THE CARDS ARE BACK
By Ty Bartell
CANFIELD OH- You never know what a sports season could bring. Teams could perform above or below
expectation, certain players can step up and make names for themselve, while others will battle adversity such as injuries to get playing time. With the post-season tournament vastly approaching, the proverbial second season is about ready to start, and The Canfield Cardinals volleyball team is out to prove they are not reflective of what their record in the first season indicated. Getting everyone on the team back healthy has now put The Cards in position to not only be competitive, but win a lot of tough matchups in the near future. On Wednesday, Canfield hosted crosstown rival The Boardman Spartans in an All-American Conference (AAC) matchup! The Spartans won the previous match with The Cardinals 3-1 in Boardman back on Tuesday, September 19th. Looking for the regular season sweep while Canfield was looking for revenge and it was set as a premier match on The Cardinals senior night!
Set one was exactly what you expect when these two teams meet. A knockdown, drag-out type of set where nor clear leader could be indicated as both the lead and momentum swung like a pendulum. Big plays happened down the stretch for both teams, with the young freshmen players like Maya Flores (Boardman) and Ashtyn Hanousek (Canfield) stepping up for their respective squads. It would be The Cardinals that pulled away late, needing extra points, to claim the 27-25 opening set win.
It looked like Canfield had the momentum and was going to cruise to an easy set two win, leading Boardman by as much as 10 points during the set. However, The Spartans battled back in an amazing comeback effort by the whole team, supercharged by the serving of Sadie
Sattefield and Ava Bosnjak! From being down by 10 to winning by 2, Boardman muscled their way to the 25-23 set two win, knotting the matchup at a set a piece!
Speaking of supreme serving, Canfield’s Lauren Miasek put on quite a display of serving prowess in set three! Stacking up aces like she had a full deck up her sleeve, Miasek gave The Cardinals a comfortable lead in the set and they held it through to a victory of 25-18. The score was so nice, Canfield did it twice! Doubling it up with back-to-back 25-18 set wins, The Cardinals took set four and the match from Boardman, effectively getting their revenge!
Both Cameron Zenko and Lauren Miasek led Canfield with 6 aces in the match! While Carly Fleming notched the double-double with 24 assists and 15 digs, leading her team in both categories. Meredith Ross and Ashtyn Hanousek were the big-time attackers for The Cards, with Ross recording 12 kills and Hanousek 11 kills. Isabella Bucciarelli was more like “Ice-a-bella” with a stone-cold 7 blocks of Boardman attackers!
Both teams will now look ahead to the upcoming tournament with Boardman slated as the #11 seed in the Division 1, Northeast 2 bracket. While Canfield is locked as the #13 seed in the Division 2, Northeast 1 bracket where they are paired up with #8 seed Ursuline! Stay up-to-date with all tournament scores, stats, stories and more on YSN!
