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Stoney Creek picks up key OAA Blue sweep of Avondale

Dan Stickradt | October 5, 2011 | Comments (1)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

AUBURN HILLS — Depth was a problem for Rochester Stoney Creek last season on the volleyball court. This season with a more seasoned team, the Cougars have turned that deficiency into a strength.

With far more players available this season before a drop off in talent, Stoney Creek continued its fast start Tuesday on the road. After a pair of close games, the Cougars simply wore down host Auburn Hills Avondale to post a 3-0 sweep in a key OAA Blue Division match.

Stoney Creek won the first two games by identical 25-23 scores while the Cougars cruised in Game 3, 25-17. Both teams came into the match in a three-way tie with Royal Oak atop of the OAA-Blue standings.

“This was a key win for us in the league,” said Stoney Creek coach Katie Pederson. “We’ve beaten everyone we played in the league so far this season.”

Stoney Creek (19-4-0, 5-0) trailed in the first two games, including an early 8-3 deficit in Game 2 and found itself in a 17-13 hole later in the set. The Cougars were able to come back and close out with a 12-6 run.

The third set saw Stoney Creek open with a 4-0 run and never allowed the Yellowjackets to close to within less than two points.

“I think that they major difference this year is that our bench is so deep. We can play a lot more kids,” said Pederson.”We’re deeper than last year. We’re still young, but we brought back a lot of key girls. We’re staying mentally tough and if we’re not, we have a deep bench that I know I can go to and get (production).

“We only really lost one player that played a lot,” continued Pederson, who counts four sophomores on a 13-player roster. “Lisa Kisil is a four-year player for us and she’s very experienced. Sam Wingerter is a three-year starter and Alexa Caporuscio, our setter, was a sophomore last year and played a lot. We had a lot girls get playing time last year and we have younger girls this season that have stepped up nicely.”

Avondale (13-21-0, 4-1) simply self-destructed in the final game, with long serves and misplayed volleys. Stoney Creek used an 8-2 run to go up 17-7 and Avondale tried playing catch up the rest of the set.

A service point from Stoney Creek’s Delaney Cuckovich ended the match that last only an hour.

Avondale was inconsistent the whole night, which led to its demise. The Yellowjackets graduated several players from a squad that brought home the school’s first district title last season. We have some girls back and we do have chemistry. It was just an off night.

“I don’t think it has much to do with who we graduated. We have some girls back and we do have chemistry. I think we just had an off night,” admitted first-year head coach Maria Bartolone. “By no means was it our best effort. I think this team is capable of a lot more.”

Jessie Sattmann led Stoney Creek with nine kills and three blocks. Caporuscio added 26 assists and Kisil chipped in with eight kills and nine digs for the Cougars.

Marissa Aiello had 10 kills for Avondale.

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