After flying high against Leetonia on Wednesday, East Canton came back down to earth. The Hornets took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Sandy Valley Cardinals on Thursday. If the Hornets were looking for revenge after losing 2-0 to the Cardinals when the teams met back in October of 2024, then they'll just have to keep looking.
East Canton started the match hot and won the first set, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-27, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17.

Corinne Hawthorne
| 10/02/25 @ Sandy Valley | 15 |
| 09/30/25 vs Strasburg-Franklin | 10 |
| 09/27/25 vs Rittman | 13 |
Despite the loss, East Canton saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Corinne Hawthorne had 15 digs. Hawthorne has been hot recently, having posted ten or more digs the last three times she's played. Sarah Helms also deserves some recognition as she had her first block of the season.
Leading Sandy Valley to victory were Gracyn Winters and Samantha Moll. Winters had 11 digs and two assists, while Moll had seven digs and three aces. Those three aces gave Moll a new career-high.
East Canton has been struggling recently as they've lost ten of their last 11 matches. That's put a noticeable dent in their 4-15 record this season. As for Sandy Valley, their victory ended a three-match drought at home and bumped them up to 7-12.
East Canton didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 3-0 defeat against Tuscarawas Central Catholic on the 7th. As for Sandy Valley, they have also already played their next matchup, a 3-2 win against Claymont on the 7th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps