Strongsville's volleyball team sprints out of the gate and keeps the pedal to the medal to win Saturday's Renee Roche Invitational at Independence.
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Strongsville's senior defensive specialist/libero Amy Andreski felt if her team learned anything from Tuesday's Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division volleyball loss to Elyria, it's that you have to play hard from beginning to end.
It seems the Mustangs are quick learners because they came out strong Saturday to win three matches without dropping a game, including a 25-21, 25-19 victory over Brecksville-Broadview Heights in the title match of the Renee Roche Invitational at Independence.
"We have good chemistry," said Strongsville senior outside hitter/University of Maryland-Baltimore County recruit Alexis Plagens, who earned Player of the Tournament honors after totaling 10 of her 26 kills against the Bees.
"We were concerned with [Canisius recruit] Olivia Chrzanowski, Ashley King and Abby Brinkman on the other side of the net, but we have big blockers, good back row players and everybody came up big today."
Brecksville (9-4) was its own worst enemy against the Mustangs (10-1), ranked No. 15 in the first Division I coaches state poll.
The Bees pulled within 20-17 in the first game only to commit three hitting errors and a pair of double hits which allowed Strongsville to close it out. Brecksville had nine unforced errors in the second game, 14 for the match.
"Unforced errors were a problem for us all day," said Bees rookie coach Dan Irving. "What killed us today is we'd go on a mini run of two or three points, then make a mistake that would end the run. We just don't have one error and that's it. It's usually two, three or four in a row and that's why there's gray hairs in my goatee."
Mustangs senior middle hitter Sarah Gootee also earned all-tournament honors after accounting for four of her 14 kills in the title match. Andreski had 10 of her 26 digs coming against the Bees while senior setter Mandy Peterlin dished out 17 assists en route to totaling 59 on the day.
Chrzanowski, another all-tournament team choice, had nine kills and three aces against Strongsville while freshman setter Nikki D'Anna mustered 21 assists
"When we're staying in system, passing the ball well on our first contacts and our serve receive is going where we want the ball to go, we're a hard team to stop," said Mustangs coach Erick Sopata.
Filling in: Former Holy Name coach Karen Carter was helping assistant coach Greg Chmielecki because head coach Jenny Phillips had other business to attend to. Expecting her first child, Phillips went into labor early Saturday morning.
Three's company: Independence sophomores Caitlyn, Lauren and Alyssa Synek are triplets. Caitlyn, who stands 5-10 is the oldest by a minute while 5-8 Lauren and 5-7 Alyssa are separated by 30 seconds. The trio might have growing to do. Their dad, Rob, is 6-5.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bfortuna@plaind.com, 216-999-4665