High school volleyball: Brunswick beats Medina, stays a game back of Mentor in GCC race

MEDINA — The Greater Cleveland Conference volleyball championship has been decided in the final week of the regular season in the past two years. Brunswick is doing its best to make it happen again. Middle hitter Autumn King hammered a match-high 16 kills and fellow senior Camryn Matus collected 15 kills, 23 assists, 17 digs and 16 service points as the Blue Devils stayed in the thick of the title hunt with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 victory over Medina on Thursday night. Brunswick (10-6, 6-1) remained one game behind GCC leader Mentor with five to play. The Blue Devils host the Cardinals on Oct. 10, hoping to avenge a four-set loss on Sept. 17. "They're always on our mind and why we play every game like it's against Mentor," said King, who had two kills and an assist on the final three points of the first set. "We want to have the opportunity to get them in our gym, just like they did to us last year." The Cardinals won at Brunswick in 2023 to force a co-championship, while the Blue Devils held serve at home two years ago to beat Medina and share the title with their Medina County rival. Ashlie Lieb also was a huge contributor against the Bees (5-9, 3-5), firing four aces as part of an 11-point run in the second set that took the starch out of them. The junior defensive specialist finished with five aces and made a handful of nice digs. "My team was very happy for me, and I felt like I was doing really well serving," Lieb said. "Even though it's my first year on varsity, everyone has welcomed me and I've felt like I belonged since the summer." Brunswick senior libero Erin Morgan was solid, as always, and led all players with 25 digs. Sophomore Addison Compton added five kills, freshman Kacie Belz had four kills, and Matus upped her four-year assist total to 1,578 — eighth all-time in the county. Sophomore outside hitter Ava Schellenberger had four kills and four aces, and juniors Elaina Sabol and Olivia Fedor shared top honors with five kills for Medina. The Bees drew inspiration from the large crowd at their annual Ace for Grace night for breast cancer awareness. "It was great to have the entire Medina community — and so many people from Medina County — supporting us for a great cause," Schellenberger said. "It was a very positive environment that we all enjoyed being part of." Bees sophomore Lauren Sherman posted 18 assists and nine digs. Leah McKinley had 18 digs and four aces, junior middle hitter Bridget Campbell had a match-best four blocks, and freshman outside Kalea Tagalicod had three kills and two rejections in the third. Medina jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first as junior libero McKinley had a pair of aces, then went up by a point twice later in the set on kills from Kiera Szuter and Sabol. The Bees also seized command in the third, eventually building a 14-9 advantage in the third on a kill from junior Madelyn Petrulis. The power and incredible jumping ability of King, however, proved too difficult to stop on critical points. "Medina came out really strong and looked a lot different from when we saw them earlier in the year," said birthday girl King, who turned 18. "That's what we were talking about on the bench, how much they've improved." Brunswick is 5-1 against Medina in the last three years. Contact Brian Dulik at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow @BrianDulik on X.