Brian Hagberg
NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A wrong turn caused Monday’s match between Sheffield and Redbank Valley to be delayed and the Wolverines’ defense never recovered as the Bulldogs picked up a 25-14, 25-19 and 25-14 sweep.
Sheffield (1-1) didn’t arrive in New Bethlehem until after 6 p.m. due to a missed turn along the way. The Wolverines’ defense never seemed to recover as they were under 25 percent dig to target and under 40 percent in serve receive to target.
“You’re not going to beat a team like Redbank with those passing numbers,” Sheffield coach Melissa Lemay said.
Sheffield had six blocking errors and nearly as many attack errors (12) as kills (13).
“Those are unforced errors that we need to be able to clean up,” Lemay said.
On the plus side, the Wolverines’ serving game was on point. Sheffield missed only three serves in the match, a 93 percent serve rate.
Lynzie Grubbs led the Sheffield attack with four kills and two blocks. Kadence Steffan had 10 assists.
Brianna Minich led Redbank with 10 kills. Alivia Huffman had seven kills for the Bulldogs with Ryley Pago chipping in six kills and a block. Brynn Rearick had a game-high 14 digs.
“We just didn’t pass well enough to run our offense tonight,” Lemay said. “But that’s something we can work on. This was only our second match, so we have a lot of time to improve those skills.”
Redbank Valley swept the junior varsity match, 25-21 and 26-24
Sheffield hosts North Clarion Thursday.
More scores and recaps from around the region can be found here.
