South Range holds off Lakeview to advance to regional final
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MEDINA -- South Range's magical, unbeaten season will last at least another couple days.
The Raiders faced off against a familiar foe in Northeast 8 Conference rival Lakeview during Thursday's Division V regional semifinal. Since it was their third meeting with the Bulldogs this season, it was only fitting that it played out in similar fashion as the first two meetings, as South Range downed Lakeview 3-1.
"I would have been very surprised if we would have swept them after those first two meetings. Not that I wanted to, but because they battle so hard and they work so hard," Raiders head coach TJ Irons said. "They're very well-coached and they've played a lot of volleyball. They have strong tradition. They've been to this district three years in a row, so they know what it's like to be here. We knew they weren't going to go away, and we knew we were going to have to beat them. We worked for every point, every set and every game."
Now 26-0 on the season, South Range advances to face Orrville in Saturday’s Division V regional final at 11 a.m. at Barberton. The Red Riders defeated Fairview 3-0 in Thursday’s first semifinal.
"They have two very good setters, and they both hit on the outside. They're both good hitters too. They just play with a lot of passion," Irons said of Orrville. "They do a lot of the things that we do, I think. They play a little bit fast, their offense is kind of low and they're a pretty good serving team too. So I'm going to have to learn a lot about them in the next day or two."
In the first set, South Range jumped out to a 12-4 advantage, but the Bulldogs clawed their way back midway through the set to make it a one-point deficit, 14-13.
Still, the Raiders closed out the opening set 25-17 after a 9-3 run for the early 1-0 advantage.
The second set was tightly contested as both teams exchanged points back-and-forth. Neither team could create much separation after five ties in the latter part of the set.
But South Range still managed to stave off Lakeview once again, cobbling together a series of points to finish off the set 25-21 with a kill from Anna Toy, who led the Raiders with 34 kills and 13 digs. Lily Weaver also had 20 kills and 16 digs, while Parker Zwingler finished with 37 assists and 21 digs.
"I think we definitely battled tonight, we just had too many mistakes at crucial points and moments in our sets," Lakeview head coach Heather Kiser said. "Volleyball is a game of mistakes, and we just had too many at crucial points tonight."
With its season on the line, Lakeview seized control 4-1 to begin the third set. But the Raiders swiftly fought back.
The Bulldogs took multiple leads during the third set and dug deep to keep their season alive by winning the third set 25-22 to make it 2-1 in the match.
"I've always said that this is a team of fighters," Kiser said. "They knew they weren't ready to be done. They knew they didn't prove themselves in those first two sets, so they really wanted another set to prove themselves."
Looking to quell Lakeview's momentum, South Range knew it had to act quickly, as the Raiders jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the fourth set.
South Range led for most of the set, yet the Bulldogs still had one last push in them, rallying to make it 16-all late in the set. The Raiders' hitters proved to be too much, however, and they strung together the necessary points to finish off the set and the match 25-19 in the fourth.
"Our team plays best when they're having fun and they're playing loose," Irons said. "Of course, that lets you play a little bit more loose when you get a little bit of that gap in the score. Tonight, it just seemed like our girls weren't ready to be done. They've been saying it for a while now. They're not ready to be done, and I hope we take that attitude into Saturday."
Lakeview ends the season at 20-6 after making its third straight regional semifinal appearance.
The Bulldogs will bid farewell to four seniors who were part of each of those playoff runs, including Cady Esker, Anna Haynie, Annaliese DeJulio and Rylie Gillespie.
"This group of seniors are definitely great leaders," Kiser said. "I definitely think that they have shown the underclassmen how to be positive leaders, but yet still competitive leaders. I think they did a great job this year with this team. But we still were a pretty young team this year. I have a lot coming back, so I'm excited for it."