Girls volleyball: Defense propels Firelands to key LCL win over Columbia

COLUMBIA STATION — Defense put Firelands in the driver's seat for a championship. The Falcons flew all over the court with one-handed stops to keep points alive as they swept Columbia 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 to take control of the Lorain County League title race. "They knew this was going to be a big game," Firelands coach Mason Cooley said. "Columbia is always a tough game for us, but they definitely stepped up to the challenge. I think our back row was phenomenal tonight. They picked up so many from the tips to their hard hits to stuff of blocks and touches. Our back row was everywhere tonight and they did a really phenomenal job." Firelands (14-5, 10-1 LCL) holds a two-game lead on Columbia (9-8, 8-3) and Wellington (11-6, 8-3). The Falcons can clinch a share of the championship with one more win and will win it outright with two. Their remaining matches are against Black River, Keystone and Brookside. "This is really good for our team and our attitude," Firelands sophomore outside hitter Everleigh Robinson said. "I really think our energy and our attitude coming into this game is really what led us through, but we still have work to do. We still have other games, so we don't want to let loose. We still need to stay focused and keep the energy up and the attitude good." Columbia got off to a rough start as the Falcons built a 17-5 lead thanks largely to a multitude of errors by the Raiders, who only had one kill in their first five points while six of Firelands' 17 points came off of Columbia errors. But the Raiders made a run, scoring 11 of the next 16 points and cut the lead to 22-15. However, Firelands closed things out by winning four of the next five with Robinson punctuating the set with a kill. She ultimately led the team with 11. "I think you saw the adrenaline, or nerves or whatever was happening early," Columbia coach Kelsey Geanuracos said. "But once we got calm and collected, we got ourselves back in it. It's a game of least mistakes, I've probably said that eight million times over the years, but that's the truth of it. And we were not the team with the fewest mistakes." Whatever caused Columbia's slow start didn't carry into subsequent sets as the Raiders and Falcons battled point for point throughout the second. Neither team led by more than two until Firelands pulled away with four unanswered points to go up 22-17. Columbia responded with three straight, but Firelands secured a set point and closed it out three points later. The third set played out in similar fashion only Firelands made its move earlier, taking a 20-13 lead thanks to five unanswered points. Firelands junior Josie Kirby had two kills and two aces during that run. Columbia battled back with six of the next nine points, capped by a kill from Cailyn Demagall, who led the Raiders with six kills and five blocks. But Robinson took over down the stretch, ultimately recording kills for each of the Falcons' final four points. "Our attitude and mentality, we've been working on it all season," Robinson said. "That's the biggest thing, that's most important, is just keeping our attitude up and our mentality. Everybody is peaking with hitting, too, but it's mostly our mentality." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.