Cardinal’s volleyball team officially is on a hot streak.
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| Megan Zeigler had 11 assists |
The Huskies, who won the Chagrin Falls tournament on Saturday, defeated Harvey, 3-0, on Tuesday to improve to 12-5 overall and 5-0 in the Chagrin Valley Conference. Head coach Lisa Shirkey challenged her players to limit the Red Raiders to 10 points per set.
They responded by holding Harvey to just 10 points in the match.
“I gave them a goal because I knew going in they needed to keep their focus,” Shirkey said. “They needed to keep them to 10 points per set and they kept them to 10 points in the match. They got the job done.”
Cardinal swept the Red Raiders, 25-4, 25-3, 25-3.
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“It’s challenging sometimes when you’re in a match like that,” Shirkey said. “You tend to lose focus but they didn’t really do that. They just hammered it; all of them.”
Alyssa Shirkey posted team highs in kills (10) and digs (13) and added 17 service points. Kaitlin Bean contributed with six kills, six digs, seven aces and 12 points and Caitlyn Lechene recorded five kills and three blocks.
Hayley Adams came up big with 20 service points and five aces and Maddie Bean was 50-for-51 in setting opportunities with 27 assists, seven aces and 13 points.
With Kayli Staric out with a knee injury, sophomore Jordyn Schultz stepped in at outside hitter and performed admirably. She posted three kills in the win.
“We moved Hayley Adams to the middle and Jordyn is on the right side. We have one rotation where we rotate Alyssa into the middle and that’s working really well right now,” Shirkey said. “We started that Saturday at the Chagrin Invitational and it seems to be working so far.”
Megan Zeigler contributed with 11 assists.
The real story for the Huskies is what they accomplished on Saturday at Chagrin Falls.
They opened the invitational with a 25-11, 25-14 win over Woodridge then avenged two of their losses this season with back-to-back wins over Twinsburg (25-11, 27-25) and Chagrin Fall (25-20, 25-20).
“That I feel was a turning point for us,” Shirkey said of the Twinsburg and Chagrin Falls wins. “We had those close matches against Crestwood and Chagrin, those five-set matches, that we haven’t been able to pull those out. We’re right there and haven’t been able to get that win. It was nice to see the composure and confidence the girls had in themselves to get the job done. There was no looking back after that point.”
Kaitlin Bean was at her best at Chagrin.
“It was a very solid performance by everybody but Kaitlin Bean had a phenomenal week,” Shirkey said. “She definitely led us in the tournament on Saturday. She showed her veteran status. She really came through for us on Saturday.”
The Huskies have a week off before returning to action at Kirtland on Sept. 30. That match opens a difficult stretch of games that will see Cardinal travel to league rival Kirtland on Tuesday then host Berkshire the following day. The Huskies then travel to West Geauga for a third game in three days.
