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Warriors bounce back, sweep Cadets

By Jordan Holland 4 min read

BEVERLY -- After a four-set loss to rival Marietta last Thursday, the Warren volleyball team needed a mental reset.

"At Friday’s practice, we did not touch a single ball," said Warren head coach Kaitlyn Cremeans.

Instead, the Warriors focused on improving their mindset. Practice made perfect in Tuesday's dual with Fort Frye, as Warren claimed a 25-23, 30-28, 25-18 sweep at Dan Liedtke Court.

"Our practice after Marietta, we took a personality test," said Warren senior Elayna Greenwalt. "We did a bunch of team things to make our chemistry better, and it definitely showed this game."

The Warriors (7-2) trailed by as many as seven points, 15-8, in the opening set, and were down 21-16 late, but didn't let negative thoughts prevail. Instead, they rallied.

"(Marietta head coach) Ron Kidder was my coach," Cremeans said. "There were a lot of old, past relationships and current relationships there. That game meant a lot for all of us, and we went in with the right mentality, but we lost it. We weren’t playing well and just had very negative emotions that night. (Practice) was complete mindset training. We basically took that and ran with it and said, 'your losses aren’t because you physically can’t do it. It’s because we mentally cannot get over our own mistakes, and we’re like letting that affect the entire team.'

"We knew this was going to be a good match for us. We knew (Fort Frye's) a talented team. We know they’re a solid group, but we know if we could mentally mesh and just perform as a team with chemistry, the physical part would come with it, and that’s exactly what they did tonight. They absolutely represented Warren volleyball."

Taylor Greenwalt had an ace and a kill, followed by back-to-back kills by older sister Elayna, to knot the score at 21-all and force a Fort Frye timeout. A pair of attack errors by Fort Frye allowed Warren to take a 24-23 lead, and Elayna Greenwalt's kill secured a 1-0 lead for the visitors.

"That was definitely our best game, for sure," Elayna Greenwalt said. "We played together as a team. We came out strong from the beginning and finished very strong."

Cremeans has been impressed with how the Greenwalt sisters have performed so far this season.

"They know they’re physically the leaders out here," she said. "Elayna Greenwalt, she’s my captain on the floor. They all voted her as the team captain, so they really respect those two. Everybody looks up to them."

Warren led 20-16 in the second set before the Cadets (6-4) came charging back. Haven Shilling's kill tied it at 20-20 before Elle Casto's ace put Fort Frye in front. It was back and forth from there. The Cadets took their final lead at 26-25 on Kali Shilling's kill. Tied at 28-all, Elayna Greenwalt's kill put Warren ahead before Taylor Greenwalt's kill gave the Warriors a 2-0 advantage.

The third set was tied at 8-8, but Warren used a 10-3 run to go up 18-11 and take control. Up next, the Warriors get a rematch on their home floor with the Tigers.

"Ready to roll from here," Cremeans said. "We told them after the last match, 'if we were at peak performance now, that would be a problem.' We don’t want to be at peak performance just to start sliding. Now we’re here, and we've got to build from here. Looking to let this at least be the standard expectation in the gym, and then build up."

Fort Frye, which entertains Linsly on Thursday, got a team-high 13 kills from Kali Shilling. Aubrie Lang and Addie Schob had 18 and 17 assists, respectively, while Jantzyn Huck notched 26 digs. Haven Shilling added 21 digs to go along with eight kills while Casto and Ella Dowler produced five kills apiece.

"Solid group over there," Cremeans said. "We had to make a few adjustments. They have a fast offense. They've got a good coach, great players, and they’re scrappy as heck."

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.

At Dan Liedtke Court

Warren d. Fort Frye 25-23, 30-28, 25-18

Fort Frye (6-4) stats: Evalynn Wagner 7D, 4 pts; Jantzyn Huck 26D, 3 ast, 3K, 1 ace, 5 pts; Adeline Willey 4D, 4K, 1B, 3 pts; Addie Schob 7D, 17 ast; Kali Shilling 3D, 1 ast, 13K; Elle Casto 2D, 1 ast, 5K, 1B, 1 ace, 5 pts; Emma Lockhart 4K, 2B; Haven Shilling 21D, 1 ast, 8K, 7 pts; Aubrie Lang 6D, 18 ast, 1K, 1 ace, 6 pts; Ella Dowler 3D, 5K, 1B

Next matches: Marietta at Warren Tuesday; Linsly at Fort Frye Thursday

Starting at /week.