Trinity Edge went the yard with the bases jacked as the Knight defused the Rockets again with a fiive-inning 10-0 win.

Edge also struck out 13.

​Gabby Laderer got two hits, drew a walk and scored a run while filling in at shortstop for an ailing Syndi Hoobler. Rylie Hanna and Kirsten Hicks each drove in a pair of runs and Autumn Fitzgerald also had an RBI.

Titusville only managed three hits against Edge.

​Rocky Grove coach Mike Stevenson knew going up against Meadville was going to be an uphill battle.

Even though the Orioles are off to a solid season start, Meadville led by coach Nick Bancroft, is ranked high in the state and have been to the state championship finals three of the four years of Bancroft's tenure.

And the one year they didn't go was because COVID cancelled the season. That year Bancroft was highly favored to win his second state title in a row.

Meadville Volleyball is an elite program.

The Oriole's held their own in the early part of each set, but the relentless MASH attack proved too much and they dropped the match 25-16, 25-14 and 25-14. 

More photos from Tuesday night's match.

He and his staff built the program to come within a couple wins of a region championship in 2021. He spoke about how each year he was learning new things and the program has been improving and growing as a result.

"Girls volleyball is a year-round sport," he said. The junior high program is a big focus now for the Orioles who are building a program to last.

Last season, Stevenson, who has coached the girls team for about a decade, took over the boys program as well.
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​His first year with the boys proved to have its own learning curve. He knew he had a team of athletes but still ended up under .500 on the season.

So he went to work in the off-season trying to figure out why. 

"The game is so much different for the boys and I didn't learn that quick enough last year," he said. "With the boys, it's all speed and power... how hard you can serve and how quickly you can run an offense."

One very key point from his off-season research has now almost become his mantra. "It's all about the passing," he said.

"Last year we were just trying to get the ball to the target," he said realizing they weren't concentrating enough on how the pass arrived. 

Over the first three weeks of this season, the focus has been on passing the ball at the same height with no spin on it in order to build a rhythm.

"A consistent pass allows us to run multiple things on our offense," Stevenson said after his team won its third straight match Thursday night against Maplewood.

He said the players were reluctant to buy into the new approach at first, but have come around.

And they have been seeing the results firsthand with a five-set season opener win against Conneaut Area followed by straight-set victories over Farrell and Maplewood.

Cameron King, Blayne Baker, Alez Zinz, Joshua Stevenson have been constantly scoring a dozen or more points per game.

​Baker is averaging almost 10 kills a game.

​Stevenson has a large group of sophomores and one of them, Andrew Schwab, recently came up with a big performance. He logged a couple aces and 13 points while filling in for King who had to miss the Maplewood match.

​Joshua Stevenson is setting the ball well and it's resulting in over 15 points per game average.

Stevenson said his players are really buying into the system.

For five innings Titusville's freshman pitcher Jordan Wynn seemed to be in complete control. Though she walked five, she would battle her way out of inning after inning. Oil City left seven runners stranded. 

At the end of five it was 2-0 in favor of the Rockets who had scored in the first and third innings on RBI's from Wynn and Kyra Adkins.

Around the sixth inning Oil City head coach Michelle Hoovler noticed something.

​"We felt (Wynn) was starting to struggle a little bit," Hoovler said. "She was starting to throw more balls. So we were trying to wait her out."
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​Titusville head coach Megan Green said Wynn wasn't getting the calls on the edge of the plate like she was in the beginning of the game. 

Hoovler told her players to be patient at the plate and don't chase pitches. The strategy worked.

​The first batter in the bottom of the sixth, Nysa Hanlon, drilled a line drive off the out stretched glove of Rylie McGarvie at second base.
She was then able to steal second on a pitch that got away from the Titusville catcher.

​She advanced to third on a fielder's choice ground ball to second by Shayla Hanlon. Then Abby Foley grounded to shortstop plating Hanlon.

Libby Arnink had a good at bat finally finding a pitch to put into left field. Shaylyn Whittemore then walked after staying alive with several fouls balls. Then Maddie "man legs" Wenner drew a walk to load the bases. Garmong was up next.

Titusville's strong armed catcher Krya Adkins then tried to make something happen with the bases jacked and tossed a laser down to third that, if handled by the third baseman would've caught the runner off the base for the first out.
​But it ended up in right field and Arnick scored to tie the game 2-2.