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TORONTO – The Toronto volleyball team was on cruise control from the first set until early in the second against Heartland Christian.
The Red Knights were in charge as they held an 11-point advantage in Set 2, but they took their foot off the accelerator, and it nearly cost them.
The Lions battled their way back into the match as they proved to be a claw in the side of Red Knights, however, Toronto was able to rebound and pulled away to win the match, 25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, in the annual Servin’ Up A Cure Night match Monday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.
“We were able to get our passes on consistently,” Toronto (16-2) head coach Shannon Bahen said about her team’s fast start to the match. “We started out on serve-receive, and we were able to get our passes up at the beginning. We started out 6-0 or something like that, and we took it from there. We mixed the ball around. We favored our outside hitters, and they were able to get off to a hot start.”
Individually for Toronto, Jayna Reeves recorded 14 kills, 10 digs and four aces, Kylie Mitchell collected four blocks, six kills and two aces and Addison Dobbs added 20 kills and three aces. Also, Danielle Sutherin delivered 37 assists and five aces, Josey Dickinson contributed two blocks and four kills and Haley Bodnar tallied 15 digs. Finally, Jaylee Brown ended up with eight digs.
“It means a ton to our team,” Bahen said about the annual event. “We have girls on the team whose families have been affected by breast cancer. My assistant coach -- Cathie Thomas -- is a breast cancer survivor. It is a big event. A lot of people work hard to put this event on every year. It was great that we were able to get the win, but it was also great to see the community come out and support us and support a great cause.”
Toronto built an early 5-1 lead in the first set before increasing its advantage out to 14-5. The visitors battled back and cut their deficit down to 16-11, however, the Red-and-White tallied the final nine points of the set to win the set by double digits to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Red Knights won the first set by 14 points, and the hosts built a 12-1 lead in the second. Toronto appeared to be in complete control of the match, however, the Lions (4-12) were not about to go down without a fight as they scratched and clawed their way back into the set.
The girls from Jefferson County saw their 11-point advantage whittled down to two points at 23-21, however, the Red Knights were able to right the ship as the Red Knights held on to win the set by three points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
“I hate to make an excuse, but it was Monday,” Bahen said. “We had a grueling week last week. We played three matches, and we played a five-set match against Madonna. As a result, I gave them the weekend off. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. There was a little bit of rust, but like I told the girls this will help us get ready for the tournament. We were able to bounce back and win the match. Heartland Christian did a good job of putting us in some uncomfortable situations, but we were able to come out with the win.”
The Red Knights would not be as lucky in the third. Toronto built an eight-point advantage (15-7) in the set and led by five (22-17) when it was three points away from a sweep, however, the Lions battled back and ended the set on an 8-1 run to win the set and cut their deficit down to 2-1.
“We were up big in the third,” Bahen said. “I started mixing people in. You and I have talked about this before. I don’t regret it. I wanted to give some of our your players some experience. I wanted to give some of the girls who may not play as much as they would like to an opportunity to get into the game. It may not have been the best coaching decision, but it is what we do. My assistant coaches all agree with me. All of our girls work their tails off.
“Ultimately, we found a way to get the job done in the fourth set. It took a while. We were a little slow. That’s life sometimes.”
The home team came out strong to start the fourth as they scored the first six points of the set to take the early lead, however, they were once again unable to maintain control of the set as the girls from Columbiana County responded with five-straight points to pull within one point.
The Red Knights regrouped and built a 16-9 advantage forcing the Lions to call a timeout. Heartland Christian head coach Shannon Liposky was able to rally her troops as the girls in purple stormed back and pulled within 17-16. This time, however, they were not able to complete the comeback as Toronto was finally able to put Heartland Christian away thanks to an 8-1 run to win the set by eight to win the match, 3-1.
Toronto is scheduled to play Weir Wednesday on the road on Ron “Fritz” Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse. The JV match is set to start at 5:30 p.m. The Red Knights swept the Red Riders Aug. 31 at home.
Heartland Christian is slated to play Columbiana at 7 p.m. Thursday on the road. The Clippers swept the Lions Aug. 22 on the road.
Toronto will also play Harrison Central Thursday night at home. That match will be the final one before the cutoff for the team’s to qualify for the annual OVAC Tournament. The top four teams in each class qualify for the annual tournament.
The Red Knights entered this week in first place in Class AA. Toronto is followed in the standings by River, Caldwell and Jefferson County rival Catholic Central. Southern Local is in fifth place. The Crusaders play the Indians Thursday night.
“We have been able to get some crucial wins against teams in 4A and 5A,” Bahen said. “That has helped us down the stretch. What I am most proud of is we have been able to take care of business this season. We are in a great spot. I like our match up with whoever we ended up playing. Right now, we would play Catholic Central. Catholic Central is fourth and Southern Local is fifth, but Catholic Central plays Southern Thursday. We will have to wait and see what happens.”
Trinity Christian leads the way in Class 1A. Trinity is followed in the rankings by Madonna, Frontier and Wood County Christian. The Lions are in seventh place in the standings.
The Red Knights did not qualify for the tournament last season in Bahen’s first season as head coach. Meanwhile, the Lions ended up being the third seed in their class, however, they were defeated in the semifinals by the Blue Dons on the road. Conotton Valley went on to defeat Madonna to win the tournament title.