BOARDMAN OH-
Julie Stachowicz led the Raiders in kills with 6. Reagan Irons collected 15 digs. Jamie Feren set up 11 assists. Julia Blasko had 2 aces.
The Spartan will hit the road on Thursday to take on the Howland Tigers.
The Raiders will host Lakeview. That game will be live on YSN.
Contributed by Alyssa Birch at boardmanathletics.org
CANFIELD OH- With a big conference matchup with Lakeview looming, South Range looked to sharpen up outside of the conference. East Liverpool brought more than the Raiders could handle however, as they dominated a sweep (25-22 25-20 25-17).
The Potters proved resilient all day. Every time the Raiders string together points, Liverpool would not panic and answer right back limiting the damage. That tenacity was in full show in set one when the Raiders had a 21-17 lead late in the set. Calm cool, and collected East Liverpool responded and grabbed a 23-22 lead, and finished to win the set 25-22.
More of the same thing happened in set two when the Raiders jumped out to a 5-1 lead to start set one, but East Liverpool once again fought right back to tie, and eventually push ahead. They’d go on to win set two 25-20, and use a strong start to cruise in set three 25-17.
Sharnae Wilson was everywhere on the day. She finished with 16 kills and 4 blocks. Addison Galeoti played some under the radar defense collecting a solid 24 digs. Alexa Aldrich showed off her range as a setter and finished with 18 assists.
Izzy Lamparty led the Raiders in kills with 7. Jamie Feren set well in the Raiders 6-2 rotation finishing with 7 assists, she also served up 2 aces. Reagan Irons and Julia Blasko both led with 18 digs.
South Range will regroup on Monday and travel to Boardman.
JEFFERSON OH- South Range Volleyball traveled all the way to Jefferson and barely escaped with a win. The Raiders took home a five set victory (25-21 16-25 20-25 25-19 15-8).
Izzy Lamparty led the offense of the Raiders with 13 kills. Jamie Feren has a great night, gathering 19 assists, and 3 aces. Reagan Irons led the defense with 21 digs.
South Range improves to 4-1 (3-0) and will travel to Hubbard on Thursday. Jefferson is now 1-2 and will host Niles on Thursday.
NILES OH- South Range Volleyball stayed in the win column on Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of Niles (25-14 25-16 25-20).
Izzy Lamparty and Maria Primavera both led the Raiders with 8 kills. Primavera also had 9 digs. Sarah Kuhns and Jamie Feren split the assists on the day. Feren had 18 assists while Kuhns had 14. Reagan Irons led in digs with 19.
South Range returns to the court tomorrow hosting West Branch.
CANFIELD OH- Both South Range and Heartland are coming off of impressive seasons. Raiders coming off a district runner up, and the Lions were 20-4 last season. It promised to be a competitive match as both teams looked to gel into the new year. The Raiders took the match in four sets (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21).
The Raiders used an 8-0 rally to overcome an early deficit in set 1. Izzy Lamparty set the tone from the middle with 3 kills in the set.
Lions had the upper hand in set number two. They used some fantastic serving to get the Raiders consistently out of system. Makayla Osborn was a force to be reckoned with. She finished the day with 14 kills and the second set was her best.
The Raiders won set 3 and 4 in close competitive sets. They simply made the clutch plays down the stretch. They also got Maria Primavera into a rhythm as the match went on.
Primavera led the Raiders in kills with 8. Julie Blasko and Sarah Kuhn’s split 5 aces a piece to lead. Reagan Irons fathered 18 digs. Kuhn’s led the team in assists with 19. Izzy Lamparty was strong on the net tallying 5 blocks.
Osborn led the Lions in kills with a match-high 14. Emma Hall fathered 15 digs. Lydia Wilson led the team in assists with 21, and also aces with 8. Wilson broke the Heartland program record for career assists in the 2nd set.
Heartland (0-1) hosts Ursuline on Monday. South Range (1-0) starts league play at Niles.
Scheduling note, Saturday’s match was originally scheduled to be a tri match with East Liverpool, Heartland and South Range. The Raiders have kept their match with East Liverpool and will host them on Saturday September 12 at 11:00 AM.
