  Let this digest for a moment. Today is Oct. 6. One month from now, the District 10 champions in girls volleyball will be decided. Seems impossible, right? But exactly three weeks from now, the opening round of the District 10 girls volleyball tournament is set to begin. The quarterfinal rounds are Oct. 28 and 29 and the semifinal and championship matches are slated to be held from Nov. 1 to Nov. 6 in Class 1A, 2A and 3A. Now let this digest … Cambridge Springs has played just three matches this season. Needless to say, there is so much left to be decided and so little time for those decisions to be made. In short, prepare for a wild ride over the next couple of weeks, particularly if you are a fan of Rocky Grove. 
 How does coach Mike Stevenson feel heading down that stretch following Monday’s loss to the Berries? “Cranberry is a good volleyball team,” Stevenson said. “I feel getting back on the court (Tuesday) is a good thing. It’s only one loss. We can learn from the loss. “The key is to use the loss as motivation and bounce back. We have three region games to play this week.”  Cranberry won the match 25-22, 27-25, 25-19. The Orioles still did some damage at the service line. Abby Williams, who showed off a beautiful float serve in a sweep of Jamestown on Thursday, led the Orioles with five aces against Cranberry. Courtney Clark and Devin Rhoads had two aces each. What RG struggled to do was find offense elsewhere with Williams’ four kills leading the way for the Orioles. Clark, the setter, distributed 15 assists on the night.  Rocky Grove got a good balance of both serving and production at the net in a key match on Tuesday. The Orioles got the “bounce-back” Stevenson and Co. was looking for. On Wednesday, Rocky Grove cruised past KC in Region 1 action 25-15, 25-18, 25-17. Clark had four kills, 10 digs and 21 assists. Rylee Reed contributed three kills and seven digs; Williams had five kills and 15 digs; Rhoads had three aces and nine digs; Abby Cable had four blocks and four kills; and Paige Cresswell had three kills. 
The Orioles didn’t get any help from Jamestown last night. West Middlesex maintained its one-game lead over RG in the Region 1 standings with a 25-19, 18-25, 25-14, 25-18 win. Rocky Grove is back in action on Thursday in the first of a home-away double-header against region foe Commodore Perry. The Orioles make the road trip to Hadley on Thursday and then host the Panthers on Friday.  Have we reached the peak? Last week, Maplewood veteran coach Sheila Bancroft admitted the Lady Tigers were on a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but admitted she didn’t feel her squad had reached the peak just yet. Have they now perhaps? Since then, the Lady Tigers have picked up some good wins. They swept past Reynolds on Thursday with Avery Brunot, Sadie Thomas and Elizabeth Hunter each recording at least nine kills on the night. Then last night, they added another huge region victory as they swept past a solid Lakeview squad 25-23, 25-13, 28-26.  Thomas led ‘Wood with 14 kills, 17 digs and five aces. Hunter contributed 10 kills. Brunot had nine kills. McKenna Crawford tallied 19 digs; and Bailey Varndell chipped in with 33 assists, three kills and four aces. Maplewood is now 7-3 overall and 6-1 in Region 3. Sharpsville, which swept past Titusville last night, leads the region at 6-3 overall and 5-0 in the region. Greenville, a 3-0 winner over Oil City last night, is also unbeaten in region play at 4-0. The Trojans are 5-2 overall. Sharpsville and Greenville don’t meet for the first time until Oct. 20  Soaring away Looking for a volleyball match for Thursday? Look no further than Cochranton Junior/Senior High School where the unbeaten Lady Cardinals will host rival Saegertown. The Cardinals are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the region. They beat Saegertown in four sets in their season opener on Sept. 14. This will very likely decide the champion in Region 2. The next closest teams are Erie First Christian and Eisenhower and they both have three region losses each. Also on Thursday, Oil City is at Lakeview; Slippery Rock is at Titusville; Sharon is at Franklin. If you need a volleyball fix before Thursday, may we suggest a trip to Corry for one of the newest biggest rivalries in Corry vs. Maplewood? Or if you want to plan ahead, might we suggest Meadville at Conneaut on Oct. 14? I know that’s one I definitely will be putting on my calendar. See there is plenty of good volleyball in store as we close out this season. Franklin is 2-4 overall and Oil City is 1-4 overall according to MaxPreps.  Around the state Here are the latest top 10 rankings from the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association: Class A
|  Lisa and Brynlee Lisa Renwick was a long-time sports reporter and sports editor for The Meadville Tribune. She recently took another job in order to spend time with her family and especially her daughter Brynlee who is entering kindergarten. Lisa has covered state champion volleyball programs in her tenure and is main reason girls athletics and volleyball has gotten such award winning coverage over the last 20 years. She has agreed to help us out here at Eight and 322 with this fall's volleyball season. We are thrilled to have her. Lisa Renwick was a long-time sports reporter and sports editor for The Meadville Tribune. She recently took another job in order to spend time with her family and especially her daughter Brynlee who is entering kindergarten. Lisa has covered state champion volleyball programs in her tenure and is main reason girls athletics and volleyball has gotten such award winning coverage over the last 20 years. She has agreed to help us out here at Eight and 322 with this fall's volleyball season. We are thrilled to have her. |
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