as well, gathering wins against the likes of Canfield and Wellsville on the season. However, dropping just their third match in a straight set loss to The Mineral Ridge Rams back on Thursday, September 15h, The Blue Devils were looking to bounce back at the start of the week.
Swing errors became the name of the game, as Reserve had great passing to set up swings, but the accuracy we have seen from The Blue Devils showed up late to the party, as Fitch took advantage, claiming Set 1 by 15 points. By the second set, Western Reserve had focused up and jumped in front of Fitch early on. With The Blue Devils holding on to the lead for over half way through the set, Austintown’s net defense came through big time. With the combined efforts of girls like Jocely Jourdan, Jordan Binion and Afton Roby The Falcons were able to set the tempo at the net and pick up extra points that way. Those extra points would seal a much closer Set 2 win for Fitch, as 8 points separated the teams this time around.
With their backs against the wall, Western Reserve came out with that same fight and energy as the previous set. Much like Set 2, Fitch also had another great game defensively at the net. Grabbing points from blocks or kills off free ball attempts, Austintown was able to stop any big runs from The Blue Devils, allowing them to dictate the momentum throughout the match and ultimately come out on top.
This edition of Western Reserve and Austintown Fitch went to The Falcons in straight sets! Fitch (10-1) will now look to Wednesday, September 21st as they will host The Louisville Leopards (1-14). As for Western Reserve (8-4), after dropping two in a row, they will look to get back on track with conference opponent Waterloo (3-7) coming to town on Tuesday, September 20th.
CAMPBELL OH- An epic week five of high school football was capped off with style and power by the Valley Christian Eagles who continued their undefeated war path as they enforced a running clock for the entirety of the second half against Lisbon before taking home the win 45-18. Player of the game went to Ve’Shun Gurley as he pulled down to Randy Moss style catches and took them both to the endzone.
Lisbon had their struggles offensively for the majority of the game as the rush from the larger Valley Christian continued to blow through the line with relative ease and forced the Lisbon offense to minimal gains all night long. Lisbon did score two defensive touchdowns as Hunter Dailey intercepted a pass from Jon’Trell Mixon and returned it all the way early in the third quarter. Dailey would come up again in the fourth quarter as a fumble by the second unit of Valley Christian would open up a hole for Hunter Dailey to grab a scoop and score for their final points of the night.
Valley Christian through their first four plays from scrimmage on the night had three touchdowns, including two that came on 91-yard plays. Valley Christian had touchdowns from just about every single offensive player on the night. Their run blocking just proved too much for Lisbon all night long as they were able to do just about anything they wanted to.
Injuries have continued to hurt Lisbon along their three-game losing streak as they now move (2-3). They are going to look to get healthy over the next week as they prepare for their fourth home game of the season as they take on the Bulldogs of East Palestine (1-4). Valley Christian now (5-0) will continue to storm the beaches of the EOAC as they will play host to the (0-5) Leetonia Bears next Saturday.
*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna
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MINERAL RIDGE OH- Coming in to Thursday night, Western Reserve needed to win at Mineral Ridge to have a realistic chance at making a run at the MVAC championship. Although the Devils played like it, the Rams were up for every bit of the challenge and swept Western Reserve in 3 straight sets. (25-20 25-21 25-19)
For the Rams their offensive firepower was led by Faith Schneider who finished with 16 kills. Ava Hullet also contributed 9 kills in the balanced question. One of the big reasons their offense was so dynamic was because Samantha Aulet put together another great night with 30 assists. She completed a double double with 14 digs. Hullet led in digs with 16, Schneider also had a double double with 14 digs.
Alyvia Hughes led the Devils offense with 13 kills. Raelynn Meyer set up 15 assists. Dailen Brown had a good night at the net with 4 blocks.
Mineral Ridge returns to action early Saturday morning competing in a tri match at West Branch with the Warriors, and Hubbard. The first game of the morning is set to start at 10:00.
https://ysnlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/DE4B0896-609D-4440-9F1C-F97419705DD4-scaled-1.jpeg17062560Anthony Hartwighttps://ysnlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Default-Email-Signature-2673571-300x70.pngAnthony Hartwig2022-09-16 04:06:022022-09-16 04:06:02RIDGE DASHES AHEAD OF BLUE DEVILS
MCDONALD OH- Both teams came in with winning records but only one could continue the streak. That one would be Crestview who is still yet to lose a set after sweeping McDonald 3-0 on Wednesday night winning their sets (25-14, 25-20 and 25-15).
