MIDDLEFIELD—Cardinal’s volleyball team suffered a major setback when it lost at Hawken early in the 2017 season.
The Huskies earned redemption on Saturday when they beat the visiting Hawks in an epic five-set match.
“That’s a huge win for us,” said Cardinal coach Karisca Chambers. “It was crazy. I have to give it to my girls because it’s hard when you have all these goals set and then they’re kind of jeopardized in the beginning, but they never faltered. They had that goal in mind where they want to be one of the top teams in the conference and we came out ready to play and we played together. This is some of the best volleyball I’ve seen them play.”
Four out of five sets went beyond the 25-point threshold as both teams battled for the two-point win.
The Huskies won the first two games, 29-27 and 26-24, but the Hawks battled back for a 30-28 win in the third.
Cardinal fell behind in the fourth set, 13-2, before Kaylee Klepper’s powerful serve pulled the Huskies to within 13-10. Hawken went on to win that game, 25-16.
There were six lead changes in the fifth set before Cardinal pulled out the 17-15 win.
“I think it makes the win so much sweeter because those close matches are why we’re here,” Chambers said. “We love to play those close matches. They might be nail-biters and are very nerve-wracking, but I think the girls like that competition. Hawken is getting better and better every year but that was just fun. It’s fun to see the score bounce back and forth. I really enjoy it.”
Megan Zeigler and Klepper both were under the weather but still recorded 21 kills in the win. Zeigler added 30 digs and five aces and Klepper posted a team-high nine aces and also had nine digs.
“Those two definitely stepped up tonight,” Chambers said. “Kaylee was feeling out of it and Megan was sick. I’m not making excuses for them, but they’re not 100-percent healthy, so to see them come out tonight and come out swinging, that’s what we need to do if we want to compete with Berkshire and those teams that are up there. We have to come out aggressive and swing and I think the girls did a nice job of not ever cowering down, even against their big block.”
Hanna Traggiai led the Huskies with a whopping 41 assists and also recorded 20 digs. Ashley Gubanyar posted a team-high 31 digs.
“We have very good hitters but in tight situations like that I look at Hanna and I tell her to just give it to our outsides,” Chambers said. “They both stepped up tonight. I’m extremely proud of them.”
Kaitlyn Shantery contributed with 10 digs and three aces, Anne Rupinski added 13 digs and Faith Peters recorded four digs and three kills. Camille Cummins pitched in with seven digs and a pair of kills and Alaina Strever finished the match with 14 digs.
The Huskies improved to 6-2 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division. They travel to Kirtland on Monday.
