The Garfield G-Men volleyball team has shaken off an 0-2 start to the season. The G-Men’s resurgence continued when they swept Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier foe Liberty 25-15, 25-15, 25-6 last Thursday evening in Youngstown.
“They were upset starting 0-2 at the beginning of the season and made sure that they showed up at practice,” said Coach Ali Roach. “I do feel like they came out strong and then we were able to work as a team and get some other players in.”
For Garfield, the victory against their MVAC Grey Tier foes marks their 11th win out of their last 13 games. The G-Men (11-4, 8-2) remain in contention for the league title, currently tied for second place with LaBrae. Reigning champion Crestview is undefeated in league play.
On Thursday, Garfield enjoyed a quick start to the match by taking an 8-4 lead at the beginning of the first set.
According to the seven-year coach, Liberty engaged in some long rallies with the G-Men but said that her squad prevailed in most of those volleys. She credited the Leopards with their resilient play, but added that Garfield stayed patient and kept attacking, ultimately seeing the fruits of their efforts yield positive results.
“I feel like we never really hang our heads, and it doesn’t force us to be upset about it,” she added. “I had a hitter come up to me during the game and say, ‘They keep blocking me, what do I need to do?’ and we just talked about our adjustments and I think that speaks volumes about a player to come and do that and recognize that she does want to make a change to be successful.”
The G-Men went on a 17-11 run to clinch the first set 25-15 and history repeated itself in the second set, once again building an early lead and using a big run in the middle of the set to assume control.
Roach acknowledged that her team previously had lagged a little in the second set but was pleased to see that they did not relinquish their aggressive start from the first set and won the second set 25-15.
In the third set, the Leopards succumbed to Garfield’s well-balanced offense, as senior outside hitter/middle blocker Mandy Cardinal delivered six consecutive aces and the G-Men earned a resounding 25-6 victory to complete the sweep.
“It was probably hard for Liberty to bounce back because we were not letting up,” Roach noted. “They still went out there and they kept everything going as we were doing already. I don’t think that there is any girl on my bench that can’t hold her own on the court and on Thursday night they had the opportunity to do that.”
Having swept the season series against Liberty, Roach said that the G-Men once again leaned on their depth to withstand some gritty play by Liberty in the beginning of the match and continued staying connected as an offense toward the end to earn the victory.
In addition to being a well-balanced offense, Roach praised Garfield for its strong ball movement, as several players tallied assists to set up the team’s outside hitters and middle blockers for kills.
“I feel like we are super scrappy and getting a lot of digs in every game and I have two setters that are very good at communicating with our hitters to find out what they want or any adjustments that need to be done, so I would say overall it is definitely a joint effort,” she said.
Boasting four seniors on the roster, Roach said that the G-Men have been a perfect blend of experience and youth, as four sophomores have earned playing time in the rotation along with the seniors and two juniors, which has allowed them to experience significant varsity action.
Roach highlighted the importance of the underclassmen seeing time on the court with the upperclassmen.
“Just seeing the strength show through and how you work hard to improve throughout the season is great for any of the underclassmen to see that just so we can keep the same thing going in our program for years to come,” she added.
Following a home duel against Crestview on Thursday night, the G-Men will return to the court and welcome MVAC Grey Tier rival Brookfield to the JAG Fieldhouse on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
