Through five games, Cardinal’s volleyball team is undefeated and on pace to achieve its goal of beginning every match with a win.
The Huskies dropped Hawken, 26-24, 25-17, 25-14, on Thursday to improve to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division.
“At the beginning of the season we made it a goal to win every first match of the night and we’ve done that,” said Cardinal coach Karisca Chambers. “However, it’s been a battle with all the teams this season. It’s been neck and neck, back and forth for that first game. I don’t know if the girls just take a while to get going.”
The Huskies are difficult to stop once they find their rhythm and that success is largely due to how well the Huskies play together.
At Hawken, Caitlyn Lechene was having difficulty beating the Hawks’ block so the Huskies moved the ball around the court to score.
“They have a really good block,” Chambers said of the Hawks. “Caitlyn Lechene was getting blocked on the outside so I told our outsides and our setter, Maddie Bean, to move in. We had to move the hitters around.”
That strategy resulted in Jordyn Schultz finishing the match with 14 kills. Lechene added nine and Haley Adams had seven.
“Haley Adams really stepped it up on offense,” Chambers said. “At the start of the season we were setting her up the middle and it was hard for her to make a play because of the block. Last night we moved her around and were setting her off the middle a little bit and she was just crushing the ball.”
Bean finished with four kills, 35 assists and also posted 10 digs.
“The first couple of games her and I had discussion because sometimes she forgets to play defense first,” Chambers said. “After we kind of figured it out she has consistently been playing very good defense, even when they’re attacking from the outside. She’s right there to pop it up.”
Trisha Cesar also had a strong performance filling in for Delaney Leichtman on the right side.
“We started Trisha and she did a nice job defensively and her serve receive was on point,” Chambers said. “She had nine digs, which was great because between her an Delaney they have been battling back and forth for that right side position It was nice to see what she was able to do. She overcame her nerves and went out and filled the spot nicely.”
Megan Zeigler contributed to the win with 26 digs and two service aces.
The Huskies travel to Richmond Heights on Tuesday then host Berkshire on Thursday
