Mountain Ridge sweeps Salisbury in dominant fashion
Sep. 20—FROSTBURG — Mountain Ridge continued its undefeated start to the season with a 3-0 sweep over visiting Salisbury-Elk Lick on Monday evening.
"We've really been trying to focus on serving and keeping the ball in play," Mountain Ridge head coach Valery Broadwater said. "I thought our serving game looked pretty good tonight."
The Miners (4-0, 2-0 WestMAC) never trailed in any of the three sets. Mountain Ridge won the first two sets 25-4 and the final set 25-8. The Elks (0-9) finished with 16 combined points, however, most of those were off of Miners errors.
Mountain Ridge got off to a fast start in the first set leading 7-1 with the only Elks point coming off a Miners error. Ava Hummel and Olivia Shunk were the only Elks to earn points for their team in the first set.
"The ability to get everybody playing in different spots was impressive," Broadwater said. "In volleyball, sometimes you play certain spots and certain parts of the rotation so being able to get everyone in was a big thing tonight. It shows the versatility of some of the players I have."
The Miners went on an 11-0 run to end the first set and win it 25-4. Mia DeCarlo had the game-winning ace for Mountain Ridge. The Miners had four aces and never trailed.
Set two was a similar story. Mountain Ridge won 25-4 and again never trailed. The Miners scored three points off of aces including back-to-back by Avery Tipton.
"We try in our serving game to pick out spots and hit them, pick out open spots and those kind of things," Broadwater said. "When you can control your serve like that it's a big asset."
The third set was the closest of the three. The Elks got six points off of Miners errors.
"Subbing people in positions they don't normally play could play a part in that," Broadwater said. "You're not always playing by the same people in our normal lineup."
However, Mountain Ridge responded with an 11-1 run to end the set. Ella Snyder finished the match with an ace to win the final set 25-8 and the match 3-0.
One of the highlights of the third set was a diving save from Tipton. It saved a point for the Elks and eventually led to a point for the Miners.
"We stress defense, we encourage moving your feet to the ball," Broadwater said. "There are some instances where it comes at you off speed where you have to dive or make a play on the ball like that. Our eight starters are pretty athletic so their ability to get to those balls is impressive."
For Mountain Ridge, Snyder finished with 17 points, six aces and three kills. Tipton also had 17 points with five aces and five assists. DeCarlo had 12 points, six aces, three kills and one dig. Kendall Kirkwood had nine kills, four points and one assist.
"They bring the same consistency pretty much every night," Broadwater said of Snyder and Tipton. "It doesn't matter who the opponent is on the other side of the net, they are pretty consistent most of the time."
The Elks return home to face Conamaugh Township, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday in Salisbury, Pennsylvania, at 6 p.m. The Miners also host a Pennsylvania team this week. They will host Meyersdale on Thursday. The junior varsity game is at 5:30 and the varsity game will follow.
"Consistently attacking, keeping serves in," Broadwater said on the keys to success against Meyersdale. "Keep putting the ball in play on the other side of the net so they can make mistakes and we don't make mistakes."
Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.
