Riverside’s new talent meshes well with veterans

Riverside coach Ali Schultz knew the Beavers would have plenty of hitters capable of putting points away entering this season. Seniors Olivia Maczuzak, Jen Durra, Gabby Huck and Kyle Osborn — each signed to play in college — returned from last year’s district runner-up and Western Reserve Conference champion team.

Schultz’s most pressing concern entering this season was who would pass them the ball.

Riverside graduated last year’s leading passers in Anna Zito and Elizabeth Selleny, as well as libero Hannah Brentar.

Prior to the Beavers’ season-opener at South, how their replacements fared in their first varsity actions was a wild card in Schultz’s mind. They won in five sets, as freshman Madison Herman and junior Aubrey Low assumed setting responsibilities and sophomore Taylor Reigle stepped in at libero.

Riverside is off to a 4-0 start with quality wins over Beaumont, VASJ and South in its early going. The play of the Beavers’ new faces has meshed well with its plethora of experienced talent.

“I wasn’t sure how (South) would go and they owned it,” Schultz said. “I was really, really impressed with how they played so hopefully they can continue to get better from here.”

If the new members of her rotation continue to improve, Schultz is confident her offense will become lethal.

Durra and Maczuzak each averaged more than four kills per set last year as juniors, and again pace the team with 3.6 and 3.3 kills per set, respectively. Osborn and Huck anchor Riverside’s net front presence as middle blockers.

So far, Schultz has seen the senior class assume the leadership expected from seniors in the Riverside program. Most impressive to her is their drive to improve, even with scholarships secured.

Durra signed with Akron, Maczuzak with Walsh, Osborn will play at Indiana (Pa.) and Huck at Slippery Rock. Still, they work on passing and other areas of the game to become more versatile to play at the next level.

Riverside faces its stiffest challenge of the season this weekend when it travels to Padua for a tri-match Sept. 9. The Beavers face defending Division II state champion Padua and Gahanna Lincoln, last year’s runnerup in D-I’s Worthington region.

At Padua, Schultz will have an eye on how her team receives serves and executes its block.

“I think those are two of our big focuses because we know we can hit the ball,” Schultz said. “But those are two things we really need to keep working on.”

The Beavers are also focused on their ultimate goal, unanimous among the team after Riverside fell to Mentor in a district title match last season.

“They would definitely like to see Mentor again,” Schultz said. “When I asked them about their goals, most of their individual goals, what they want for the team, was get to the district finals again, beat Mentor and take care of unfinished business from last year.”

College commitments

A few area high school volleyball players have made their college commitments.

• Gilmour senior outside hitter Katie Forsythe committed to Towson. Forsythe was a 2016 All-Ohio and first team News-Herald selection after she helped lead the Lancers to the state final four.

This season, she is second on the team with 3.2 kills per set, leads Gilmour with 28 aces and is tied for the team lead with 4.9 digs per set.

Forsythe is one of the area’s most versatile players and is equipped to play as a hitter, libero or setter at the next level.

• Lake Catholic senior outside hitter Ila Angermeier committed to Ohio University. Angermeier averaged 3.2 kills per set as a junior during Lake Catholic’s run to a state semifinal.

A second team all-district choice last year, Angermeier leads the Cougars offense this season with 3.8 kills per set.

• Lake Catholic sophomore setter Katy Yopko committed to Northern Kentucky. As a freshman in 2016, Yopko shared setting duty with current senior Annie Cvelbar. Yopko posted 4.9 assists per set, behind Cvelbar’s team-high 6.2 assists per set.

Through 15 sets in her sophomore year, Yopko is averaging 4.1 assists per set.

In the polls

The Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association poll will debut next week. The first voting weekend of the season is Sept. 8-10.

Reminder to coaches

Coaches and statisticians are asked to submit their weekly statistics by noon each Wednesday from now through the end of the season. Statistics can be emailed to scores@NewsHerald.com or nbarnes@News-Herald.com.