For the second half of the regular season, the Garfield G-Men volleyball team struggled to find their winning ways after a fast start to the campaign. Garfield returned to its roots when it swept Brookside 25-12, 25-11, and 25-19 in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V Northeast 3 sectional championship last Thursday evening at Elyria Catholic High School.
“It makes the season worth it,” said Coach Ali Roach. “It makes all of the hard work worth it. We did not go into that game thinking we were going to walk away with it. We knew we were going to go into the postseason and fight for everything we could get, so it just felt fantastic.”
It marks the fourth straight season that the G-Men (16-7, 12-2) have advanced to the district semifinal. If Garfield defeats Elyria Catholic in the district semifinal match on Tuesday evening, it will qualify for the district championship for the first time since 2020 and face either Berkshire or Norwayne on Thursday evening at Magnificat High School in Rocky River.
Despite playing in a new division since the OHSAA expanded the playoff brackets to seven divisions this season, the G-Men remain in a deep field of competitors, with the likes of Berkshire, Lake Catholic, Crestview and Columbiana waiting in the wings. Nonetheless, the G-Men dominated Brookside to win their fourth straight sectional title last Thursday evening.
According to the six-year coach, Garfield was sparked by its service game to take an early advantage and to go ahead 7-1 in the first set. She noted that part of Garfield’s success earlier in the season was attributed to its stellar ball placement through the service game.
“I like when my team plays aggressive but some days if we start to have a little bit more hitting or passing errors, I try and push for that ball control,” she added. “I think we showed up on Wednesday and we had a really good practice from the day before, so it was nice to see that transfer into the game.”
Garfield cruised to a 25-12 victory in the first set and continued sparking its offense through the service game in the second set, resulting in a resounding 25-11 win.
It was not until the third set when the G-Men encountered some resistance from Brookside.
“We made a few changes in the line-up,” Roach said. “We have a lot of girls on the court and off of the court who are strong, so we made a couple of different changes.”
Roach also acknowledged that Garfield’s ball control was not as sharp, allowing the Cardinals to stay within striking distance.
After Brookside took a 9-8 advantage, the G-Men rallied to go on a 12-8 run, holding a three-point edge near the end of the set.
On freshman outside hitter Tenley Korosec’s serve, Garfield used a 3-0 spurt to assume control and clinch victory by a 25-19 margin to complete the sweep and extend their season by at least one more week.
“I definitely think in the postseason, every team does not want to end their season, so they definitely came out fighting,” Roach noted. “I do have confidence in my team so even if we fall behind during a game, I do know that they are always willing to fight so just to know the way that the two first sets went, I had confidence in them coming back and fighting for that last win.”
Roach added that even when the Cardinals countered with some swings and kill attempts, Garfield was ready. The G-Men’s front row of senior outside hitter Hannah Kernig, sophomore outside hitters Reese Shirkey and Charlee Hill combined for 24 kills, five aces, two blocks and 12 assists.
“I think between our offensive swings and our serves, we also had a good amount of digs so even when they were trying to run their offense, we were able to get good digs and set it back up and have our offense which always gives us energy.”
Roach added that although Garfield’s front row is not that tall, with its tallest player only 5-foot-6, it makes up for it with an abundance of athleticism and grit, which helped propel the team to a bounce-back season after a lackluster 2023 campaign.
“I do feel it is very rewarding knowing the time that they are putting in and knowing how hard they work in every single game to have those positive outcomes is just fantastic because you deserve it when you are working that hard,” Roach added.
