Volleyball Recap: Strongsville Falls Despite Big Games from Payton Beard and Gianna Grecol

After flying high against Hathaway Brown last Wednesday, Strongsville came back down to earth. The Mustangs fell just short of the Mentor Cardinals by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday. The defeat continues a trend for the Mustangs in their meetings with the Cardinals: they've now lost eight in a row.

Strongsville took a 2-1 lead headed into the fourth set, but sadly they lost the next two. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 20-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-17, 15-7.

Payton Beard

Attacks Kills

09/23/25 vs Mentor	23
09/17/25 vs Hathaway Brown	20
09/16/25 @ Lorain	20
09/13/25 vs Logan	12
09/13/25 vs Dover	17
+ 28 more games

Gianna Grecol and Payton Beard certainly did their best on Tuesday to avoid the loss. Grecol hit 66.7% for six kills and 35 assists and 20 digs, while Beard had 23 kills, 13 digs, four aces, and three blocks. Beard has been hot for a while, having posted six or more kills the last 33 times she's played. Ava Bella also deserves some recognition as she posted her first assist of the season.

Mentor found their leader in freshman Ava Garrett, who had 17 digs and two assists. Addison Keeper was another key player, getting eight digs and three aces.

Strongsville suffered their first home loss, dropping their record down to 11-2. As for Mentor, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season.

Strongsville has already played their next contest, a 3-2 win against Medina on the 25th. As for Mentor, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 3-0 victory against Brunswick on the 25th.