RISING TO THE CHALLENGE | Austintown Fitch volleyball team looks to take the next step

The ace of the strongest Austintown Fitch High School volleyball team in recent memory is more than motivated to take the next step.

“After losing in the district finals the past two years and getting swept, I have been focusing on this all year,” Falcons senior outside hitter Jocelyn Jourdan said following Saturday’s three-game sweep of Nordonia in the Division I sectional final.

Next up for the Falcons is district competition at Mentor High School. The Falcons have the opportunity to be the first Fitch volleyball team to earn a regional trip in almost two decades.

“I’ll probably be so emotional all week because this is such a big moment,” Jourdan said of the Falcons’ next challenge.

The fourth-seeded Fitch volleyball team (20-4) will play sixth-seeded Hudson at 7:30 p.m. today.

“We are excited,” Falcons head coach Jody Bartlett said. “The last two years, we’ve gotten to the district championship and lost in three.

“Jocelyn so badly wants to advance past that,” Bartlett said. “We all do, but we have to worry about Tuesday first. We got to see Hudson play, and they are a strong team. We’re going to have to really prepare and be ready to play.”

It’s been 19 years since a Fitch volleyball team advanced to the regional. The 2003 team won the regional and advanced to state.

“I’ve been working so hard and I’ve been stressing on the girls how much [two more wins] would mean to Fitch High School and our team if we could win a district championship,” Jourdan said.

It won’t be easy. The Fitch-Hudson winner most likely will play third-seeded Canton GlenOak in Thursday’s district final.

“District always means a lot, [but] this year we are making it our goal to get to regional,” junior outside hitter Jordan Smith said.

In her seventh season as the Falcons’ head coach, Bartlett celebrated her 100th victory after a recent match against Crestview that was televised by WKBN Sports.

“It was exciting it happened that night,” said Bartlett, who was an assistant coach for Tom Case two decades ago.

Saturday, the Falcons, who went 8-0 against All-American Conference opponents, had to work harder than expected against Nordonia (3-20), sweeping the Knights by scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-23.

Bartlett did not disagree that the tougher-than-expected showing by Nordonia might be a blessing in disguise.

“We saw the same thing in the regular season against Louisville,” she said, noting that Lousiville had a 1-14 record. “And they took us to five sets.

“Same thing here,” she said, referring to the close contests against Nordonia.

Although Fitch has 20 wins, Jourdan said the season has “definitely been up and down for us, but way more ups than downs.

“Each time we have a down, we come back stronger and it just makes us focus more in practice and play harder,” said the 6-foot-2 multisport athlete who splits time in the winter playing basketball and JO volleyball.

The Falcons’ roster has six other seniors: Jordan Binion, Emily Kluchar, Avery Rosko, Lillian Dilts, Julia Jordan and Cierra Cable.

Juniors Jordan Smith and Afton Roby are playing active roles, sophomore Izzy DiRenzo is the libero, freshman Rylie Simons leads the team with 784 assists and another freshman, Kylie Folkwein, contributes as an outside hitter.

“She’s a three-sport athlete, works hard,” Jourdan said of Folkwein. “I’m so thankful for her. If we didn’t have her, we’d be a little stuck because she pulls through for us every game.”

Also on the roster are juniors Brylee Melia and Payton Binion.

Folkwein leads Fitch with 50 aces.

“She has a lot of confidence, a real aggressive player and great athlete,” Bartlett said. “She also [plays] basketball and softball, so she’s into everything.”

Roby has made 48 blocks and has the highest hitting percentage (0.375).

Jourdan is averaging 5.7 kills per set and 3.1 digs. Her 444 kills this season is a Fitch record, and the four-year varsity starter is the only Falcon to surpass 1,000 in her career, breaking the record of 989 set by Sarah Obradovich, Bartlett’s niece, in 2016.

She also has the Fitch record for most kills in a match (33) set earlier this season.

Not bad for an athlete who made an unexpected detour five years ago to the volleyball court.

“I was running cross country all the way until the day of [volleyball] tryouts,” she said of her seventh-grade days.

“My friends were [trying out], and I was always last in the cross country race, so …,” she said, laughing.

Jourdan then joined a club team coached by Bartlett.

“I remember watching her as an eighth-grader, and I knew she had the potential to play varsity the following year,” Bartlett said. “It’s been awesome.”

Jourdan played in the middle as a freshman and sophomore. Her leadership skills were on display.

“From Day One when stepped out on the floor, she wasn’t a quiet player by any means,” Bartlett said. “She worked really hard, and as each year went on, she gained more and more confidence and has really, really become a great leader.”

Volleyball is Jourdan’s favorite sport, and her schedule this winter is intense when she juggles basketball with JO volleyball.

She’ll be excused from basketball practice twice per week (for maybe 15 minutes of a two-hour session) so she can travel to Akron for a two-hour volleyball workout.

How does she handle homework?

“I usually try to get it done during school, or I’ll try to do it after volleyball, which is late,” she said. “I just find a way to get it done.”

She has company on the I-76 commute. Smith, Jourdan and Roby all play for the Nova JO team, which helps with carpooling.

“There are three practices a week, and we all take turns,” Smith said.

“This [season] is special to me because since my seventh-grade season, I made it a goal to come play varsity with Jocelyn,” Smith said of her first varsity season. “I’ve always wanted to play on the same court as her.

