HS Preview: Austintown-Fitch

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With club season over with, we are ready to jump into the High School season. Prep Dig will be previewing some Ohio schools and taking a look at what they will be bringing to the table this year. With just coming off of the club season, players will have a whole club season under their belt. With some playing at big clubs, they will be returning faster, stronger and smarter. It's nice to see the change from one season to another. Who will be the game changers? Who will be the leaders? We will find out here in a few weeks as the teams get ready to start their season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Austintown Fitch had a great season last year, finishing first in the All-American conference with a record of 8-0 and finishing the season with an overall record of 21-4. I think it will business as usual this season, as they will be returning some key players in Senior, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='169493' first='Jocelyn' last='Jourdan']</strong>, a 6'2 OH that can really explode and get up over the net to hit the ball. She's got a strong arm swing and is dangerous in the the front and back row. Another playmaker they will have this season is Junior, <strong>Jordan Smith</strong>. She didn't play every set last year but I think this may be her year to step up and make an impact on this team. Hitting from the outside as well, she will be a great player to watch this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Falcons graduated both setters last season. With new setters; Junior, <strong>Payton Binion</strong> and Freshman, <strong>Rylie Simons</strong>, will they be able to have the same great connection with the hitters as they did previously? After watching them at the Scrimmage at Girard, I would say yes. The Falcons have a great coaching staff and I think they will be working on this in the pre season and I don't feel they will be missing a beat this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rounding out the players to watch this season will be the following:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li><strong>Cierra Cable</strong>, DS</li><li><strong>Lillie Dilts</strong>, DS</li><li><strong>Avery Rosko</strong>, OPP</li><li><strong>Julia Jordan</strong>, M</li><li><strong>Emily Kluchar</strong>, DS</li><li><strong>Afton Roby</strong>, M</li><li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='482485' first='Izzy' last='Direnzo']</strong>, OH</li><li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='502124' first='Kylie' last='Folkwein']</strong>, OH/OPP/</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Falcons will start their season with a non-conference home game against Perry HS on 8/20. Stay tuned this season as we keep the coverage rolling. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->