Kirtland volleyball tops Chagrin Falls in CVC showdown

KIRTLAND — With first place in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division on the line, Kirtland Volleyball found an answer every time Chagrin Falls Volleyball applied pressure.

The Hornets remained unbeaten and moved into sole possession of first place with a 25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 25-22 victory over the Tigers on Sept. 8.

Kirtland improved to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the CVC Valley Division, while Chagrin Falls fell to 6-3 and 2-1.

Both teams entered the match unbeaten in league play, and Kirtland coach Ricky Sanders knew the Hornets would have little room for error against the defending CVC co-champions.

“We knew that it was going to be a fight because they’re the defending co-champs of the CVC,” he said. “We knew that we had to go into this flawlessly. Although it wasn’t flawless, we pushed point after point. And whenever we made an error, we were able to regroup, and our mentality for the entire match was: Once a play is over, we move on to the next play and move forward. That’s all we did the whole night.”

The teams battled to a 4-4 tie in the opening set before Matea Vujica sparked the Hornets with a block and a kill during a 10-3 run that pushed Kirtland ahead, 14-7.

Molly Wheatley and Molly Nightwine answered with kills as Chagrin Falls chipped away at the deficit and closed to within 19-17.

Elise Hurd came out of a Kirtland timeout with a kill, but Lily Victoroff answered with a kill of her own and followed with two service aces as the Tigers pulled even at 20-20.

Ellie Spencer responded with a kill that put Kirtland back in front, and Ava Kostelnik delivered a block as the Hornets closed out the opening set, 25-22.

Wheatley and Spencer traded kills early in the second, while Hurd contributed offensively as the teams battled to a 7-7 tie.

Katelyn Alexander served an ace to help Chagrin Falls move ahead, 10-8, but Kirtland responded with a run that built a 15-12 advantage and forced a Tigers timeout.

The Hornets never surrendered the lead.

Vujica supplied a late kill and Bria Golem added an ace as Kirtland finished off a 25-19 win and took a 2-0 lead in the match.

Chagrin Falls refused to go quietly.

Siena Farah served an ace during an early run that gave the Tigers a 6-2 lead in the third set, and Nightwine later added an ace as Chagrin Falls stretched its advantage to 16-8.

Kirtland attempted to climb back into the set behind a Spencer kill and an ace by Andriana Grman, trimming the deficit to 20-15.

The Tigers answered.

Victoroff, Nightwine, and Clark Perkins all contributed kills down the stretch as Chagrin Falls extended the match with a 25-17 victory.

Kirtland regrouped in the fourth.

Vujica opened the set with a block, Alexander recorded another ace for Chagrin Falls, and Spencer continued to hammer away offensively as the Hornets built a 12-9 advantage.

Vujica and Nightwine traded kills as the set progressed, while Spencer recorded her 17th kill of the match as Kirtland moved ahead, 20-15.

Chagrin Falls mounted one more charge behind a kill from Abbey Babic and a Victoroff block, but the Hornets answered when it mattered most.

Kirtland scored the final three points to finish off the Tigers, 25-22, and secure the four-set victory.

Spencer finished with a match-high 18 kills and added 10 digs.

Vujica and Hurd combined for 18 kills and six blocks, giving the Hornets multiple attacking options around Spencer.

Grman totaled 20 assists and three aces, while Adalyn Kruger added 12 assists.

Golem anchored the defense with 15 digs and reached a career milestone in the process, recording the 1,000th dig of her career.

Chagrin Falls coach Kelly Holtz said her team struggled at times to find its rhythm, particularly against Kirtland’s aggressive serving.

“We played back on our heels a little bit when we started off in the game, and started us off with a little bit of a disadvantage, but our girls worked hard,” Holtz said. “They don’t really pay attention to the score. They just try to find the rhythm and correct things, and move forward. And I think they did a really good job with that. I give props to Kirtland. I think they did a really good job serving us aggressively and kind of took us out of our system a bit. We couldn’t find our groove tonight.”

Even without consistently finding that groove, Chagrin Falls remained within striking distance in three of the four sets.

“It was really encouraging,” Wheatley said. “The energy that we have on our team when we’re really going at it and on a roll is unbeatable. We get down at times, but it is really encouraging with the energy that we have when we know we’re doing great.”

Wheatley led the Tigers with 17 kills and eight blocks.

Nightwine added 10 kills, Babic recorded eight kills and five blocks, and Victoroff finished with six kills and seven blocks.

Margarette Svette distributed 26 assists.

The victory gives Kirtland the early advantage in the CVC Valley race, but Sanders isn’t interested in looking ahead to the Hornets’ Oct. 1 rematch with Chagrin Falls.

First comes Berkshire on Sept. 10.

“Berkshire is going to be a tough match because we’ve lost to them the last few seasons, and we don’t know what to expect out of them because we don’t know what they have,” Sanders said. “So we’re gonna take it one game at a time. They were at the top of the conference last year with Chagrin Falls, so we’re not gonna overlook Berkshire. We’re gonna play them just as hard as we played tonight and see what happens.”

Kirtland visits Berkshire on Sept. 10, while Chagrin Falls returns to action Sept. 9 at Wickliffe.

The Hornets and Tigers meet again Oct. 1 at Chagrin Falls.