“She’s probably been the volleyball player who has made the biggest impact on my life,” Smith said. “We’re best friends off the court as well.

“Playing with her, she always has energy. She’s keeping you up no matter what you do. She’s giving you pointers on how to fix you. She’s just a really good teammate.”

Jourdan plans to major in business and sports, and playing for Youngstown State University is a possibility.

“I want to be a sports agent,” she said. “Sticking around sports and being a businesswoman would just be something I could do because I’m very independent and strong, which is the business part, and I love sports.”

Asked who the funniest member of the team is, Smith and Jourdan agreed it’s Roby.

“Oh, 100 percent,” Smith said. “Afton gets yelled at all the time because she’s making Izzy muff.”

Jourdan added: “She just does the most random stuff ever, all the time.”

Because of a beefed-up schedule, Smith said she wasn’t sure a 20-win season was possible.

“We wanted to step it up and play harder teams,” she said. “It was going to be a challenge, but I always believed in us, and I thought we could do it.

“It’s been amazing. I love being on a team that’s so supportive of you,” Smith said. “Being out there and knowing these girls have your back while you are playing, it’s just something different. This team means a lot.”

So with a Jocelyn Jourdan (also known as “Jo”), two girls named Jordan and another whose last name is Jordan, Bartlett was asked how she handles potential confusion.

“We joked in the beginning that we were going to call them different nicknames,” Bartlett said. “We didn’t. We just try to make sure we don’t mix them up.”

Thursday night, she’s hoping to call them district champions.

The Falcons aren’t the only Mahoning Valley team facing a big test this week. Other volleyball and soccer teams are experiencing district competition.

And the six-week football playoffs get underway Friday.

As for regional competition, the best cross country runners will be competing for a state trip Saturday at Boardman High School.

FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

The volleyball team won’t be the only Falcons squad in action this week. Friday, the Fitch football team (9-1) will host Mayfield (6-4) in a first-round Division II Region 5 game.

The most fascinating region for Mahoning County is Division III Region 9 because Canfield (8-1), Ursuline (8-2) and Chaney (9-1) will host first-round games.

The second-seeded Cardinals, who lost to Chaney in Week 5, will welcome New Philadelphia (6-4). Third-seeded Ursuline (8-2), which defeated Chaney in Week 6, will play Gates Mills Hawken (8-2). Fifth-seeded Chaney (9-1) will play Alliance (8-2).

Division IV Region 13 has a bunch of Valley teams qualifying. Top-seeded West Branch (9-1), whose only loss was against Canfield in Week 1, will put its nine-game winning streak on the line against Field (4-6). Girard (7-3) has the third seed and will host Northeast 8 rival Hubbard (6-4). Struthers (6-4) has the eighth seed and will be home against Edgewood (6-4).

Hitting the road will be 10th-seeded Salem (6-4) at Canton South (7-3) and 11th-seeded Poland (5-5) at Jefferson (7-3).

Undefeated South Range (10-0) has the top seed in Division V Region 17. With state powerhouse Kirtland now in Division VI, the Raiders have a strong shot at their third state semifinal appearance in the past 18 seasons. Cardinal Mooney (4-6) has the 13th seed and will travel to Richmond to play Edison (10-0).

Valley Christian (9-0) has the third seed in Division VI Region 21 and will host Trinity (6-4). Brookfield (9-1) has the fifth seed and will be home against Pymatuning Valley (4-6).

Also qualifying for road trips are United (8-2), Mineral Ridge (8-2) and Jackson-Milton (7-3). The ninth-seeded Eagles will play Rootstown (7-3), the 10th-seeded Rams will play Canton Central Catholic (7-4) and the 13th-seeded Bluejays will play Dalton (8-2).

Warren JFK (8-1) and Lowellville (10-0) have the top two seeds in Division VII Region 25. The Eagles will play Fairport Harding (4-6), and the Rockets will host Steubenville Catholic Central (3-7).

Also getting home games are fourth-seeded Southern (9-1) and eighth-seeded Springfield (6-4). The Indians will play South Central (4-6), and the Tigers will play Mathews (8-2). Lisbon (5-5) has the 12th seed and will visit Norwalk to play St. Paul (7-3).

VOLLEYBALL AND SOCCER

The Girard volleyball team, which has one of the four wins against Fitch, will play Aurora on Wednesday in the Division II district semifinals at Jefferson.

At Streetsboro, Canfield will play Notre Dame Cathedral Latin on Wednesday.

In Division III, Mineral Ridge will play Kirtland and Lakeview will play Crestview on Wednesday at Grand Valley High School in Orwell.

Division IV has two area districts. At Columbiana, Southern will play Western Reserve today. At Lisbon today, Wellsville will play Sebring, and McDonald will play Dalton.

District semifinals are set today for Division II boys soccer when Canfield plays Poland and Hubbard plays Painesville Harvey.

Also today in Division III, Cardinal Mooney will play Maplewood at Youngstown State University’s Farmers National Bank Field, and Warren JFK will host Tuscarawas Valley.

In Division II girls soccer, West Branch will play West Geauga in a district final. At Ravenna, Canfield will play Kenston.

In Division III, Poland will play Cardinal Mooney at South Range, and Lakeview will play Waterloo at Niles.