Grace Auer was the star of the night with 19 kills, 10 assists, 17 digs and three aces. She also made history with 188 aces as a junior. Her teammates followed with Abbey Emch finishing with 13 kills, 5 assists and 14 digs.
After the game, YSNs Ian O’Brien caught up with coach Alisha Auer about the big victory and Grace Auer on breaking the school record. Undefeated Crestview will travel to play (6-4) Liberty Thursday. McDonald (8-3) will play at Jackson Milton (6-4).
*Contributed By YSN’s Ian O’Brien.
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LISBON OH- Lisbon is on some kind of streak right now, as they won their third game in a row on Wednesday at home against Malvern in four sets. (23-25 25-20 25-22 25-14)
Eliza Baker put together another fantastic performance, she finished the game with 31 digs! Stefanee Stacey gathered a double double with 18 digs, and 14 assists. Hannah Weems had 19 points to go along with 13 digs, and Madison Marriner finished with 13 digs.
Lisbon is now 4-6 on the season and will stay at home Thursday against Southern.
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LEETONIA OH- Lisbon was able to pick up their second victory inside the EOAC on Tuesday night at Leetonia in straight sets. (25-20 25-15 25-11)
Stefanee Stacey had a great night for the Devils with 13 points, and 13 assists. She also contributed 6 digs to the defense. Eliza Baker served up 10 aces, and 18 digs to acquire a double double. Izzy Lennon had 6 kills on the night as well.
Lisbon will return home on Wednesday to venture out of the EOAC and host Malvern.
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LISBON OH- Southern made sure they weren’t left in the back of the conversation when it comes to EOAC contenders. Message delivered, and in dominant fashion. The Indians strolled into Lisbon and cooled off the Blue Devils with a 51-22 victory. Southern is now 4-0 on the season.
Lisbon fought back after an initial burst from Southern. With the game tied up at 8-8, Ryan Exline pounded a touchdown in from the one to give the Indians a lead they would never surrender. Exline would later score another short yardage touchdown on the ground.
Both teams continue EOAC play on Friday as they Southern hosts Columbiana, and Lisbon hits the road to face Valley Christian.
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MCDONALD OH- It was another classic rivalry matchup on Friday night in Week 4 as heated conferences foes McDonald, and Mineral Ridge did battle. The Rams however made sure the home crowd had nothing to cheer about as they rolled their way to a 40-0 win. It breaks the Rams 9 game losing streak to McDonald, and keeps them undefeated on the season.
Ian Erb did his usual thing running for 192 yards and 4 touchdowns. Triston Valley eclipsed 100 yards through the air and threw a touchdown as well. His favorite target on the night was Brady Balestrino who gained 50 yards receiving. The Rams defense held McDonald to just 39 yards total on offense.
Mineral Ridge looks to stay unbeaten in Week 5 as they host Springfield. McDonald will hit the road as they try to bounce back against Sebring.
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BERLIN CENTER, OH- It was a thriller in Berlin Center Friday night where Western Reserve hosted Jackson-Milton. The Blue Jays’ were looking to stay unbeaten and get a huge win over their rival in the Blue Devils. In a pretty fair matchup, both teams traded blows up until the last few minutes of the game. Jackson-Milton’s Alex Schiavi found Aiden Stanke on a 45-yard bomb to tie the game and to give Sam Conn a chance to hit the go-ahead PAT. Conn hit the PAT and the Blue Jays came away with a 22-21 victory over Reserve.
For Reserve, Quarterback Luke Henning put up three touchdowns for the Blue Devils. Schiavi went 12 for 18 for 98 yards in the air for the Blue Jays. Keegan White also added a TD run.
Jackson-Milton moves to 4-0 on the season and will back home to host Lowellville Friday. Western Reserve moves to 1-3 and is set to travel to Waterloo to take on the Vikings Friday.
