Staff photo / Dan Hiner Howland’s Maya Kubancsek, left, sends the ball as Struthers’ Gianna Martin (27) and Chloe Curd (12) go up for the block at the net during Monday’s match at Howland High School.

HOWLAND — The Howland and Struthers volleyball teams had one last tuneup before their tournaments begin on Thursday. And it was Howland who claimed straight sets to end the regular season with a win.

The Tigers won 25-15, 25-18, 25-11 on Tuesday at Howland High School.

“Everything tonight was a challenge to prepare for our tournament matches coming up,” Howland head coach Amanda Florek said. “That was kinda what was posed to them, and we were trying some things that we could step back and use come tournament time. I’m just happy with what they put together.”

After the teams traded a point to start the match, the Tigers (13-9) recorded four straight points to take a 5-1 lead. That multi-point advantage continued to slowly grow over the course of the first set, and an ace by Maya Kubancsek clinched the opening frame for Howland 25-15.

The second set was similar to the first. The score was tied at 1 before the Tigers started piling on points, taking a 7-2 lead and forcing a Struthers timeout. However, this time, Struthers (7-15) stayed within its system and earned six straight points to cut the deficit to 12-11.

The feline foes exchanged points, but the Tigers registered the final five points of the second set, winning it 25-18 after the Wildcats were called for an illegal hit.

Howland started the third well, earning the first four points and extending the lead to 9-1. The Tigers kept applying pressure and eventually took a 17-3 lead.

A pair of aces by Michelina Wayt had the Tigers on the verge of a victory, and a Struthers player crossed the mid-court line to end the match in Howland’s favor 25-11.

“I think we showed some tremendous hustle there in the second, and even in the third sets, even though we were down a bit,” Struthers head coach Delaney Shuler said. “We like to start a little bit slow, and then when we get into the game, we start to figure things out.

“My girls, over the last stretch of the season, have shown a lot of tremendous fight and heart when it comes to playing teams that we don’t usually compete with.”

Struthers will travel to West Branch High School to play Holy Name in its Division IV sectional final on Thursday at 5 p.m.

“It shows us some things that we need to work on, some things we were doing pretty well and it’s a good test going right into tournament play as to what you’re gonna see,” Shuler said of the match against Howland.

Also on Thursday at 5 p.m. Howland will begin its Division III tournament with a trip to Ursuline for a sectional final.

“Every match in tournament play is going to be tough. Everybody knows everybody,” Florek said. “We beat Ursuline early on in the season. I’m sure they’ve grown and improved over the course of the season. I know they’ve probably been scouting us for the last week or so since we know who we’re gonna be playing. So we want to come in and compete every night that we can, see how far we can get.”