EATON — Parker Fields could not have asked for a better start to the season.
The veteran Eaton volleyball coach saw his team roll over visiting Springfield Northwestern in straight sets to begin the season on Saturday, Aug. 21.
Eaton’s serve game tallied 11 aces on the day to keep the visiting Warriors out of sync for the 25-17, 25-12, 25-14 win.
“I feel like anytime you have a two to one service ace to error ratio, then you’re gonna put yourself in a pretty good position to win,” he said. “I was really, really happy with our service game today. I kind of felt like there were times when we were just serving them off the floor.”
Eaton took the lead 13-12 in the first set and lead 18-16 before scoring six straight points to take control.
In the second set, Eaton had leads of 4-1, 8-2, 12-4 and 16-5.
In the final set, the Eagle grabbed the lead early and never looked back.
“When you run in system, and you have two really good middles (Jenna Ditmer and Ellie Wilson) and you have the best player in the area (Olivia Baumann) running outside and then you have a super dynamic L two (Lilly Shepherd) that’s able to get her hands on the ball and get a formidable hit or attack, then I think we’re going to be pretty tough to beat,” Fields said.
Baumann, a third-team all-Ohio selection last season as a sophomore, led the Eagles with 17 kills and 11 digs.
Ditmer, a senior, added nine kills and three aces. Wilson, a sophomore, contributed seven kills.
Shepherd, a junior, added eight kills.
Junior setter Bailey Jerdon led the team with 35 assists and two aces and junior libero Elise Hewitt had 13 digs. Sophomore Sam Witte had four aces and four digs.
“I thought Bailey did a really good job at mixing it up,” Fields said. “Liv did have a majority of the kills, but when your middles are even with your second outside hitter and your right side hitter, I think it’s really good when you can run a balanced offense, and if she continues to do that she’s going to, she’s gonna put up big numbers this year assist wise.”
Overall, Fields was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I think we served well, passed well, and we played to win. We didn’t play to not mess up,” Fields said. “So, I think the mental aspect of the game today, I’m happy with where we are right now game one.”
Eaton (1-0) was scheduled to play at St. Henry on Tuesday, Aug. 24 and will host Talawanda on Saturday, Aug. 28. The junior varsity match Saturday is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start time.
