Girls volleyball: Highland beats Cuyahoga Falls to get back into SL American race

GRANGER TWP. — The Highland volleyball team has played its way back into the race in the Suburban League American Conference. Senior middle hitter Kamryn Heldreth posted match highs of 17 kills and five blocks and freshman outside hitter Samantha Ross had eight kills as the Hornets cruised to a 25-9, 25-6, 25-11 victory over Cuyahoga Falls on Tuesday night. Libero Carley Niese added 11 digs and four aces and fellow senior Lily Vojtko had four kills without an error for Highland (7-5, 5-2), which has won five of its last six overall contests. "We're definitely in a good spot now," outside hitter and six-rotation player Vojtko said. "Much better than where we were a couple of weeks ago, when a little bit of everything was going on, getting into the school year. "There were a lot of late nights getting back from matches and a lot of late nights doing homework, but we realized we had to figure it out together." After suffering back-to-back losses to start the SL season, the Hornets have won five straight heading into their most important two-match stretch of the season. The six-time defending champions travel to American-leading Aurora on Thursday, then host second-place Copley on Sept. 23. The Greenmen and Indians each swept Highland in their first meetings, which was a rude awakening for the program as it tried to adjust to having seven new rotation players. "We need to start out these next two matches with energy, which didn't happen the last time because we weren't used to them being at the level they are now," admitted senior outside hitter Alyssa Koehler, who had two kills and an assist. "But when we played Revere (a five-set victory on Sept. 11), everyone stepped up right away because they're our biggest rivals. That's the way we have to treat all of our opponents, with healthy respect." Facing the Black Tigers (2-10, 1-6) immediately before seeing Aurora and Copley again was a fortuitous bit of scheduling. Heldreth almost doubled the entire Cuyahoga Falls team in kills, which only earned 11 points on nine successful spikes and two aces. Highland amassed 53 on 41 and 12, respectively. Sophomore Payton Hrics had 16 assists and eight digs, freshman Emma Tramonte tacked on 15 helpers and senior defensive specialist Ava Andrews made six digs and had three aces. "Our morale has been really good since the Revere game," Vojtko said. "Part of that is just our younger players feeling more comfortable. They've raised their intensity and are much more aggressive." Gigi Shank chipped in four kills and Allison Stanik had three on an evening when the Hornets experimented with numerous lineups and worked on specific skills in advance of the Greenmen match. It also afforded Koehler and Vojtko the chance to exhale after being shifted between all three spots at the net during the first half of the season, based on the needs of the squad as a whole. "We're excited because we do have the potential to go really far again this year," Koehler said. "The underclassmen have proved they belong and everyone is having fun together." Contact Brian Dulik at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @BrianDulik on X.