Playing in another conference game right after a conference loss is just what the doctor ordered for the Crestwood Red Devils’ volleyball team.
The Red Devils kept pace in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division, sweeping Cardinal 25-10, 25-21, 25-23 last Thursday evening at Crestwood High School in Mantua.
“You are always nervous because those teams are so well-rounded and have won throughout the season and know to keep coming back and working hard,” said Crestwood Coach Wanda Hoffman. “You just have to play every ball as if the game is going to depend on it.”
Having suffered their first CVC Valley Division loss against the reigning conference champion Kirtland on Sep. 19, the Red Devils (9-5, 3-1) faced another stiff challenge against Cardinal.
Since joining the CVC in 2020, Crestwood could not solve the Huskies (5-8, 1-3), losing five consecutive matches in a span of two years against its new conference rivals.
Last season, the Red Devils finally figured out how to overcome Cardinal, sweeping the season series and continued holding the upper hand to etch its third straight victory over Cardinal last week.
“They just had a spectacular team several years ago,” said the Red Devils’ 31st-year coach. “I know they lost crucial players. When that group graduated, they were still fighting hard but they are still trying to fill in the spots they lost and I think we are starting to step up and have a lot of well-rounded players that we can go to.”
Holding a 2-0 advantage, Crestwood seemed well on its way to sweeping the Huskies out of the building, leading 23-20 but Cardinal rallied with a 3-0 surge to tie the score at 23-23.
Junior outside hitter/middle blocker Hannah Ward acknowledged things got a little too close for comfort.
“It was really important,” she said. “We did not want to play another set and knew we could beat Cardinal. Theis should not have been that close compared to the first set when we were leading. We knew we needed to get going and that is exactly what we did.”
Ward delivered a kill, pushing the Red Devils ahead 24-23 and junior outside hitter/middle blocker Maddie Dustman followed suit with the match-ending kill, sending the Huskies to their third consecutive defeat.
“We are young and people are taking on different roles this year,” acknowledged Huskies’ Coach Anne Mann. “We had an injury last game so we had to go with a new line-up for this game so we are just trying to figure things out right now. They have to work it out. They have skill and talent but they have to want it.”
In the first set, Crestwood dictated the pace by taking a 14-0 lead with junior outside hitter Kayleigh Helm holding serve and tallying 14 consecutive service points.
“That was great,” Ward said. “Kayleigh did a great job, putting it where they were not. We read when it came back over and it just fired us up and got us going.”
The Red Devils never relinquished their momentum and went on to clinch the set decisively 25-10.
Even when Huskies broke Helm’s service game, its front row struggled to match up against the height of Crestwood’s outside hitters consisting of Ward, Dustman and junior Roxxy Bretz.
Cardinal kept pace with the Red Devils at the beginning of the second set, tying the score at 7-7 but Crestwood responded with a 10-4 run, fueled by some unforced Huskies’ errors and several more kills by the trio of Ward, Bretz and Dustman.
“Our defense was not bad,” said Cardinal’s second-year coach. “What really killed us was on our tips and picking up things in the middle so we have been working on that but we see we have to continue to work on that.”
The Huskies showed renewed energy in the third set, going ahead 13-10 but Crestwood responded with a 10-4 run. Cardinal had one more rally left, staging a 6-3 spurt to even the score at 23-23, but Crestwood halted the comeback to clinch the victory.
Hoffman acknowledged that the Red Devils faltered in their service game, committing seven errors on serves to give the Huskies new life.
After facing CVC Valley Division rival Berkshire on the road on Tuesday evening, the Red Devils will also travel to face Beachwood for a CVC crossover game on Thursday at 6 p.m. then stay on the road to face Villa Angela-St. Joseph in Cleveland on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, following a CVC crossover road game against Beachwood on Tuesday, the Huskies will take on conference foe Grand Valley at Orville on Thursday at 6 p.m.
