High school volleyball: Firelands ends long title drought, tops Keystone to share Lorain County League championship

HENRIETA TWP. — It had been a long time since Firelands won a conference championship in volleyball. Until Thursday night, that is. The Falcons, on senior night, got past pesky Keystone in four sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 28-26, to earn a co-title in the Lorain County League with Brookside. It's the first league championship since 1999 for the Falcons. Both Firelands and the Cardinals finished 13-1 in the league. The Falcons won 13 in a row after an opening-night loss to Brookside. "Firelands hasn't won a volleyball conference championship since the last century," said coach Jordan Kolarik pointing to the championship banner hanging in the Falcons gym. "It's been a goal of ours all season. For the girls to work so hard to get it done, I'm just so proud of them." Keystone certainly made the Falcons earn it. The Wildcats jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first game to set the tone for the evening. Four early kills from 6-foot junior Brooke Smith got the ball rolling. Keystone built a 16-5 advantage but had to hold off a late furious rally by Firelands to earn the first set. The Falcons reeled off seven straight points to close the deficit to 23-21 before a serving error and Smith's block-kill finished the game. "I told the kids we've come a long way," Keystone coach Laurie Cogan said. "To end the season playing this year's conference champion and to play as well as we did, I was extremely proud of them." "I wasn't too concerned with the slow start," Kolarik said. "It happens every senior night. I think we found our footing halfway through that first set. Keystone's a tough team and they fought us all night." Firelands got untracked in the second game after trailing most of the set. The Falcons scored four straight points to take an 18-15 lead. Two kills by junior Lauren Valerius, an ace by senior Leah Schmittle and a kill by sophomore Ally Stewart keyed the rally and the Falcons kept the lead from there. In the third game, Valerius and Lexi Mack took turns terminating the ball. Mack had five kills and Valerius 10, including the final five points in earning the win. "I was focusing on the next set," said Valerius, who finished with 20 kills. "In the first game, I was a little stressed out. I don't think I was in the right head space that first game." "We were a little scrambled," said Mack, who led the team with 22 kills. "We had the conference championship on the line. Last time we played Keystone, it was close." The fourth game was a classic. Both teams battled with several long volleys. The game was tied 16 times with the lead changing hands six times before Stewart settled things once and for all with a middle kill. Keystone played about as well as it could in trying to deny the Falcons the title. Smith had 21 kills, including four block-kills. Grace Scott and McKenna Saterlee had 37 and 18 digs, respectively, with Saterlee credited with 41 assists. Jessica Forthofer had 14 kills and Smith had 10. Senior libero Layne Riley dug up 25 balls to lead the defensive effort for the Falcons. Sophomore Grace Tansey had a career-high 17 digs. Tansey was credited with 43 assists. "I see the ball coming short so I just want to get it up for my team, make plays," Riley said. "If it's a hard ball to get, I want to make that play. It's amazing (to win the championship). It's been a dream to get our year on the poster. It's definitely been a senior goal." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7235 or timothy geb@msn.com. Firelands 21-25-25-28, Keystone 25-21-22-26 KILLS: (K) Brooke Smith 21, Jessica Forthofer 14; (F) Lexi Mack 22, Lauren Valerius 20 BLOCKS: (K) Smith 4; (F) Leah Schmittle 5 DIGS: (K) Grace Scott 37, McKenna Saterlee 18; (F) Layne Riley 29, Grace Tansey 17 ASSISTS: (K) Saterlee 41; (F) Tansey 43 ACES: (K) Emma Bachman, Olivia Sprague 3; (F) Tansey 3