Connect with us

Volleyball

Karns City Puts Its Depth on Display in Volleyball Sweep of Depleted Brookville

KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Whether it’s at the net, in the back row or on the service line, Rosie Carden and Ava Fox have found a way to get it done this season for the Karns City volleyball team.

They were at it again on Monday night against shorthanded Brookville.

Carden had four kills, six assists, two digs and five service aces while Fox again led the Gremlins in kills with eight and also had three digs and an ace in the 25-12, 25-12, 25-16 victory over the Raiders.

“They work really hard and it’s nice they are able to do so many things. They’re so versatile,” said Karns City coach Sharon Schmoll. “They’re positive and they’re all about the team. It’s great to have team players like that.”

They also know how to have fun.

Before the match they and their teammates were doing a makeshift jig. Between points, they smiled and joked.

It helped that the Gremlins played well again against Brookville.

Karns City was up 19-3 at one point in the first set and then closed the second and third sets strong for the sweep.

“I’m really proud of the girls tonight and I felt like they really kept up the intensity the whole game,” Schmoll said. “It was nice to see everyone play and enjoy themselves.”

Karns City has a deep bench and Schmoll cycled in a slew of players.

That was a byproduct of last season when illness and injury depleted the roster. A lot of young players received ample court time. The Gremlins finished strong last year, advancing to the District 9 Class 2A playoffs.

That depth has been paying off this season for Karns City, which is 3-1 in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference.

Kendall Ritzert played well for Karns City with 10 assists and three aces. Haley Zediker, Nicole Taylor, Jessica Dunn and Bethany Morrow also had strong nights for the Gremlins.

“I’m a big believer in having team play and not just having one star player,” Schmoll said. “It’s important for morale and everything for the girls to understand that team is what matters.”

For Brookville, this is a rebuilding year.

The Raiders finally had a rotation set and were performing well last week.

Illness and injuries have already knocked several starters out of action at the start of this week.

Brookville was without Julie Monnoyer, who is a big force at the net, Cadence Suhan and Audrey Eble.

Eble sprained her ankle during pregame warmups.

“We were plugging in other girls who aren’t used to playing in those spots to kind of create a balanced team tonight,” said Brookville coach Elice Morelock. “That was our biggest difficulty. We played pretty well last week with a certain rotation that was working well toward the end and we thought we were going to go with that and kind of kickstart where we left off on Thursday But, unfortunately, things happen.”

Still, Brookville did do some good things.

After the poor start in the first set, the Raiders closed well, outscoring Karns City 9-6 down the stretch.

Brookville also started out the second and third sets well before the Gremlins went on runs.

“We can take some things from tonight and move forward tomorrow,” Morelock said. “We’re on the road again at Redbank and we have to rework some things. The girls got some good practice tonight in different spots, so we’ll use that to our advantage tomorrow night.”