FREMONT – Every win feels good, but some wins are a little sweeter than others. More satisfying.
The Lady Giants swept Sandusky Monday night 25-15, 25-20, 25-16.
And no team wearing a Fremont Ross uniform in any sport this fall, has enjoyed a more satisfying victory – nor a more deserved one – than the Lady Giant volleyball team’s 3-0 sweep of Sandusky Monday night, 25-15, 25-20, 25-16.
“It feels really good,” senior Olivia DeRodes said. “We’ve been working hard and really wanted this next win for a while and it feels good to finally have it. It’s been a tough road.”
Monday night’s victory is Ross’ first since it went 2-1 in the Sandusky tournament on Sept. 15. Since then, the Lady Giants have dealt with the fallout from coach Kari Shull’s mid-season resignation two weeks ago.
But the Lady Giants looked like a different team Monday night. The Lady Giants controlled the match from start to finish, jumping out ahead early in each set and never allowing the Blue Streaks to find their footing.
Marissa Overmyer
Olivia DeRodes
Most of Sandusky’s points came off Ross’ own miscues, hitting shots long or out of bounds or into the net. Unlike earlier in the year, however, the Lady Giants limited those mistakes to only stretches of two or three at a time, and forced Sandusky to earn its points, which were few and far between
“I always tell them the next point is a new point, we continue to move forward,” said interim coach Karie Nowak. “Don’t worry about that last point you lost, just worry about the next point.”
Keeping eyes ahead and forgetting about what came before sums up the Lady Giants in a nutshell over the last two weeks.
While a midseason coaching change is never an ideal situation, the Lady Giants have used the situation to grow closer as a unit.
“Our team has gotten a lot closer, off the court, especially, and that, ultimately, makes you closer on the court,” DeRodes said. “It’s been really rough, with some crazy practices, but we’ve been having so much fun and that’s helped so much. All the positivity and support from everyone. It’s been really good.”
The Lady Giants improve to 6-15 overall and will host Toledo Central Catholic Thursday in Senior Night and the Lady Giants’ last regular season match of the season.
While Nowak and her players admitted their energy-level wasn’t quite as high as they’d have liked Monday, it certainly exceeded that of their earlier matches this year. The main difference between the Lady Giants now and a month ago? Enthusiasm.
“(Energy) was low tonight,” senior Marissa Overmyer said. “We’ve had people jumping off the bench, screaming and excited over the simplest of kills, free ball tips even.
“It’s been fun.”
What difference that can make.