Boardman takes down Howland in 5 sets

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes
Howland senior Sianna Dykes taps the ball over the net during the fourth set at Boardman. The Tigers won 3-2 on the road, led by Dykes 21 kills and four blocks.

BOARDMAN — Although it’s genuinely hard to believe, the midway point in the high school volleyball season is already here, as teams have a pretty good grasp on their lineups, while still fine-tuning details.

The duel between Boardman and the visitors from Howland are the perfect example of that. Two squads that have floated around .500, winning matches, losing others, trying to build some momentum and confidence.

Despite dropping the first set 25-17, the Tigers rebounded back, winning sets two and three, 25-11, 25-21, before having to close out a 15-10 contest in the fifth set, bringing their overall record to 6-6.

“Going into the first set, we talked a lot the last few weeks making teams earn points on us, we gave them a lot of points in the first set, we made a couple of adjustments on our offensive setting. We’ve had a lot of injuries over the past few weeks and we’re kind of working those players back in, and getting them clicking back together,” Howland coach Amanda Florek said. “A lot of our losses have come with the injuries, so we’re just getting that flow built together so we can head into the playoffs.

“We need some momentum going forward, we’ve been talking the last few weeks, our record is important, but at the end of the day, what’s important is getting a year on our banner in the gym, so that’s our ultimate goal.”

Senior Sianna Dykes was the leader of the Tigers (6-6) offensive game, leading Howland with 21 kills, adding four blocks to her statline as well.

For her, energy was the difference.

“A big thing for us was to keep our energy up, and to stay focused. In our past games we’ve been down on energy and we can’t really pick ourselves back up, so that was a big motto in this game. Just don’t lose hope and keep fighting,” Dykes said. “It gives us a lot of motivation to keep going, and if we don’t have energy we can’t pick ourselves back up and keep fighting. We are a strong team offensively and defensively, so I think if we have that energy from the court, to the stands, to the bench, it creates a lot more opportunities for us.”

Sophomore Maya Kubancsek led with 21 digs and 10 kills, fellow sophomore Talia Rishel earning 37 assists, with senior Angelina Weems posting three aces.

Florek added “We spoke about bringing energy, just being purposeful with our energy. All the sudden you’re playing harder, you start earning a little bit more points, points start falling in the right direction. We start making hustle plays here and there. The bench has a role to come in and bring some energy even if they’re not seeing the court as much as somebody that’s out there on the floor.”

Boardman (6-7) did force a fifth set with a 25-17 win down 2-1, but fell behind early in the final set as Howland stormed away. Sophomore Maya Flores led with 18 kills, senior Nina Tran posting 24 digs. Senior Ava Commons added 45 assists, junior Ava Gaps adding eight blocks.

Despite the setback, Spartans coach Rebecca Calvin sees positives to build on.

“We’re 6-6 before this game, I told them, it’s pretty much like being 0-0, what we do with this tonight is how the rest of our season is kind of going to go,” Calvin said. “They played really well, even if it didn’t go our way, Howland is a well put together team.

“I like the battle, I think it shows a little bit of adversity between our girls and if we can overcome things like this, we’ve had a lot of five game sets. It really shows where they can be and where we need to improve too. Should we have given up a couple of points on serve-receive, no, but did we? Let’s overcome that in the next game, our season is really tough.”

“Our league is really tough, our conference is tough, so it doesn’t get any easier from here.”