FC VB Stays TRC Perfect

To start the season, the volleyball race in the TRC was up for grabs.  No team brought back a definitive favorite.  Midway through the year, things are shaping up.  The top five teams are W-K, FC, Caledonia, SC, and L-A.  Travis Malley’s Falcons stayed TRC perfect with two more wins.  The Falcons knocked off PEM easily, 25-18, 25-6, 25-13.  Madison Scheevel (21 assists, 10 digs), Paige Donlinger (10 kills), Stella Schrüfer (8 kills), and K.J. Corson (7 digs, 23-24 serving, 3 aces) led the way.  FC then faced its second top-tier team this year, at Lewiston-Altura.  The Cardinals returned a majority of last year’s 18-11 squad.  The teams battled to a five-set finish.  FC started game one 5-1, but L-A had a mid-set 5-0 run for an 18-13 lead.  The Cards got to set-point (24-18), only for FC’s Donlinger to score five straight points (four kills, block), making it 24-23.  L-A sophomore Ella Miller ended the run with a block, giving L-A game one 25-23.  In game two, Falcon foreign exchange student Stella Schrüfer’s six-point, four-ace serving session was critical (FC up 12-7).  It keyed a 25-21 win.  Game three was tied early (1, 6, 8) and late (18, 19, 23).  Back-to-back points by the Card’s including a second Miller block game-winner gave the home team another 25-23 win, a 2-1 lead.  In game four, FC’s serving, or L-A’s suspect serve receive, was again critical.  Corson had a four-point serving run mid-set (15-10 FC).  Scheevel followed with a two ace serving session (19-12).  FC prevailed 25-18, sending the match to five.  There, the Card’s held an 8-5 lead.  A critical juncture came with it 8-7.  Miller again had a big ace block, but it was annulled by her net violation.  FC tied the game 8-8.  With it 10-10, Donlinger scored a kill, then a three-point serving session, a 4-0 Falcon run.  L-A got to down 14-12, but a Schrüfer block capped the comeback win.  FC prevailed 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12).  The Falcons won 3-2 last year too after trailing 2-1.  Donlinger, just 5’3”, was FC’s best (match-high 18 kills, 18 digs).  Scheevel (31 assists, 21-22 serving, 4 aces, 11 digs), Schrüfer (8 kills, 18-20 serving, 6 aces), and Corson (match-high 29 digs, 18-20 serving, 3 aces) did big work for FC.  Hadley Yoder added 6 kills.  Ciarra McNally (16 kills), Myia Ruzek (11 kills, 3 ½ blocks), Miller (5 kills, 5 blocks), and Gabby Speltz (14 assists, 18 digs) paced L-A.  The Cardinals had 14 blocks to FC’s 6.  The Falcons had 14 aces to L-A’s one.  McNally scored 14 of her kills in the first three sets.  The TRC league race (9/25) is W-K (5-0, 11-4), FC (5-0, 10-6), Caledonia (4-1, 9-6), St. Charles (4-1, 6-5), and L-A (4-2, 10-6).