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Fort Frye sweeps Belpre in season opener

JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times Fort Frye’s Karlee Ross (32) goes for a block against Belpre’s Ryleigh Hannah (12) during a high school volleyball match Monday in Beverly.

BEVERLY — The start of the 2017 season could not have gone much better for the Fort Frye volleyball team.

The Cadets entertained Belpre Monday evening and came away with a three-set sweep by scores of 25-10, 25-9 and 25-13.

“It’s always good to start the season with a win,” said Fort Frye head coach Tiffany Schob. “That’s for sure.”

After winning 18 games a season ago, Fort Frye has high expectations again this year. The Cadets are led by a strong senior class which includes Kelsey Adkins, Gabby Baker, Alissa Ginther and Emily Smith.

Fort Frye also had some younger players contribute in sophomore Stephanie Camden, junior Jade Baker, junior Kasey Buchanan and freshman Karlee Ross.

“I’m happy with some of the things we were able to string together,” Schob said. “I also think it’s a great first game because we also revealed some of the things we need to work on.”

Belpre had trouble handling Fort Frye’s serves most of the match. Makaylee Deaton’s kill in set No. 2 brought Belpre within 17-9, but the Cadets took the final eight points thanks in part to four aces by Camden.

Fort Frye, which plays host to Frontier Wednesday in a varsity-only match, then jumped out to an 18-5 lead in set No. 3 and put it away from there. Belpre’s Abbey Lafatch recorded a kill to make it 24-12 as the Golden Eagles tried to rally, but the hosts eventually closed it out.

“Jade had a really good run there,” Schob said. “She had multiple serves in a row. Stephanie had a couple good runs there. That’s something we’re coming off last season stronger with is our consistency and our aggressiveness with our serving. So I think that’s definitely a threat we have in our pocket.”

Schob felt the Cadets showed off some of their strengths in the match, but also picked up on some things that can be improved.

“Any time we can step off the court and know the direction we need to take, that’s what we need to do,” she said. “We definitely did some good things but there are a lot of things I would like to see us do better.”

One of Fort Frye’s biggest challenges as the season continues will be developing cohesiveness and learning to play as a team.

“Seeing how they’ve progressed over the summer, there’s no doubt in my mind they can get where they need to be,” Schob said. “Some of it is just game experience together and really clicking as a team.”

Monday’s match was the first for Brooke Cieslewski as head coach for Belpre. Cieslewsi was a prep volleyball standout at Williamstown.

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