In what is becoming a trend, Cardinal dug itself a hole and then climbed out of it to beat visiting Kirtland on Thursday, 3-1.
The Huskies, who improved to 4-2 overall, have trailed in three of their four wins.
“Even though the first set snuck away from us, I had no doubt in my mind that we would bounce back. We always do,” said Cardinal coach Karisca Chambers. “For some reason, we actually do better when we have to come from behind. It doesn’t make it easy on the coaches or fans but I’m just happy that we are able to pull ourselves out of these ruts.”
Kirtland led by as many as 10 in winning the first set, 25-19. The Huskies dominated the second set, 25-9, then won two close sets to close out the match, 25-23 and 25-21.
“Tonight, we started out a little slow,” Chambers said. “Kirtland was doing a nice job at blocking our hitters and we tried to adjust as much as we could. They were probably the best blocking team we’ve played so far. Also, at times, we struggled in serve receive because of the tough serves they had, but my back row was able to pick them up and get the ball to my setter, Haley Domen.”
Domen finished with 35 assists, 11 digs and two service aces.
Kaylee Klepper led Cardinal with 18 kills and also contributed with eight digs and two aces. Camille Cummins recorded 27 digs, 12 kills and three aces and Ashley Gubanyar posted a team-high 37 digs and six aces.
Taylor Soltis contributed to the win with 14 digs, Andrea Mack finished with five kills and three blocks and Faith Peters recorded two blocks and two digs. Jessie Proch added two blocks and two digs and Alaina Strever finished with eight digs.
Stella DeJohn led Kirtland with eight kills and five blocks. Lilly Kelemen recorded seven kills and a team-high 12 blocks and Laura Koschik finished with seven kills, eight digs and two blocks. Nicole Aveni led the Hornets with 21 digs and also finished with eight digs and three aces.
“The girls came out ready to and jumped out to a 10-point lead,” said Kirtland coach Bob Schenosky. “Our net play led the way. While they fought hard and almost came back in sets three and four, Cardinal was able to capitalize on our mistakes.”
