Girls volleyball: Open Door beats Vermilion in non-league matchup

ELYRIA – Open Door may be small, but it's mighty. The Patriots took on all comers and once again came out on top over Vermilion 21-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21 in non-conference play to improve to 4-2. "As a small school in Lorain County, it's nice to go up against teams like that (Sailors)," said Open Door junior Taylor Giesbrecht who finished with 11 kills and a pair of block-kills. "It shows that it doesn't matter the size of the school, it just matters how athletic you are, how talented you are in your sport. Our team really shows that." Open Door looked to grab the opening set up 20-18, but after a timeout, Vermilion put together one of its best stretches, finishing with a 7-1 run with an ace from Elyse Mynitti, a pair of kills from Sophie Habermehl, a kill by Emma Gebhardt and a block-kill by Lauren Logsdon to close out the set win. The Patriots started their three-set run early in the second, trailing 6-5 when junior Paige Pachinger rattled off three of her team-high 15 kills to go with an ace from Faith Pattee for an 11-6 lead that held up on four more Giesbrecht kills, four by Hannah Szunyogh and two more from Pachinger. It looked like Vermilion (2-5) had turned things around leading 10-4 in the third on five straight kills from Gebhardt, but a hitting error ended the run and started a huge 21-4 run by Open Door to put it up 2-1 in the match. Giesbrecht picked up four more kills, Szunyogh had three of her 12 kills, Pachinger added a pair of aces as did Maggie Gillum for the stunning 25-14 win. "We started off slow, but as we kept going it built our confidence and definitely helped with that run," Pachinger said. "Our team has great defense and serving was a great part in this win today." "We've been talking about pace of play, get the ball, get back there and serve," Open Door coach Veronica Victor said. "Don't dwell in a celebration, don't dwell on a sad or bad pass. You don't want to give the other team the opportunity to recover." The Patriots didn't wait long to put some space between them and Vermilion in the fourth and final set. The Sailors were their own worst enemy early with eight unforced errors allowing Open Door to build a 16-9 lead as Giesbrecht added an ace to go along with a pair of aces by Gillum. Vermilion made one last run scoring five straight on three Open Door hitting errors, a kill by Myntti and a block-kill by Faith Sergent to cut the lead to 22-21. A hitting mistake by the Sailors and kills from Giesbrecht and Szunyogh closed out the scoring for the Patriot win. "One thing we have been working on has been playing quality volleyball for the whole match," Vermilion coach Sawyer Schafer said. "Being able to stay consistent is our biggest key. They (Patriots) are a great team, and they played phenomenal." Contact James Brady at 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Open Door 3, Vermilion 1 Vermilion 25-19-14-21 Open Door 21-25-25-25 KILLS – (V) Emma Gebhardt 11, Elizabeth Okasinski 6, Sophie Habermehl 6; (OD) Paige Pachinger 15, Hannah Szunyogh 12, Taylor Giesbrecht 11. DIGS – (OD) Pachinger 31, Sammy Comer 22, Giesbrecht 17. ACES – (V) Delaney Russell 2; (OD) Pachinger 3, Maggie Gillum 3, Giesbrecht 3. BLOCK-KILL – (V) Faith Sergent 2; (OD) Szunyogh 6, Giesbrecht 2, Natalie Trunko 2.