Free up your Saturday folks, if you love good volleyball

First and foremost I owe everyone an apology. Moving a farm is hard work and before I knew it the weekend was over, as was the chance to prepare volleyball fans for the early part of this week.

Thankfully, the best matches of the week are yet to come. Word of advice, free your schedule on Saturday.

Sweep fest

It was a week of sweeps and quick outs  for area teams. In fact, all but four matches involving Lakeview, Oil City, Franklin, Cochranton, Maplewood and Titusville ended in three sets last week.

The Oilers were involved in two of the matches that went beyond three sets  and came out of the week at 1-2.

The win came on Monday against Union Rimbersburg in four sets and was the Oilers’ first victory of the 2021 season.

On Tuesday, Sharpsville swept past Oil City (Sharpsville is going to be a team to keep a close eye on here.).

​Then on Thursday, the Oilers dropped a heartbreaker to Slippery Rock in five sets.
Franklin had a bit of a rough week. The Lady Knights were 0-2 on the week after losses to Grove City and Greenville. But, let’s be honest, that was a rough schedule for the Knights as both the Eagles and Trojans boast talented squads this season. In fact, Grove City is a perfect 3-0.

Idling birds
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The most impressive Venango County team right now, Rocky Grove, did not play a match last week, but the Orioles still sit atop the Region 1 standings at 4-0. Rocky Grove did return to action on Monday and swept Sharon. The Orioles were to host Tidioute Charter last night, but that was postponed. They will play their biggest match of the season on Thursday when they travel south to West Middlesex with first place in the region on the line.

Impressive Sailors
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Another team having a quietly outstanding season so far are the Lakeview Sailors.
Here is where I would be most sorry for my tardiness with this week’s roundup as Lakeview was scheduled to play at Sharpsville tonight. But, thankfully, no one missed a thing. The Lady Sailors were forced to postpone all matches this week due to COVID-19.

They were also scheduled to face Slippery Rock on Thursday.

Here’s where they stand
Heading into tonight’s action, here is where Eight and 322’s teams stood in the District 10 standings.

• Rocky Grove, again, sits atop Region 1 at 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the region.
• In Region 2, Cochranton got a huge win over Saegertown (photos are from this match) on Tuesday night and is tied with Youngsville at 1-0 for first place. The Lady Cardinals, whose match against Eisenhower last night was postponed, host Erie First Christian on Thursday before a big non-region match on Saturday. More to come on that.
• In Region 3, Maplewood and Lakeview are unbeaten in region play at 2-0. The Sailors are 3-2 overall. Maplewood is 2-1 overall with wins over Slippery Rock and Titusville last week. Maplewood did add another victory last night, sweeping past Sharon 25-5, 25-8, 25-11. Sadie Thomas had 18 kills, six aces and nine digs in the win. Avery Brunot delivered four kills and five aces; Bailey Varndell had 29 assists and six aces. Maplewood as a team served up 21 aces.

Up next for the Tigers is Sharpsville on Thursday and then a meeting we’ll discuss in a moment on Saturday.

Franklin is 1-1 overall and 1-3 in Region 3.

The Oilers and Rockets are still searching for their first region win of the year. Oil City is 1-4 overall and 0-3 in Region 3. Titusville is 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the region. (UPDATE: Franklin posted a four-set victory over Titusville last night. Details on that match in next week’s blog).

My apologies, again
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Again, I apologize for not having more stats, a weekly outlook and state rankings this week. We will expand on those in next week’s blog. 
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One thing I am fortunate I don’t have to be sorry about, though, is missing the opportunity to tell you about a huge Saturday of volleyball.

​I’m actually pretty disappointed I already have plans for Saturday and cannot attend one or both. As a volleyball fan, regardless of what team you root for, these should be spectacular and if you can go to both, you definitely should.
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First, Cochranton will play host to Sharpsville in a matinee starting with JV action at 11 a.m. Varsity to follow.
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Get yourself some food afterwards and then head to Waterford to catch Maplewood and Fort LeBoeuf. JV starts at 6 p.m.

Just a couple more!

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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