No matter how far the Windham Bombers volleyball team travels, they never forget to pack their “A” game.
The Bombers continued excelling in road contests, spoiling Northeastern Athletic Conference Stripes Division rival Lordstown’s senior night and defeating them 25-20, 25-13 and 25-21 last Thursday evening in Warren.
“It was a really nice win,” said Coach Lauren Gintert. “They are having a great year this year so it was nice to see them keep executing. This puts us in competition for second place in the league so it is a pretty great feeling to be moving up from last year when we only had eight wins.”
It marked the sixth victory in the last seven contests for the Bombers (13-6, 12-3) and the sixth road win out of eight contests, the first time Windham has held a .500 or better road record since the since the 2016 season.
For whatever reason, playing on the road just seems to agree with the Bombers.
“Some schools are harder than others,” added Windham’s eighth-year coach. “We get a lot of really big fan sections so at some of the schools it is hard to execute those wins sometime where everybody out there is against you. So it is nice to see this year they learned to block that out and capitalize on winning on the road.”
According to Gintert, the Bombers took the lead in the first set but it was still a slow start and they needed to fend off Lordstown to win 25-20.
She acknowledged that although Windham was already battle-tested when it came to competing in enemy territory, it could still be challenging getting off to fast starts in front of an opposing crowd.
After winning the first set, Gintert said that her team did not need much of a pep talk and that they themselves knew they needed to step up their game.
“My girls are pretty determined this year so I think as soon as they start to see they are not playing to their full potential they pick it up and start pushing a little harder on serving and hitting to make the points happen,” she said.
The Bombers won the second set decisively 25-13, fueled by the offense of senior outside hitters Ka’Neese Cunningham, Briah Daniel, Memphys Lough, Lorena De Olivera and Angelina Jones.
“They have a lot of diversity and that really helps them because it makes them unpredictable in the front,” said Gintert.
Daniel paced Windham by recording 17 kills and 6 blocks, followed by De Olivera who posted 5 aces and 23 service points.
The Red Devils were not vanquished easily, putting up another fight in the third set but Windham maintained its edge, winning 25-21 to sweep their conference rivals and remain in third place in the NAC Stripes Division.
Since the 2021 season, the Bombers have consistently conquered Lordstown, having swept it in conference play in the last three seasons.
Having already exceeded their win total from last season, the Bombers also have recorded the most number of victories since Gintert took over as head coach.
She said that in addition to fielding a larger squad than in previous years, Windham has been successful because of its chemistry.
“Honestly our strongest things that people really underestimate when it comes to women’s volleyball is the teamwork and getting along,” she said. “Sometimes that can be your hardest road and these girls really do everything they can to work together.”
She also credited the work of the five seniors, including Daniel, Cunningham and Jones who have been four-year starters with the program and are finally seeing the fruits of their labor pay off.
“I have had these girls now for four years and it means a lot,” Gintert said. “They started their freshman season with only three wins, playing varsity their freshman year. It is tough mentally on a kid so it is nice to see them get to see that if you stick with it things will come around and you get rewarded for that.”
The conference banner will be just out of Windham’s grasp this season, with Saint John having clinched the title for the second straight season but the Bombers still have a chance to finish as the conference runners-up, the best finish for the program since winning the conference in 2014.
“It is a huge step forward,” said Gintert. “We cannot go from the fifth step of the ladder up to the first so it is nice to make our way up closer to the top. We appreciate that and will keep pushing.”
Windham’s record improved to 14-6, (13-3), sweeping the Northeastern Athletic Conference Stipes Division foe Bloomfield on the road on Monday evening.
The Bombers will hit the road and take on NAC rival Fairport-Harding in a crossover conference clash in a challenge match in Lake County on Thursday night.
