Cardinal’s volleyball team shook off a slow start to hand new coach Karisca Chambers her first win at the school.
The Huskies rallied to win the first game 25-20 and pulled out the second 25-23. They dominated to win the third, 25-10.
“We kind of had a rougher start,” Chambers said. “West Geauga had the lead for most of the first game. I don’t know if the girls were nervous because it was the first game, first home opener, but we started down. It was 11-7. We kind of struggled but once we got to around 16 we got the lead and ran with it. The second game was a nail biter too. It went back and forth but we pulled that one out 25-23. The third game, we figured everything out at that point.”
Cardinal spent the summer preparing for the opener against the Wolverines. The two teams matched up in Cardinal’s summer league, which gave the Huskies a taste of what to expect once the regular season started.
“West Geauga was actually at our summer league so it was nice to play them over the summer to get a feel for how they worked on their offense and what kind of defense they ran,” Chambers said. “We were super prepared today because we kind of learned how to beat them. We beat them in the summer league and it just got us ready for today, which was nice.”
Jordyn Schultz helped to soften the blow of losing standout players Alyssa Shirkey and Kaitlin Bean to graduation in June. She finished with a team-high 12 kills.
“She played JV last year because of Kaitlin Bean and Alyssa Shirkey, so there wasn’t another spot,” Chambers said. “She actually played right side last year and this year she’s one of my starting outsides this year. She led the team with 12 kills, which was fantastic. Her back row was solid. She’s a really good all-around player.”
Seniors Haley Adams and Caitlin Lechene each added 7 kills for the Huskies and sophomore Megan Zeigler posted a team-high 17 digs and junior Maddie Bean had 30 assists.
“Hailey Adams and Caitlin Lechene, they both had 7 kills each and we also have Megan Zeigler returning at Libero. She did a fantastic job in the back row. She had 17 digs today. She did really well,” Chambers said. “Maddie Bean, our returning setter from last year, had 30 assists, which was great. They played really well.”
Cardinal travels to Crestwood on Tuesday and Fairport Harding on Thursday.
