Titans beat Mustangs, win league title

Lorain is the back-to-back Lake Erie League champion, but this time there’s no sharing.

The Titans traveled to Maple Heights Oct. 12 and beat the host Mustangs, 3-1, to claim an outright conference title, finishing the regular season a perfect 12-0 in LEL play.

Facing the same scenario as last season — beat the Mustangs and take the conference title outright or lose and share as co-champions — Lorain stormed to a 13-2 lead in the first set, ready to make an early statement.

The Titans dominated the second set to the tune

of a 25-10 win, but poor decision-making and sloppy serve receive handed Maple Heights the third before Lorain refocused and turned out a game-high 12 kills to win the fourth set and the match.

“We needed to think about how much we actually wanted it,” senior Lailah Carrion said. “We gave (the third set) away and we shouldn’t have, and overall we knew that we

could’ve done better so we just kept in our mind that we could do this, so (we said,) ‘Let’s just do it and not give away points like that again.’

“We were not jelling as much as we could have and for us to come together and beat one of the top teams we’ve been facing for a really long time, it means a lot.”

Carrion finished with six kills and 17 assists for Lorain

(17-5) while Marissa Sturgill added 15 assists and Angelika Patterson had 13 digs.

Senior Seven Townsel had another stellar performance for the Titans, finishing with 20 digs and 18 kills.

Coach Chantille Jackson said she’s most proud of how the team stayed focused despite a shaky effort that third set, and in a rowdy gym packed with

Maple Heights and Lorain fans, was impressed with the way her players tuned out the noise and took care of business.

“They really wanted it and that’s what they brought to the court today,” Jackson said.

“They were obviously nervous and anxious about the game, which makes sense because it’s a big one for us, and (Maple Heights)

always brings a lot of fans. But I’m really proud of them for staying together, for sticking it out and working really hard because it wasn’t just one athlete out there. I mean, they worked together and did some really smart things with the ball.”

Lorain, the 10th seed in the Division I Grafton District, faces No. 7 Elyria Oct. 18 at Midview in a sectional semifinal.