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McDonald milestone

Volleyball tournament win is first for Devils

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Molly Howard, right, of McDonald sends the ball past Mathews defender Ally Richards during the Blue Devils’ Division IV sectional first-round win Tuesday at Mathews. With the victory, McDonald earned the first postseason win in program history.

VIENNA — When a program is only in its second season, every win is huge. The first tournament win is even bigger.

McDonald volleyball made history Tuesday by beating Mathews in five sets to get its first postseason victory as a program.

“I think they played really well today,” Blue Devils coach Amy Harrison said. “One of our big things is trying to get them to fight through it and not getting behind because we’re such a young team they game down. I feel like they fought hard, they stayed in the game, they stayed mentally in it and it shows.”

Just as her team fought through the ups and downs of a five-set match, Harrison fought through tears when talking about how proud she is of her team.

“It feels good, I almost cried a little bit,” Harrison said. “It’s exciting to be a part of it and the girls really love it, and they came out and played for me. I’ve been coaching them in basketball when they were little and softball, so it’s been fun to be a part of this.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Sophia Constantino of McDonald jumps to attempt to make a defensive stop from Ally Richards of Mathews.

“I could cry,” Harrison said. “My oldest daughter passed away from cancer and she would’ve been a senior, so these girls are my girls, and I have a lot of love for them. It’s special because I get to be a part of them enjoying this new sport.”

Avoiding deficits wasn’t an issue for McDonald, which held large leads in each of the first three sets. Mathews clawed back in the first to get a 25-22 victory, but the Blue Devils held onto their leads in the second and third sets, winning 25-21 and 25-12.

“That’s one of the things I’m most proud of tonight,” Harrison said. “Them mentally just sticking with it and fighting through it.”

On the other side of the court were the Mustangs, who also fought through everything that was sent their way. At one point in the first set, Mathews trailed 9-1, but it quickly closed the gap and was able to take the set.

“That’s my team,” Mustangs coach Heather Sankey said. “For whatever reason, they like to be behind. We’ve won so many games from behind. We’ve been down two sets and come back and won.

“You lose in the second and third and then come back in the fourth and when you get that momentum swing, getting that first ball (in the fifth set) is crucial. You’ve got to get that ball in and make an attack and then momentum comes our way. Hats off to McDonald. They’re a very well-rounded team.”

McDonald is one of the few teams that has avoided one of the common pitfalls teams face when playing in ‘The Shoebox’.

“Usually people have problems with our ceiling and they played our ceiling well,” Sankey said. “They’ve never even been in our gym before and they played it better than some of the league games we’ve had.”

Mathews ends its season at 16-6. There was a special thing about the upperclassmen-heavy group that Sankey hopes will remain after the seniors graduate.

“This whole group is never done being coached, not even tonight,” Sankey said. “They still want coached and they make adjustments. That’s very special. You usually don’t get that with a group of girls especially this long in the season.

“After six weeks and 22 matches people kind of get tired of one another, but this group is nonstop. They come off and ask questions while we’re in the huddle. It’s a very special group, I’m very sad to see the seniors go.”

The Blue Devils (12-11) will travel to Ashtabula Thursday to take on St. John and try to add win number two to their postseason total. Going forward, Harrison hopes she can continue to get performances like Tuesday’s out of her front middle.

“Our serving was big for us and I believe our front middle really dominated the net today,” Harrison said. “They really stepped up and took charge and we needed that. I’m super proud of them for that.”

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