ARCANUM – The Arcanum Lady Trojans defeated the visiting Franklin Monroe Lady Jets in three straight sets, 25-17, 25-17 and 25-21, to win the opening Cross County Conference match.
Arcanum got off to quick starts in games one and two on Tuesday only to see Franklin Monroe battle back in both games before the Trojans regained the momentum to close them out.
“We were very good hustling, and we didn’t let many balls drop,” Arcanum coach Macie O’Dell said. “That’s something we’ve been working on, and they showed me tonight they got it.
“Our blocking was really good tonight, especially the play of Stevie Johnting and Shai Robinson,” O’Dell said.
Johnting had 10 blocks to lead both teams in that category .
Arcanum was led by Lucy Shannon with 13 digs while Brittany Kinney had 15 and Elle Siculan had 14 assists.
Robinson took advantage of some of those assist with 14 kills and Johnting had nine to lead the Trojans.
“We opened the season with a third place finish in the in the Greenville Federal Volleyball Invitational and struggled a bit, and we made some changes, and now it’s coming together,” O’Dell said. “It’s still early in our season, and everyone is still learning roles, and tonight we got it.”
Franklin Monroe wasn’t going home without a little fight and made Arcanum work to take the final game. New coach Angie Filbrun liked what she saw from her inexperienced squad.
“Our girls didn’t give up,” Filbrun said. “They kept playing hard, and I’m very proud of them.
“We had little goals baby steps. We were trying to get one more point, one more point, and they kept fighting and almost pulled out the third game,” she added.
Megan Kreitzer led FM with 11 kills, Madison Schaar had six digs, Emilee Morris 12 and Kennedy Morris 11 serve points to lead the Jets.
“We graduated six seniors last year and return just two girls with varsity experience, and we are building on that, and we keep improving each time we take the court,” Filbrun concluded.
Arcanum is now 6-2 overall and 1-0 in the Cross County Conference. The Trojans will travel to Bradford on Thursday.
Franklin Monroe fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the CCC. The Jets will host Twin Valley South on Thursday.