The stage was set Saturday afternoon for a matchup between two powerhouse volleyball programs. Since 2012 South Range and Crestview have accounted for 4 of the 7 district champions. That being said, neither team had won since 2016, and both teams were excited to be back.
The first set was a wild one. Exactly what you’d expect from these two programs. Crestview opened up with a big 6-1 lead, the Raiders fought back and tied the set at9. The Raiders then took a 16-13 lead and looked like they had control of the set. The Rebels would not be denied though and went on a 5-0 rally to go ahead 18-16. After the Raiders tied it again at 18-18 both teams traded points up to 20-20. An Anna Primavera ace gave the Raiders a 21-20 lead. The Rebels then rattled off 4 points in a row to grab set point at 24-20. The Raiders still fought grabbing two in a row to make 24-22 but the Rebels managed to grab the set 25-22.
Winning such a dramatic back and forth set one propelled the Rebels to a dominate set two. Everything was working for the Rebels offense. Even though the Raiders actually hit a higher attack percentage in set two, they never could get close to Crestview who rolled 25- 13.
When the Rebels came out in set three it looked certain that they were going to cruise to a third set win. The Rebels jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. The Raiders however never let the lead get bigger than 6 in the set. They chipped away at the lead constantly staying in striking distance. But unlike set one, the Raiders couldn’t push ahead of the Rebels. The closest they got to the Rebels was three. Crestview closed out the set on a Raiders service error to take the set, the match, and the championship. The set scores were (25-22 25-13 25-21).
For the Raiders leading the way were Anna Primavera and Abby George who each had 6 kills. Primavera added an ace and 5 digs, George added 2 blocks. Emily Irons finished with 19 assists, 6 digs, and 3 aces. Reagan Irons had 11 digs.
Crestview was led by Tess Neville who had a monstrous 18 kills. She also added 2 aces and 7 digs. Sidney Rambo was also in double figures with 10 kills adding a block, 3 digs, and 4 assists. Lucy Montgomery finished with a double-double having 35 assists and 12 digs. Amelia Montgomery had 17 digs.
Crestview advances to the regional semifinals on Thursday, October 31st at 7:30 vs the winner of Independence vs Brookside. That match will be at Barberton High School.
SALEM, OH- The South Range Volleyball program hasn’t been to the district rounds in four seasons, but Wednesday night in the semifinals they felt right at home. They swept their way to the championship match with over Lake Center Christian (25-11 25-20 25-18).
The Raiders made a statement in the first set. The story of the set was Emily Irons’ serve and the Primavera sisters. Irons completely neutralized the Tiger offense by causing trouble at the service line. Maria and Anna Primavera combined for 9 of the teams 12 kills. The Raiders rolled in set one 25-11.
In the rest of the match, the Raiders had to navigate a few moments of inconsistency. Against a team that knew how to comeback from large deficits, the shakiness of the Raiders could have easily caused concern. But the team fought through their struggles and never let the Tigers take a lead greater than one. South Range did a great job of managing mistakes and not letting them get out of hand. Even in two when they had 7 attack errors in the first chunk of points they still managed to hit .163. This was largely due to the number of kills coming out of the Raider offense. As a team they finished with 35 kills on the night, averaging just under 12 kills per set. It was simply too much for the scrappy Lake Center team to handle.
Izzy Lamparty led the offense with 11 kills, .3 blocks, and a dig. Anna Primavera also put up a strong night with 10 kills, 7 digs, and 2 aces. Emily Irons finished with 31 assists, 5 aces, and 4 digs. Reagan Irons tallied 18 digs.
South Range advances to play Crestview in the district championship match. That will be played at Salem High School at 2:30.
**EDIT** We previously had the game listed for 1pm, however the correct time is 2:30
There aren’t too many greater bonds in life than sisterhood, and that you make with your teammates. When you combine those two, you get something special. Emily and Reagan Irons treasure their time together on the court this season. They are able to find ways to help each other navigate the ups and down of a volleyball season. Both of them play in a leadership position. Emily is a senior setter, who is basically the quarterback of the court. Reagan puts on the different colored jersey as the libero who runs the back row.
