St. Paul sweeps Western in season opener

NORWALK — The preseason momentum is still going. After a big boost from the high of an outdoors preseason scrimmage with crosstown Norwalk on Aug. 15, the St. Paul volleyball team didn't miss a beat in its season opener. The Lady Flyers cruised to a three-set win over visiting Western Reserve in the Firelands Conference opener for both teams. St. Paul posted scores Tuesday over the Roughriders, 25-15, 25-15, and 25-17, inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium. "I thought the girls played well and came out with no first-day jitters despite a lot of new kids on the floor," St. Paul head coach Angie Kalizewski said. "They just came out and played. That's what we talked about with them all summer, and we were glad to see them transfer it and do all the things we talked about." In the win, Ella Kalizewski finished with seven kills, three blocks, and six digs. Annie Friend set 15 assists and also served 6 of 9 with three aces. Raeleigh Friend also added three kills and four blocks, while Mia Stoll had four kills and Ryleigh Mansfield-Bush added five kills and served 20 for 21 with three aces and seven digs. Also for St. Paul, Elsie Shumaker was 10 for 10 serving and had 12 digs. Kate Stieber led the defense with 13 digs. "They got settled in and played comfortably," Angie Kalizewski said. "I think the outdoor match was such a cool experience, and they were excited just to play it, but then to play that well added to it. To see it continue was great to see." It was a tough draw for Western Reserve head coach TJ Furco and his young Roughriders team. The coach is in his first season at the school and drew one of the FC blue bloods on the road to start the season. "Overall I'm proud of them for fighting the entire time," Furco said. "There are obviously things we need to improve, but there were a lot of signs of things we're excited about. We had a lot of girls who had never played together before. So there is room for growth, and I'm excited to see what that looks like as the season progresses. We're going to be better as the year goes on because the girls will stick together and fight together as a team." While taking the loss, Furco said playing a team like St. Paul shows right away how far his team needs to go. "And we'll be excited to see them a second time at home and see how much we've improved." Western is off until Saturday with a tri-match with Colonel Crawford at Margaretta. St. Paul heads to Division III Tiffin Columbian on Thursday. "That's why you play these types of games; they will be solid and a challenge," Kalizewski said of the Tornadoes. "They have a new coach, so we'll see what kind of changes that means, but we know either way it will be a real test for us."