A pair of Fort Frye defenders block a spike attempt from St. Marys’ Morgan Bardwell (9) during a high school volleyball match, Thursday in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

BEVERLY — Fort Frye was cruising right along after taking the first two sets from St. Marys when the Blue Devils pulled the plug of any hopes of a possible sweep and forced a fourth set during a high school volleyball match, Thursday night at Fort Frye High School.

In this day and age with St. Marys in charge of the power cord, Fort Frye used a bit of bluetooth magic and reverted to their earlier performance and won the fourth set in convincing fashion to win the match 25-14, 25-16, 21-25 and 25-12.

Fort Frye managed to pull through despite losing a crucial piece of its rotation when Ella Dowler left with an ankle injury late in the first set.

“It seems like every time we lose a starter or when we change something up, we struggle a little bit to get into the moment,” Fort Frye coach Amanda Duskey said. “Ella is a big blocker and big hitter so having her going out was big.

“Otherwise, there is some stuff we have to clean up – like our defense, moving our feet and communication is a big one. We had people tonight running into each other and that doesn’t happen. We just need to talk more.”

St. Marys libero Alyssa Winland misses on her attempt to retrieve the ball during a high school volleyball match, Thursday in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

While Fort Frye improved to 13-6 with its sixth consecutive win, St. Marys slipped to 12-9-1. Blue Devil coach Stephanie Corathers mentioned if her girls can blueprint their effort given in set three, they could compete with teams in their classification.

“As you can see by that third set, my team would be able to hold their own,” said Corathers, who graduated three seasoned veterans from a team which qualified for the Class A state tournament a year ago. This year’s roster features just one senior and starts a lineup consisting of four freshmen

“This season is moving in the right direction,” Corathers continued. “I don’t have anyone 6-foot tall – I have some hitters, but we have to play a little bit more strategic because we don’t have the height.

“Tonight, we definitely weren’t on our game in the first and second sets. Then we decided we would play set three. We made a little change with our defense in the back row.”

Paige Morgenstern hitting from both the front and back rows found success hitting open areas and notching St. Marys defenders in the first set as Fort Frye built an 18-6 lead. Before leaving the floor with the ankle injury, Dowler served seven straight points, including two aces, to assist in the gap.

St. Marys volleyball players Rylee Renner (4), Jaelyn Cupp (5), Morgan Bardwell (9) and Sophia Perkins (11) wear their “Relay for a Cure” uniforms during Thursday’s match with Fort Frye in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

A couple of late kills from Kali Shilling gave the Cadets set point at 24-12. St. Marys staved off two set points only to have a pair of Fort Frye blockers produce point No. 25.

The second set had a similar look as the Cadets built their largest lead at 21-11 on an ace serve from Elle Casto. For the night, Fort Frye servers racked up 12 aces compared to three for St. Marys

Leading 22-16, Haven Shilling’s kill forced side out. She then closed out the second set with two service points. Behind the net play of Brynnley Bulluck, St. Marys built as much as a six-point lead before Fort Frye forced a tie at 20-20 thanks to a pair of ace serves from Morgenstern.

At 21-21, two consecutive hitting errors – one from the back row and another at the net – gave St. Marys the third set win.

“The girls moved in that third set,” Corathers said.

Fort Frye’s Aubrie Lang (14) watches as teammate Paige Morgenstern (20) tips the ball over the net during Thursday’s high school volleyball match with St. Marys in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The only drama in the fourth set occurred with the score tied at 1-1. The Cadets then took control, scoring nine of the next 10 points. At 19-11, the Cadet hitters Haven Shilling and Morgenstern both took advantage of free balls and extended the margin to 22-11.

In addition to the play at the net, Fort Frye libero Hannah Weiker laid her body on the line chasing down shot attempts from the opposition.

“After a match like tonight, I am a little sore – I can tell two floorburns are going to burn in the shower tonight,” Weiker said. “We do a lot of film work on the other team’s attack and watch film on them. Then we practice our defense in order to receive balls from girls like (Bulluck).

“For the most part, we had the mindset this game was going to be a lot easier than expected. We went in there knowing we needed a little bit more effort.”

Weiker has made the transition from her role as a middle hitter during grade school.

Fort Frye’s Haven Shilling (11) goes up for the block against St. Marys’ Brynnley Bulluck (32) during a high school volleyball match, Thursday in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“I changed positions when I stopped growing,” Weiker said.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

Fort Frye libero Hannah Weiker dives for the ball during Thursday’s high school volleyball match against St. Marys in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)