Rams down Waterloo in straight sets
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MINERAL RIDGE -- Throughout the fall, the Mineral Ridge volleyball team has largely dominated its opponents.
The Rams have won 22 games and were unbeaten in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier. During the season, they've dropped just 10 total sets and have swept 17 opponents.
That trend continued on Wednesday, as No. 2 seed Mineral Ridge began its postseason journey with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Waterloo in a Division VI, Northeast 3, sectional final on its home court. The Rams took each set by scores of 25-11, 25-3 and 25-7.
"I told the kids, we just came in and we were able to take care of business," Rams coach Ronald Lesko said. "It's nice to be able to be in control. It takes pressure off you, the kids play relaxed and they're having a lot of fun. It's just a good situation to be able to put yourself in that position to play at that comfort level."
It's been a high-flying season for Mineral Ridge, which clinched the MVAC title against Campbell earlier this month.
But for the Rams, their success this year has been a product of the work they put in before the season ever even started.
"There's a lot that we do in the summer to try and prepare ourselves for this time of year," Lesko said. "Then you just try to improve and try to bring things in as you run your regular season schedule. But you have to have set a pretty good foundation in the summer, and then you work to improve from there. So really, a lot of the hard work is done before you even play your first match."
The team has been able to lean on its experience with a varsity roster composed mostly of juniors and seniors.
Leading the way in that group is senior setter Sullivan Sandy, a soon-to-be three-year letterwinner, who has more than 2,000 career assists. She's the cog that makes the Rams' system go, helping set up hitters Meeyia Barta, Malayna Wilson, Arionna Kays and Brystal Mills.
"When you have somebody who's been running your offense for three years, and has now had an opportunity to work with a lot of these hitters for a pretty good amount of time, it goes a long way," Lesko said. "Then it also helps the hitters too, because they know she's going to get to the ball, she's going to put them a nice ball up in the air, and they can fully commit and go be an aggressive attacker."
The first goal this year for Mineral Ridge was to win the conference title. With that accomplished, the Rams are now looking to see what they can do in the postseason.
"The more you progress in the tournament, obviously the better the teams get. So we've talked to our kids about setting a standard," Lesko said. "This is the standard that we try to achieve, and hopefully, if we can play to the standard we set, it's good enough for us to get the victory."
Mineral Ridge's win sets up a district semifinal rematch against a familiar foe on Oct. 26. The Rams will face No. 21 seed Springfield, which beat 20th-seeded Brookfield in the first match of Wednesday's doubleheader.
Mineral Ridge beat the Tigers twice already this season, sweeping both meetings.
"It'll be tough. The Springfield kids are young, but they're pretty talented," Lesko said. "They've improved a lot over the season. We watched them a little bit before our match today, and they look a lot stronger than the last time we played them. So I think they'll put some pressure on us, and we're going to have to step up and perform."