High school volleyball: Brookside sweeps past North Olmsted in non-league play

SHEFFIELD — Sometimes the best measurement for a team is to step away from conference play. Brookside, the Lorain County Conference leader, took on North Olmsted on Saturday in a non-league match and liked how it played. The Cardinals won in three tough sets, 25-22, 26-24, 25-21, to improve to 13-6 overall. North Olmsted is 11-10. The Cardinals' schedule has included many larger schools designed to improve Brookside's tournament chances. "I love the teams out of our conference," junior libero Haley Trowbridge said. "It's a good challenge for all of us." Senior Jenna Rothman led the attack for Brookside with 11 kills, including a handful of block-kills. She was 23-of-23 hitting. "My whole high school career my freshman and sophomore year, I was just front row," she said. "Moving on to my junior and senior years, (coach Jenn Larrick) has tried to make me a passer. I used to be so nervous in the back row, because I wasn't a huge back-row hitter but she wanted to push me to do it." "This is the first year she's been healthy and we've been able to play her all around," Larrick said. "She's a huge plus for us. Her length covers a lot. She's a competitor, she's a terminator. She's our go-to." "We're preparing for the tournaments," Rothman said. "Our team is always on a roller coaster. I love competing with bigger schools. It's a challenge for us." Not only were the Cardinals sharp at the net but on the service line as well, recording 12 aces. "Serve-receive errors, serving errors, we've been cleaning that up a bit," said Larrick. "We missed more serves than I like, but we were serving aggressive and getting aces. It kind of equals that out." Trowbridge set the tone with five aces, including four in the pivotal second set, which Brookside had to rally from a 22-19 deficit to win 26-24. The Cardinals trailed 24-23 but managed to win the serve back on a kill from Camryn Vilevac and finished it with an ace by Paige Grobolsek. "I just want to get it over the net and make it happen," Trowbridge said. "It's just luck." "She did a great job," Larrick said of Trowbridge. "She hustled. We made some defensive adjustments, all the right stuff. She was all over the place for us." Trowbridge and Rothman each had eight digs to back up Leah Musall, who led the team with 10. Musall also had 14 assists. Rothman had three aces. "That's where most of my pride is," said Trowbridge of defense. "I really like to help everyone out in that back row, just talking, moving and getting the ball so we can get in our offense." Brookside controlled the first and third sets. The Cardinals held a 21-16 lead in the opener and staved off a late challenge. Rothman's two kills finished the game. In the third set, Brookside grabbed an early 15-8 lead and never trailed, though North Olmsted trimmed it to 20-19 at one point. Rothman again finished the game with a kill. "It really comes down to execution down the stretch," North Olmsted coach Joe Marita said. "That's a very good team across the other side of the net. They put pressure on us every single point." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com. Brookside 25-26-25 North Olmsted 22-24-21 Kills: NO—Erica Merth 12, B—Jenna Rothman 11. Blocks: B—Rothman 5. Digs: B—Leah Musall 10. Assists: B—Musall 14. Aces: NO—Meghan Wheeler 4, B—Haley Trowbridge 5