The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Senior Minnich’s fiery play helps Fairview to sweep Lutheran West
Fairview volleyball is turning heads this season.
In their latest feat, the Warriors, undefeated in conference play, scored a crucial road victory over traditional powerhouse, Lutheran West, 3-0, in FAIRVIEW 3, LUTHERAN WEST 0
a Patriot Athletic Conference Stripes Division matchup at Wittrock Gymnasium on Sept. 12.
While the hot start to the season has been nice, Warriors coach Ellie Caldwell admitted this matchup was going to be Online: See Randy Meyers’ photo gallery from the match. the true test for her girls.
“Absolutely, this is a huge rivalry. It’s a very big win for our team today,” Caldwell said. “My girls just did a great job executing. We practicd serving tough, and they executed that tonight, so well.”
The Warriors (9-2, 6-0 PAC) proved they were up for the challenge, led by senior Hannah Minnich’s 12 kills and nine assists. Minnich, who was seen pumping up her teammates, was visibly full of extra energy as she dived all over the court, willing her team to victory throughout
the night.
“I’m super excited! We haven’t beaten them since my freshman year, and I’m a senior this year, so it’s been a long time,” Minnich said. “I knew coming into the game that we were pretty excited to play them, and we came out with the win.”
It was a total team effort from the Warriors, as Emma Szoradi notched 26 assists while Olivia Hanton tallied 13 digs and six aces on the evening.
Caldwell felt her girls’ chemistry and hustle were on full display in the rivalry matchup.
“We talk a lot about coming out with high energy, staying high, and maintaining that energy throughout the match. They did it tonight,” Caldwell said.
Fairview established control early on, jumping out to a 7-3 lead. The early gut-check was something that the Longhorns (44, 3-1) were expecting but couldn’t seem to recover from.
First-year coach Jeff Schaef felt his players hurt themselves with costly errors.
“They (Fairview) played well. We had too many errors and we gave them way too many opportunities with our errors,” Shaef said.
Those errors, likely the cause of youth as the Longhorns are going through growing pains trying to adjust to a new head coach and touting a bevy of new players.
“We’re young. We have very limited varsity experience with only four returners,” Schaef said.
As Minnich continued to attack with three kills in the first set, the Warriors fed off their own energy, pushing their lead up to 17-11, eventually pulling away for the 25-12 first set victory.
It was more of the same in the second set, but a couple of rallies helped the Longhorns climb back into it. After a couple of close calls, Lutheran West tied the score at 17. The comeback was fueled by junior Carleen Ellerbruch, who tallied three kills in the set, finishing with a team-high nine kills on the night.
Despite Ellerbruchs’ consistent effort, The Warriors seized control late in the set, going on an 8-2 run, culminating with a Minnich spike to secure the second set victory, 25-19.
Facing a potential sweep on their home court, the Longhorns came out with urgency in the third set, jumping ahead 14-9, as both teams traded points. In perhaps a snapshot of just how good this Fairview team can be this year, the Warriors rallied to take the lead 17-16. Hanton continued to offer up beautiful serves, while the Fairview offense did its part as well. The teams traded leads in the latter half of the set, including ties at 23 and 24 that brought the crowd to their feet.
Not wanting to go to a fourth set, Abby Kuyper sealed the deal with a perfect match-point serve as the Longhorns fumbled to get it back over the net, ending the match, 26-24.
The sweep is yet another growing pain that Schaef hopes his players will learn from.
“We’re showing a lot of fight. We just have to get through the inexperience here and there, and we’ll be fine. A few little tweaks, that’s all,” Schaef said.
Sitting at the top of the totem pole, Caldwell outlined a simple outline on how to continue the Warriors’ memorable run.
“Just working hard and staying focused on what our goals are and just checking things off one at a time,” Caldwell said.