Anthony Hartwig got the sisters together to chat about being on the court together, favorite memories, and much more. Get ready for a special edition of Raider Volleyball Player Profile Sister Act: Irons Sharpens Irons.
The South Range Volleyball program got their ticket to the district semifinals with a four set win over Columbiana on Saturday night. (21-25 25-21 25-14 25-20)
The Clippers were the team to start with more energy. Coming off a tournament win on Thursday the Clippers were ready to go. The Raiders in the other hand hadn’t played since Thursday October 10th. The Raiders also had to deal with getting used to the lower ceiling at Salem. The Raiders don’t have a ton of experience in that gym, getting bounced in their first tournament game last season. At least three balls got lost in the rafters for the Raiders in set one. Not to take anything away from the energetic Clipper offense who was putting pressure on the Raiders back row. The Clippers couldn’t have started any better with a 25-21 set one victory.
The Raiders took time to calm down before set two. However, Columbiana still had tons of momentum. They got out to a 9-5 lead and looked poised to keep making noise. The Raiders turned the tide and knotted the set up at 11. Their run didn’t end there as the Raiders continued to plug away and wound up with a 16-1 lead. It was all Raiders from this point on. They kept a late rally from the Clippers in check and took set two 25-21.
The Raiders stormed out of the gates in the next set. The big difference was their net defense. Whether it was Izzy Lamparty or Abby George, the Raider block started to wear down the Columbiana attack. The Raiders rolled through set three 25-14.
The Clippers showed great resiliency to fight back in set number four. The two teams traded points back and forth all the way up until the Raiders led 14-13. Then the Raiders rattled off a couple points in a row to create separation. Clippers still not going away, they tied it back up at 18-18. But the block of Lamparty struck again. The Raiders would get three points in a row two from the block and lead 22-19. They’d go on to win set four 25-20 and the match 3-1.
Izzy Lamparty led the way with 12 kills, 4 blocks, and an ace. The Primavera sisters were both in double figures. Anna finished with 11 kills, 5 digs, and 3 aces. Maria had 10 kills, and 3 digs. Emily Irons tallied a double double with 28 assists, and 10 digs. Reagan Irons had an impressive 31 digs.
The Raiders move on to play Lake Central Catholic on Wednesday at 7:30. That match will be at Salem High School.
Columbiana finishes the season with a record of 11-13.
The energy inside the South Range gymnasium was simply different on Thursday night. The three seniors on the team were honored before the match started. Each of them wanted to end their careers in their home gym with a positive note. They did just that with a three set win over Niles (25-18 25-23 25-16).
The Raiders came out swinging right away. They were able to hit an outstanding .408 hitting percentage in the opening set. Led by Anna Primavera with 7 kills in that set alone. The Raiders were also a force on the block from the beginning, whether it was Izzy Lamparty or Abby George, the Dragons struggled to get through the Raiders front row. Niles has very scrappy defense that kept things close. However, a late Raider rally gave them a 25-18 win in the first stanza.
The second set was by far the most exciting. Neither team had a lead that was greater than 3. Both teams were finding holes in the other’s defense. Truly a back and forth affair. With the score tied 23-23 the Raiders went to Anna Primavera to get set point, and then Izzy Lamparty put down a block to seal the set 25-23.
After winning such a closely contested set two it was clear that the Raiders had momentum. Niles however fought off the Raiders in the beginning stages of the set, in fact it was tied 12-12. Then it just got to be too much for the Dragons. The flood gates opened and the Raiders went on a 12-1 run to gain match point at 24-13 and eventually the match clinching set 25-16.
Anna Primavera had a double double with 16 kills, and 13 digs. She also tallied 3 aces. Abby George also had a strong night with 8 kills and a block. Maria Primavera had a career night with 12 kills and 7 digs, and an ace. Emily Irons had 40 assists, a season high. Also Irons had 7 digs and an ace. Reagan Irons finished with 20 digs, 4 kills, and 2 assists.
The Raiders now look forward to tournament play. The Raiders first game is Saturday Oct 19 at Salem High School. They await the winner of Columbiana vs Campbell.
Niles opens their tournament Tuesday Oct 15th vs Jefferson at Jefferson.