Blue Devils declaw Tigers 3-1

Apr. 3—GUYS MILLS — The Maplewood boys volleyball team lost to Cambridge Springs 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20) at Maplewood high school on Tuesday night. While the sets were close thanks to good defense from both sides, Cambridge Springs was just slightly better on offense.

Cambridge Springs kept up the pace of the match, as the Blue Devils made plays on defense and scored when they needed to.

"We did well on our coverage on defense. Serves were a little up and down, we have to get a little bit more consistent," said Cambridge Springs head coach John Turner.

The Blue Devils offense was led by Isaiah Simpson and Parker Schmidt. Simpson finished with 12 kills and 22 digs. Schmidt tallied 10 kills. Darrin Peterson totaled 32 assists and 13 digs.

"Our defense and our coverage was the difference in this game. We were moving and I think our passes were better at the end than in the first two sets," said Turner.

Cambridge Springs controlled the pace of the game while serving, allowing them to build small leads toward the end of sets, making it harder for the Maplewood offense to find opportunities to get those points back.

At the beginning of the match, both teams struggled with consistency on serves, but Cambridge was able to clean up those mistakes as the night went on.

Maplewood stayed close with Cambridge throughout each set, but was unable to stay consistent on serves and defensive reads, making it difficult to build a consistent offense.

"I think we played to the best of our experience," said Maplewood head coach Calum Hyde. "As a young team, our biggest holes are the experience based skills, like reading serves and defensive-reading."

While the offense was inconsistent, the defense of Maplewood is what truly kept them in the match. Good plays on defense slowed down Cambridge on offense, allowing Maplewood to stay close.

"The message has always been that Maplewood is a scrappy defensive team. If you never let the ball hit the floor, you can never lose," said Hyde. "We try to preach that and try to make sure that they stay focused on keeping that ball up. I think Dorian (Doubet) really stepped up and took full control of the court."

Logan Kier led the Maplewood Tigers with six kills. Kier also tallied 12 digs. Derek Shaw and Nolan Dunkle both totaled five kills. Doubet was the lead man on defense, scoring 19 digs, which led the team.

"So, as far as defense goes, we had some good senior leadership tonight," said Hyde.

The Tigers' next match will pit them against Meadville on Tuesday at Meadville Area Senior High School, while the Blue Devils will face Cathedral Prep at Cathedral Preparatory School on Tuesday as well.

Trevor Teubner can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at trevor@meadvilletribune.com.