Staff photo / Brian Yauger
Bloomfield senior Sophia Shaffer prepares a serve during the team’s 3-1 victory over Lordstown on Thursday.
LORDSTOWN — All they needed was momentum.
After coming back in the third set to gain the advantage, Bloomfield powered through the fourth to take down Lordstown 3-1 on Thursday night in Lordstown.
“(That third set was) crucial,” Cardinals coach Kaitlyn Christlieb said. “Usually the second set is our worst set, so to come out and start out rough, was hard. They know about being resilient, especially later on in the sets, so (as we were) coming back in the third set, told them to take your time and make everything count, and they made it count.”
The rally to a 25-23 victory was what Bloomfield needed. In the decisive set, the Cardinals laid on the gas to cruise to a 25-9 set victory over the Red Devils.
“That momentum is the most important thing they got. They have to want it all the way through. They can sometimes get a little off (track), worrying or laughing about mistakes they made. They can laugh off their mistakes, but when it’s time to go, they know how to walk in and focus in on what they need to do.”
The Cardinals have a wide experience gap with lots of seniors and lots of freshmen with very little in between.
It’s offered a unique dynamic, and the seniors have been extra coaches as the younger players learn the game.
“We have a team of freshmen and seniors, pretty much,” Christlieb said. “We have a lot of girls learning the game. We got a lot of good leaders out on the court. Historically, we’re a really small school. We don’t get a little lot of recognition. We graduate 10 in a (senior) class (as a school), so we don’t normally compete, but these girls really have a lot of passion. They put in a lot of hard work, and they’re learning, and we’re growing and they play fantastic ball every night.”
Bloomfield hosts Chalker on Monday. The win pushes the team to 5-11 on the season.
Lordstown falls to 2-15.
In the first year under coach Heather Sankey, the Red Devils are rebuilding and establishing a new culture.
“We’re changing a culture here,” Sankey said. “I’ve got five seniors who have bought in. I have a bunch of younger kids who have bought in. We’re working out in the summer. We’re trying to work on our mental toughness and that kind of stuff, believing we can do things and we’re getting better game by game, but sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot on our own court. We don’t execute the way we’re supposed to execute. … When we do what we’re supposed to do, and we have control, we’re good. Usually, when we fall behind, we usually can bring it right back. We’ve been doing that. We just fell off with those unforced errors today, and just didn’t do what we had to do to finish it out that third set, letting them come back the way they did.
“Hats off to Bloomfield. They’re a very quick team. They flew around. We’re putting the ball in front of them, which is what they’re used to in their practice. When we start putting the ball to the lines, get them reaching and that kind of stuff, it would have made some differences. We didn’t execute that well, even though we practiced that in our gym yesterday.”