The Lady Patriots Volleyball team played a very competitive match against their local rivals from Rocky River High School. Indy has now won two straight matches taking down the Wildcats recently, and now the Ravens to improve their record to 3-5. The team is winning the games they expect to win which is a good sign going forward.
The Patriots from Independence came out strong winning the first set 25-14. They had some solid and skillful kill shots made by their front line of Sophia Ternes, Elizabeth Andrews, Piper Glasgow, and Juliana Charles. They were set-up nicely by Abrianna Berry, Lilly Repak, Jessica Draffen, and Holly Hunter.
In the second set Independence led from of the start once again. The game had a similar pattern as the first set, with contributions being made from different teammates as substitutions were being made by the coaching staff of head coach, Lindsay McSwain, and assistant coach Michael Lopez. The Patriots would win the second set 25-17 without any serious challenge from the Ravens maintaining a 4 to 8 point lead throughout.
However, in the third set, the Lady Ravens led by athletic sophomore McKinley Roach would turn the tide on a late run outscoring the Patriots 8-3, to escape with a 25-23 win upsetting what looked like a straight set victory for Independence, instead the Ravens comeback rally forced the visitors into playing a tough fourth set.
During the fourth set, Indy took a quick 6-2 lead, however, they could never pull away from the scrappy Ravens who stayed within striking distance. After a timeout called by Independence who was ahead 22-19, the Ravens came roaring back winning 6 of the next 8 points to take a 25-24 lead for the first time in the set. They would win the next point on a kill shot by Roach to finish the set 26-24 to force the match into the fifth and final set. Ravens seniors Keenia Johnson-Mclaughlin, Hannah Armstrong, Alex McCoy, Justice McCorkle, junior Frieda Par, and sophomore Dominque Barrett all played their best volleyball of the match.
In the final set, it appeared the Lady Patriots would finally wear down their opponent. Independence took advantage of a deep bench, they were able to rest some of their key players with timely substitutions. The Ravens with only one bench player available at any time did not have the same option available to them and it showed in the rubber match with Indy dominating the action during the fifth set.
The Lady Patriots who made some key plays for Indy in the fifth and final set include Juliana Charles, Jai Iraheta, Repak, Ternes, Draffen, Andrews, Hunter, Glasgow and Justice Lee. While Areej Hafez and Mallory Shaver each made a nice contribution to the teams conference victory.
The Patriots dominated the fifth and final set with a 16-5 run, the officials applied the 10 point rule to give Independence the 3-2 set victory and the teams third win of the season.
