Fairborn’s Eric Huffman (9) attempts to tip the ball over a pair of Carroll blockers during boys volleyball action at Fairborn High School on Wednesday night.
FAIRBORN — After two straight days of playing five-game matches, the Fairborn boys’ volleyball team had no interest in going the distance again.
So the Skyhawks celebrated senior night, then got off the court in a hurry, beating Carroll in three games, 28-26, 25-20, 25-15 on Wednesday night at Fairborn High School.
It was the senior class that led the way for Fairborn (3-12). Dylan Romans led with 14 kills, four blocks and four aces. Eric Huffman had three kills and one block, Eric Wilcox had three kills and two aces and Jared Niles had three kills, 20 assists and four aces.
It was Niles’ third-straight match with 20 or more assists.
“Jared’s come a long way,” said Fairborn head coach Eric Marthaler. “He stepped in for Ryan Doster and he’s proved to be even better than I thought he would be.”
It was a much-needed victory for the Skyhawks after back-to-back five-game losses on Monday and Tuesday.
“We don’t want to play a fifth game right now, so it was nice to finish a team in three games,” said Marthaler.
The Hawks fought off an extremely tough effort from Carroll’s Rod Smart, who leads the Greater Catholic League in both kills and kill attempts. He added an unofficial 11 kills to his stat sheet Wednesday night, bringing his unofficial total to 156 on the season.
“We have a good group of kids, we’re just young,” said Carroll head coach Liz Terry.
The first game of the match came down to the wire. The Patriots held a game point at 26-25 after two consecutive kills from Smart, but a kill from Fairborn’s Romans squared it up at 26, and two-straight errors from Carroll ended the game.
Carroll (3-12) battled with the Hawks in the second game until — with the game tied at 15 — Fairborn rattled off five-straight points to take control of the game.
Romans helped lead the Hawk charge in the third and final game, using his foot to save the volleyball during a point late in the game. He later fired off two aces to help seal the win.
“Dylan’s the best hitter we have, and all around he has a really good game,” said Marthaler. “In my opinion he’s one of the best in the area.”
Both Huffman and Wilcox both played in a few varsity games last year. Marthaler said they’ve successfully made the transaction to the varsity level.
“They’re really stepped up as seniors and leaders on the team,” Marthaler said.
Carroll is at home against Roger Bacon tonight, while the Skyhawks will host Sycamore and Hilliard Davidson on Friday.
