EASTLAKE—After reeling off 25-15 and 25-17 wins in the early part of its season opener against visiting Orange it looked as if the North volleyball team would cruise to a three-set win.
The Lions had other ideas as they rallied for a pair of 25-23 wins in the third and fourth games before the Rangers slammed the door with a 15-7 win in the fifth to close out the 3-2 victory.
North scored the first eight points of the decisive fifth set.
“That was very important,” said North coach Chelsey Regovich of the fast start. “I keep telling my setters we have three really good hitters. I told them to keep giving it to Sam Pirosko on the outside and Maria Blatnik on the right side and Lindsey Mausser in the middle. Those are my top hitters, so keep giving it to them and they’ll know what to do with it.”
That trio combined for 39 kills in the match.
“That helps the setters,” Regovich said of her three-headed monster in the front row. “The setters just have to put the ball up and they’ll do as much as they can to slam it down. It’s huge that I have three big front row hitters this year.”
North’s offense got into a rhythm early as the Rangers took a 2-0 lead.
A few breakdowns in the third set allowed Orange to climb back into the game. The Lions went on to win two straight sets to force the fifth.
“I have four setters so I try to get them all in,” Regovich said. “I changed it up in the third set and it didn’t work. The momentum was in Orange’s favor and things didn’t go our way in the fourth. We just pulled it together and relaxed and went out and played.”
The Rangers made several unforced errors and failed to work together during Orange’s two-set run.
“I think it was all just communication errors and we just stopped playing as a team for a quick second,” Blatnik said. “It was good to not start in a hole (in the fifth set). It was really fun and exciting to see everybody come together.”
Mausser, a junior, led the Rangers with 15 kills and eight blocks. Blatnik, a senior, recorded 13 kills and a team-high 14 assists.
Pirosko, who entered the season as the school’s all-time leader in kills, finished with 11 kills, five blocks and three aces.
“We probably should have closed it in the third game, but we’ll take the win no matter what,” Pirosko said.
Junior Jill Borthwick recorded a team-high eight service aces while sophomore Dhvani Patel dug a team-high 23 balls off the floor. Sophomore Julia Kerns was second on the team with seven blocks.
“They all just regrouped,” Regovich. “Dhvani and Jill did a good job. I keep switching between libero and being outside. Technically, Jill is my libero but with Jenna Kerns injured right now we had to change up our lineup. Once Jenna comes back next Saturday we can bring back Jill as our libero. That will help.”
