JEFFERSON—With a five-set win over defending league champion Jefferson, Edgewood took control of the Chagrin Valley Conference Lake Division.
The Warriors won the match 25-16, 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10 and improved to 11-4 overall and 5-0 in league play.
“These are the type of games you love,” said Edgewood head coach Kyra Vencill. “We knew this would be a dog fight as soon as we came in here. We knew we were going to fight point-for-point. We got in some trouble and dug ourselves some holes in the serve-receive. We need to clean that up against teams like Jefferson.”
The Warriors established early control, going up 10-3 with a Reagan Knox ace before Jefferson closed the gap down to 18-16 with back-to-back Brooklyn Hicks service aces.
Makenna Rhodes got the final say with a set-deciding kill.
Faith Vencill connected on a pair of early kills to give the Warriors a slim 7-6 lead in the second set, but the Falcons ultimately won set two courtesy of a 19-11 run, juiced by three Marillia Matuz kills and a Hicks ace to level the match.
Gianna Ianetta opened set three with an ace before getting an assist from Vencill for a pair of kills to bring the score to a 13-13 tie.
Cheyenne McGirr set up Kassidy Blood for a kill to break the 16-16 tie, but Leigha Guyton delivered a block, and Ianetta found Rhodes and Knox for back-to-back kills to win set three.
Jefferson took command early with a McGirr kill, going up 9-4 and winning set four wire-to-wire, with Olivia Palm finding Matuz to put one down.
Jefferson knew it needed to respond to being down 2-1 in the match and force a rubber match at home with an energetic crowd on hand.
“The fans were into it,” said Jefferson head coach Don Palm. “Those are fun atmospheres to play in. After the third set, for us to be successful, we just needed to limit our unforced errors. Execution is a key component to being successful.”
The Falcons did that, but Edgewood jumped out to an early cushion with a Knox ace and Guyton block to lead 10-3.
Jefferson made its move with a 5-1 run, forcing an Edgewood timeout as the gap closed to 11-8.
Coach Vencill refocused her team on its preseason goals in the timeout.
“I reminded (the girls) of their goals,” Vencill said of the message in the timeout. “At the beginning of the season, they wanted to win the CVC, and this match was standing in the way of allowing us to do that. We needed to focus on playing defense and running our offense. Once we did that, it changed the momentum of the game.”
Once again, Rhodes closed out a set with a kill.
This win gives Edgewood the upper hand in the conference standings and the Warriors avenged last season’s sweep to the Falcons.
“I’m super proud of the girls,” Vencill said. “This is a revenge year for us. We’ve worked hard for it. We have to be short-minded and focus on every single game. We can’t look beyond each match and must take care of business.”
Faith Vencill was the leader on the attack with 23 kills and she also contributed seven blocks.
Ianetta racked up 40 assists, Rhodes had 14 kills and three aces, Guyton finished with eight kills and 11 blocks, and Bethany Adams recorded 12 blocks.
Despite the loss, Jefferson’s young squad gained valuable experience.
“These are the matches where you’re uncomfortable, and everybody needs to contribute,” Palm said. “The more times our younger players are put into those situations, the better.”
The Falcons have some cleaning up to do before returning to conference play.
“We competed, our mindset was in a good place,” Palm said. “But ultimately, our execution just wasn’t quite good enough. We didn’t make enough plays to pull off the win.”
McGirr led the attack with 14 kills, and Blood pitched in with 11 kills and five service aces. Abby Cotton finished with 10 kills and Hicks finished with three blocks and four aces.
Edgewood hosts Lakeside on Sept. 26 while Jefferson hosts Madison.
