Bison overwhelm Cardinals at The Bird Cage
Oct. 22—COCHRANTON — Fort LeBoeuf visited The Bird Cage for a non-region match and beat Cochranton in three sets (25-14), (26-24), (25-12) on Thursday.
The Bison went on a 10-2 stretch in the first set and cruised to a 1-0 lead in the match.
It was a different story in the second set. The Cardinals proved they could compete with volleyball powerhouse LeBoeuf.
Cochranton's defense sided out the strong LeBoeuf attack and was successful in their own offense. The Cards held a 19-14 lead and looked to be on their way to evening the match, but couldn't complete the set.
A string of errors and a big kill from Audrey Friedman allowed LeBoeuf to take the lead. A Cochranton serve error gave the Bison the win.
In the third set, Fort LeBoeuf ran away with it to the tune of a 25-12 win.
"We lacked excitement and energy on the floor and we need to find it somewhere. We're not playing well in a lot of places and we need to play better," Cochranton head coach Marci Malliard said. "I would be happy with a little bit of excitement and energy."
Devyn Sokol led the team in kills with 10 while Chelsey Freyermuth led in digs with 12. Dana Jackson dished 12 assists and freshman Macie Williams added nine digs.
Cochranton is now 13-2 overall and 11-0 in Region 2. The team's two losses are to LeBoeuf and Maplewood.
Fort LeBoeuf is in Class 3A and is a perennial contender for the District 10 title. Cochranton is a Class 1A school. Scheduling a team with the pedigree of LeBoeuf is typically useful to raise the level of play before playoffs tip off next week.
"It's very beneficial if we were able to take advantage of the fact that we have the opportunity to play them. I didn't feel like we took advantage of the opportunity. They're a great team and have a lot of seniors over there," Malliard said. "They have a lot of experience so they should do very well this year."
Fort LeBoeuf is 14-4 overall and 7-1 in Region 5.
Cochranton concludes its regular season today at Eisenhower.
"I need to see and feel some excitement, energy and determination on the floor and I don't see that from a lot of people and that's disappointing to me," Malliard said. "I feel that will help us win."
