Correspondent photo / Gary Leininger The South Range Raiders, both on the floor and on the bench, celebrate a point in their distrtict title game loss to Crestview.

SALEM — The top-seeded Crestview volleyball squad captured its first district title since 2016 as the Rebels swept third-seeded South Range, 25-22, 25-13, 25-21, to win the Salem Division III districttitle on Saturday.

The Rebels improve to 24-1 on the year as they will advance to play the Elyria District champion Independence at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Barberton High School.

“In tournaments, anything can happen. You have to be focused every game. They did not like the feeling they had leaving here last year, and I told them to remember it,” Crestview coach Alisha Auer said of the Rebels losing to Springfield in the Salem district semifinals last year.

“It feels great, feels great,” Auer said. “It was our goal, and we got it. I’m very happy today.”

The Rebels set the tone off the opening serve as they raced out to a quick 5-0 lead and lead by as much as 8-2. But the Raiders fought back as they went on a 14-3 run to take a 16-13 advantage. After that the two teams battled back-and-forth as the lead changed hands five times, the Rebels closed the match with a 5-2 run to capture the set 25-22.

“I think Crestview had an answer for us, and we played really well. We tried to play our game,” South Range coach Katie Luklan said. “Crestview is an awesome team and I have to give a lot of credit to them. We hit really hard, we covered the floor really well, we did everything I asked them and made adjustments. But Crestview had an answer for us all the way through.”

The Rebels made quick work of the Raiders in the second set as they raced out to an 11-point lead at 14-3 before the Raiders made a charge getting as close as 16-9. But it was too little, too late as the Rebels closed with a 9-3 run to win the second set 25-13.

Once again in the third set, the Rebels jumped ahead as they rushed out to a 7-2 lead before the Raiders came alive. The Raiders battled back with a 9-6 run to close the match to 13-11. Then the Rebels responded with a 9-3 run to push their advantage to 22-14. However, the Raiders showed their mettle as they made one last desperate run as they closed the match to 24-21, but the Rebels forced a side-out to pick up the game-winning point to win the set 25-21.

South Range closed the season with a 15-10 record.

“They came in from the jump when we had open gyms in April,” Luklan said. “They really set the tone and worked really hard which started with our three seniors (Emily Irons, Anna Primavera, and Abby George). They created an environment for us to thrive in.”

“It meant a lot, I got to play with some of my best friends,” senior Raider Emily Irons said. “They are so great. I love my team, and we fought really hard.”

For the Raiders, Abby George had seven kills and two blocks, Anna Primavera had six kills and five digs, Emily Irons recorded 21 assists and six digs, Reagan Irons added 13 digs and Izzy Lamparty had six kills and two blocks.