STORY BY SPENCER LUYBEN
The Sheridan Bruins women’s volleyball team (16-5, 5-2 OCAA) stormed the St. Clair Saints (4-4 OCAA) in a straight-set 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 26-24) victory on Saturday.
“It was a pretty big win for us at the end of the day. We were in a three-way tie with Redeemer and St. Clair. So this bumps us up into the top half of our division,” said head coach Scott Hunt.
Both teams went in to the game with four wins under their belt and the matchup featured the league leaders in both kills (1 – St. Clair’s Helen Wiebe, 2 – Sheridan’s Melissa Cappelletti) and digs (1 – St. Clair’s Monica Roch, 2 – Sheridan’s Jordie Bevan).
The match began with sloppy play from the Bruins, which led to an 8-point run and a big lead by the Saints in the first set. Coming to the rescue was the Bruins’ Melissa Cappelletti whose serve dominated and turned the set around, giving Sheridan the first set.
Sheridan seemed to be largely in control after that, until St. Clair built momentum with an 8-point run in the third set that had the Bruins on their heels and struggling to score points.
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Eva Crnkovic stopped the bleeding for the double-blue after coolly executing a clever tip that she finessed over the Saints defender. This marked the turning point of the match, as St. Clair’s run of points came to an end, and Sheridan was able to seal the victory by closing out the final set.
The Bruins were lead by Melissa Cappelletti and, specifically, Sommer Maltby, who had a breakout game with 14 kills, nine digs, a service ace and a block to round out an impressive performance.
“The last two matches have been a good eyeopener for us in terms of how we have to play at a certain level,” said Hunt.
The team was slated to play Niagara at home at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“They’re going to be prepared for us. If we’re not playing our best or a little bit more consistent, then it’s going to be tough for us,” said Hunt.