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Cadet celebrate senior night with sweep of Raiders

By Jordan Holland 5 min read

BEVERLY -- Fort Frye's seniors went out in style in the final regular-season home match of their careers, sweeping Morgan 25-12, 25-22 and 25-13 Monday at Dan Liedtke Court.

Adeline Willey, Kali Shilling, Haven Shilling, Aubrie Lang and Ella Dowler were all honored prior to the match and played crucial roles in the Cadets' 10th win of the season. Hannah Weiker, who was unable to play due to an injury, was also honored during pregame festivities.

After the match, each senior got to spike the ball off a set from their moms.

"It’s such a fun-loving group, and they bring such a fun energy," said Fort Frye head coach Tiffany Smith. "I’m glad that they got to kind of wrap up the night with something fun like that with their parents who have gotten them to this point. It was really cool."

Lang's serving prowess gave the Cadets a major boost. She finished with 13 points and nine aces in addition to tallying 19 assists.

"She did a beautiful job of hitting really tough spots," Smith said. "They had a hard time responding to that."

Lang served three straight aces in the opening set to help set the tone. She later ended the third and final set with an ace, a fitting conclusion to the match.

"Sometimes I get on a run where I’m serving really good," Lang said. "Tonight, I was just so happy it was senior night. We were all here, and I just really wanted to win. I think that really helped contribute to it."

Fort Frye dominated most of the match, but watched a 7-0 lead in the second set disappear as Morgan put together an admirable rally. The Raiders took a 21-18 lead when Kaidence Searl assisted Maddy Schaad on a kill, but Fort Frye knotted it up at 22-all on Haven Shilling's kill. The Cadets took a 24-22 lead before Evalynn Wagner's ace secured a 2-0 advantage in the match.

"Sometimes we have some dips, but we always manage to come back and bring us together as a team," said Willey, who contributed six kills and two blocks for Fort Frye.

"We needed to regroup, and we did exactly that. Our coach always has us do this thing that’s called 'reset.' We just reset our minds, and we get back out."

Wagner led the Cadets with 14 points to go along with four aces. Jantzyn Huck notched a team-high 20 digs, Addie Schob produced 10 assists and Elle Casto netted nine kills. Emma Lockhart added six kills for FFHS, which improved to 10-5 on the year.

As for the seniors, Haven Shilling finished with a match-high 10 kills while Kali Shilling and Dowler added five kills apiece.

"We are like a tight knit community, I swear," Lang said. "We’re like sisters at this point. We’ve grown up together. We’ve played on the same team for like six years now, so it was great."

In the first year of her second stint as the Cadets' head coach, Smith felt fortunate to have such a strong group of seniors to work with.

"It’s an incredible class, honestly," she said. "We’re gonna miss them so much. So well-rounded, but also the culture that they bring, and the way that they lead with such positivity and the work ethic -- they’re irreplaceable."

The Raiders, who fell to 5-9 on the year, were led by Searl's eight kills and eight assists. Schaad added five kills while Allia Rush chipped in four kills and three blocks.

Fort Frye has five matches remaining, all on the road, including a rematch with the Raiders on Oct. 12 in McConnelsville to conclude the regular season.

"I think we were playing through a lot of emotions out of the gate, so I was glad that we started as strong as we did," Smith said. "We did have a stretch that was a little bit flat, but we did a lot of really good things. Stayed aggressive at the net, which is something we’ve been working to do.

"I think some of our losses are tough losses, but I think that adversity is going to help us to be better in the long run. I’m excited about where we are and where we’re going to be going into postseason."

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.

At Dan Liedtke Court

Fort Frye d. Morgan 25-12, 25-22, 25-13

Morgan (5-9) stats: Maddy Schaad 5K, 2 ast, 1D, 1B; Kaidence Searl 8K, 8 ast, 3D, 1B; Lanie Haines 1K, 1 ast, 3D, 2B; Allia Rush 4K, 3D, 3B; Peyton Drobina 1K, 3D; Melena Mayle 1K, 1D; Madi VanNess 3D

Fort Frye (10-5) stats: Evalynn Wagner 1D, 4 aces, 14 pts; Jantzyn Huck 20D, 4 ast, 1 pt; Adeline Willey 3D, 2 ast, 6K, 2B, 5 pts; Addie Schob 4D, 10 ast; Kali Shilling 7D, 5K, 1B; Ella Casto 3D, 3 ast, 9K, 1B, 1 ace, 8 pts; Emma Lockhart 6K, 1B; Haven Shilling 6D, 10K, 2B, 1 ace, 1 pt; Aubrie Lang 9D, 19 ast, 9 aces, 13 pts; Ella Dowler 3D, 5K, 3B

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