The match was hard fought by both sides, but unbeaten Howland walked away with a 3-0 sweep of the Cardinals in their first win over Canfield (8-4) in a few years.

“They earned it,” Tigers coach Amanda Lingenfelter said. “These girls have been working hard since we were a little off-kilter against Boardman, and they’ve been putting things together and had an eye on this match.”

Similar words were echoed by Howland junior Chloe Schultz.

“For the past couple of weeks we’ve been talking about it (the Canfield match),” she said. “It’s been rough, but it paid off.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Grace Rosko of Canfield goes for a kill over the Howland defense during the first set Tuesday night at Canfield.

“It’s the best feeling ever. Ever since I was an underclassman we’ve always been working to be the leaders, and now it finally feels great to be one of those.”

The first set was a back-and-forth contest that saw great volleys by both teams, but after falling behind to Canfield late in the first set, the Tigers (11-0) rallied for a 25-22 victory.

Set two was more of a one-sided battle as the Tigers continued to be aggressive offensively and pushed ahead for a 25-15 win.

Canfield took an early lead in the third set, thanks to some great play defensively out of the Cardinals, but as the match rolled on, both teams swung back and forth with extended volleys that looked like a continuation of the first set.

Ultimately, the Tigers won the third set by a score of 25-20 to complete the three-game sweep.

Talking was one of the keys to victory in Schultz’s eyes.

“Communicating with our setter is a huge part, and communicating with each other,” she said “Not getting upset when we’re down a couple points, just get right back into it and pick it up again.”

Players from both Canfield and Howland play together on club teams in the Spring, and Lingenfelter feels that makes the game fun because many of the players are friends.

“It makes it a rivalry, so of course we just want to be competitive in any match that we get into,” she said. “Winning is definitely a huge bonus.”

Canfield coach Maria Householder declined comment after the match.

Howland senior Kathryn Summerfield knew that hard work was going to be needed going into the match.

“We just all concentrate and practice, we work on the things we need to to be a team,” she said “Serving, hitting, everything.”

Lingenfelter said her and the Tigers did some game-planning for the Cardinals, a perennialy power in the area.

“We practiced a couple things at practice the last few days,” she said. “I know those players — a lot of those players really, really well — so we knew where their weaknesses were. They weren’t able to get the ball to their big hitters as much as they probably would have liked to. I credit that to our tough serving and us swinging hard at them.”

The Tigers are playing at a high level, as they’re now 11-0 after last night’s match.

Lingerfelter doesn’t want her team focusing on their record.

“I keep telling them, ‘Don’t pay attention to the number, let’s not talk about the number until it’s achieved.’ (I) knew we were good, but I didn’t know we’d be 11-0 at this point in the season.

“I think it’s taking care of itself now,” she added. “The girls are starting to build a little bit of a culture. They want to win, they want to be successful and show up, and they’re finally doing it.”