LINESVILLE, Pa. – Meadville used a big rally in the third set to cap off a 3-0 Region 5 road win over rival Conneaut, (25-13, 25-21, 26-24) on Thursday.
Also see: Oct. 5 volleyball recaps
Meadville trailed 16-9 in the third before a 9-2 run tied it up, punctuated by a kill from Emma Parks.
CASH rallied to take a 23-20 lead before kills from Sydney Holt and Parks help tie things up. Leading 25-24, Holt ended the match with an ace.
Elliott Schleicher ran the Meadville offense to near perfection with 29 set assists to go along with 15 digs and two aces.
“This is awesome, especially in this gym, the rivalry is still alive and it’s just a wonderful win for us and our team, especially coming back from the Cochranton loss (on Monday),” Schleicher said in the Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview.
See Schleicher’s full interview.
Meadville came out on fire, as Parks had four kills among the first 11 points in the first set. The Bulldogs trailed 6-3 early, but went on a 13-5 run to take a 16-11 lead and cruised from there. Holt, Parks and Ellie Kellick all had kills during the run.
The second set was more back and forth. A kill from CASH’s Lainie Harrington tied it at 13-all, which was followed by a 4-0 run from Meadville, capped by a Parks kill.
CASH rallied to tie it again at 20-all, but a kill from Kellick keyed a closing 5-1 run for Meadville.
“You can learn a lot about yourself in a match like this,” said Meadville coach Tim Schleicher. “I’m proud of the girls.”
Parks had a team-high 18 kills for Meadville, while Holt had eight kills and Kellick five kills. Kendall Mealy was excellent defensively with 15 digs, including a big one with the score tied at 24-24 in the third set.
“Kendall was excellent tonight,” coach Schleicher said.
Harrington had 14 kills for CASH, while Payten Karastury had 28 set assists and 15 digs, Emily Vennare and Carlye Perrye five kills each, Paris Karastury 29 digs and Kenady Oates 14 digs.
Meadville will be at the Cochranton tournament on Saturday, with Warren, Maplewood and other D10 title contenders there as well.
“It will be some big-time volleyball, just like it was tonight,” coach Schleicher said.
