North canton: The Jackson volleyball team officially asserted itself as the new squad to beat in the Federal League on Thursday night.
Seniors Katie Zito and Paige Hill, and junior Kristin Cardwell guided the Polar Bears past host North Canton Hoover in three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-14.
The new-look Vikings had their 30 consecutive Federal League match winning streak snapped.
“We have so much motivation,” Zito said.
“We want to win this year and we want to go to state. We want to play the best teams, and Hoover definitely is one of the best teams we will play. They are very strong. All of the Federal League teams are strong this year.
“We are like a bunch of little kids playing together. It is just fun.”
The Polar Bears (7-0, 4-0) took control from the start and had the Vikings (6-2, 2-1) playing from behind for most of the night.
“She has some great kids over there,” Jackson coach Jeff Walck said. “I felt we had a good game plan for them and I think they showed us some things we need to work on. That is a good point. We have a lot of room to improve, which is kind of exciting for me as a coach. The girls don’t believe it, but I think we will show that at practice [today].”
Hoover strolled through the Federal League during the past two years, winning titles with consecutive 14-0 league marks, and it was 2-0 in the league entering Thursday.
Jackson gained confidence from last season’s victory against Hoover in a Division I district final, and the excitement from that triumph carried over to this season.
Zito led Jackson on Thursday with 14 kills and 10 digs. Junior Laura Kelly (16 service points), junior Kristin Cardwell (25 assists) and senior Ally Furbay (two blocks) were the Polar Bears’ other statistical leaders.
“I thought we really controlled the ball well,” Cardwell said. “In order to win, you have to control the ball well. If you don’t control the ball well, you don’t have control of the game.”
Senior Paige Hill added eight kills, and along with Zito give Jackson an intimidating combination at the net.
“I think our speed helps us a lot,” Hill said. “The faster you play, the harder it is for the defense on the other side. We executed well. We kept our unforced errors to a minimum.’’
Walck praised his team for being aggressive with their serves and playing solid defense.
“Our setter Kristin Cardwell, I thought she did an outstanding job,” Walck said. “She made some great sets that were tight on the net.
“She came out and played excellent, and when she plays well then Katie and Paige are off and running.”
Seniors Jordan Hunter, Emily Plajer and Lindsey Brown also played key roles in the Jackson attack along with juniors Karlie DiRuzza and Linsey Grzeschik and sophomore Kate Regas.
Hoover is reloading after graduating eight seniors, six of which were starters, from last year’s team.
Vikings coach Mia Thomas said Kara Riccardi is the only senior with significant varsity experience from the team that had a 24-1 record last year.
“We have a long way to go,” Thomas said. “We are starting over. We graduated everybody from last year.
“We are disappointed in the way we played, but Jackson is a great team offensively and defensively.”
Junior Kelli Howard had six kills, four service points and 13 assists to pace the Vikings.
The other statistical leaders for Hoover were junior Taylor Cropper (nine digs and six kills) and sophomore Kaylee Stroemple (three blocks).
“We had moments where a lot of different people played well, but we just couldn’t get any kind of consistency going,” Thomas said. “That is one thing we are battling right now. Truly, this was our first big varsity match for almost of these kids.
“It’s a whole new team. They’re great kids, but we have a long way to go.”
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