ELYRIA — After a disappointing fourth-place finish in last weekend’s Best Of Ohio tournament, Elyria came out with something to prove in its Northeast Ohio Conference match against Garfield Heights on Tuesday night.

“We talked about redemption going into the match tonight,” senior outside hitter Kristen Boros said. “We lost to some teams we knew we could beat. We had to make a statement tonight.”

Redemption was served on a silver platter as the Pioneers dominated the match, winning in three games, 25-8, 25-15, 25-13 in their home opener.

Actually it’s more of a home away from home opener for Elyria as they will play all of their home matches this season at the former Elyria West gymnasium as construction continues on the new Elyria High School.

“We’ve had to get adjusted to our new surrounding, but we’ve been in here since July and the girls have learned how to play with the lower ceiling,” Elyria coach Jodie Johnson said.

Judging by the numbers from Tuesday’s match, the Pioneers felt right at home.

Boros recorded 11 kills, while middle hitter Kayla Young and outside hitter Shelby Obitts each had eight kills.

“We have been working really hard in practice and we showed what we can do tonight,” Obitts said.

Elyria (4-2) had its serves working all night with Bergan Read serving six aces while libero Alanna Williams added five of her own. Read used her running jump serve to rattle off a string of 10 consecutive service points to close out the first game.

Junior setter Shelby Regiec did an outstanding job of setting up her teammates with 30 assists.
The Bulldogs fell behind quickly in every game and had no answer for Elyria’s powerful net game and precision serving.

Although Garfield Heights (0-3) came into the match winless in 2010, Johnson said you can’t take any opponent lightly.

“You always know Garfield is going to give you a good match,” she said. “Coach (Antoine) Gates has done a good job with those girls. They consistently improve every year.”

With the Pioneers in the midst of a string of six matches in seven days, Johnson also said preparation off the court is as important as time spent on the practice floor.

“Beginning in the offseason, I really preached proper hydration and nutrition to the team,” Johnson said. “There is a lot of research that shows that a proper diet and staying away from grease and fatty foods can have a tremendous effect on athletes.”

Credit diet or preparation but the Pioneers got stronger as the match went along, scoring eight of the final nine points of Game 3 behind the serving of Regiec.

Things won’t get any easier for the Pioneers as they are back in action Wednesday at perennial Summit County power Stow. Elyria will return home Sept. 14 to battle Strongsville.

Contact Todd Shapiro at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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