OHSAA regional volleyball: Marlington faces Bay in Division II semifinal
Making its third Division II regional appearance in the last eight years, Marlington is heading into its semifinal match against Bay at Stow-Munroe Falls High School Thursday with momentum.
The Dukes (22-3), who were the No. 2 seed for the Northeast Ohio East district tournament, have won their last six matches without dropping a set, highlighted by a 25-14, 25-13, 25-20 win over No. 1 seed Girard for the Jefferson district championship on Saturday night.
Marlington coach Stephanie Tortola said her team and Bay, which play at 6 p.m. Thursday, are similar.
More:Marlington's strengths on display against Girard in OHSAA volleyball district final
"They play fast [using quick sets] and have three nice hitters," she said. "They're comparable [in style and personnel] to us."
That comparison includes their records. Bay, which eliminated Akron Hoban in five sets in the Tallmadge district title match, also sports a 22-3 record. The Rockets, who compete in the 12-school Great Lakes Conference, lost regular-season matches to Rocky River and Westlake, two divisional rivals, and a non-conference match to Twinsburg.
"We don't have any [history] with them, but that's fine," Tortola said. "We get a chance to play someone different and we're looking forward to the challenge."
Tortola is in her 12th season as the Dukes' coach. Marlington's 2015 and 2017 teams also won district championships only to lose to Canfield and Mentor Lake Catholic.
This year's Marlington team is extremely young with the only senior being middle hitter Natalie Maiorana.
"We knew we were going to be young, but the girls committed themselves to being a good team back last summer," Tortola said. "They worked hard from the start and continued to get better."
Maiorana is joined at middle hitter by junior Chelsea Evanich, while sophomore Layne Graffice and junior Emily Gainer play outside hitter. Junior Janelle Swisher is the setter, sophomore Jaczyn Hilliard starts at libero, and junior Alex Ritchie opens at defensive specialist. Junior Katelyn Bernard and sophomore Claire Battershell also are part of the rotation.
"We only play nine girls, but all of them have contributed something to the team this season," Tortola said.
Graffice is the top attacker with 327 kills, followed by Maiorana with 193. Swisher leads the team with 312 points, while Graffice is second with 228. Maiorana (209), Hilliard (201) and Evanich (200) round out the top five. Maiorana has recorded a team-high 61 blocks, with Evanich adding 44 and Bernard 27. Hilliard leads in digs (375), assists (68) and serve receiving (315). Graffice is second in digs (205) and serve receiving (245).
"We're very balanced," Tortola said. "We don't set up our offense around one player, which makes it harder to attack us."
Bay counters with junior middle hitters Laura Fuehrer and Olivia Spirollari, senior outside hitter Lauren Maxwell, sophomore outside hitter Sophia Thomas, senior setter Kristina Laraway and junior libero Addy Beggs. Fuehrer, who is listed at 6-foot, leads the team with 274 kills and 68 blocks. Maxwell, who is 5-11, adds 216 kills. Laraway is the top server with 54 aces, while Beggs adds 33 aces.
Marlington finished 10-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference and didn't drop a set. While the Dukes dominated conference play, they also played a challenging regular-season schedule, playing matches against Division I regional qualifier Jackson, Akron Hoban and Div. II district champion Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. Marlington finished the season with three-set sweeps of North Canton Hoover, Austintown Fitch and Perry.
"We challenged ourselves by upgrading our regular season schedule and I thought we played very well in beating North Canton and Perry in our last two matches before the tournament," Tortola said. "I was excited to see how much the girls improved since last summer. They play with intensity, they push each other and they lift each other up."
The other semifinal will match Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin and Parma Heights Holy Name at 7:30 p.m. The championship contest is Saturday night at 7.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Marlington volleyball to meet Bay in OHSAA volleyball regional
