Mentor drops marathon to Solon

Mentor’s comeback effort fell short in a five-set loss to visiting Solon on Sept. 11.

The Comets won the first and third sets before the Cardinals forced a fifth set. Solon closed out its victory with a 21-19 win in the decisive set.

The Cardinals fell to 4-4 and 2-3 in Greater Cleveland Conference play. The Comets improved to 4-2 with a 3-2 GCC record.

Mentor’s rally against a solid opponent left the Cardinals encouraged.

“I’m not that upset with our loss because of how we played,” junior middle blocker Caitlin Churney said. “We kept on fighting back, and I think if we take a team like that to 2119, that shows how much we’re improving throughout the game.”

Solon won the first set, 25-18. The teams were tied, 8-8, after Maddie Stayer’s ace. A pair of aces from the Comets’ Simone Tyson broke a 13-13 tie and helped Solon take control.

Churney’s ace gave the Cardinals a 7-6 lead early in the second set before Solon opened a 21-18 lead. Mentor scored the final seven points of the set as Angela Adams’ point gave the Cardinals a 25-21 win and tied ace brought the Cardinals within three, 11-8. Samantha Connors’ kill tied the set, 12-12. Tyson’s ace gave the Comets a chance at match point leading 14-12 before Mentor forged ahead, 15-14. The Cardinals had a chance at match point four times.

Coach Stephen Scherlacher was pleased to see his team’s focus and effort during practice transition into a match.

“We competed,” Scherlacher said. “We need to do some things better skillfully, but we played really hard. That means a lot.”

Kloski led the team with 12 kills and 17 digs. Churney added 10 kills and recorded five blocks. Stayer finished with 26 assists, 12 digs, six kills, six aces and two blocks.

“We lost the first set, and we still won that second and fourth game,” Kloski said. “It really shows how much we work as a team and fight for every single point and don’t give up, especially with those big deficits.”

“It really shows how much we work as a team and fight for every single point and don’t give up, especially with those big deficits.”