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Maziar recorded 30 assists that night to top the previous record of 3,556 career assists, and she currently sits at 3,705 over her four years, including 701 this season to help Fenwick to a 20-1 record.
“It’s really awesome,” Maziar said. “I’m really honored to have broken that record, but I’m also thankful for the teammates I’ve had throughout all four of my years here because without my teammates and my hitters, really, I wouldn’t be able to break those records. It’s a team effort, and we’re not done yet. We still have a lot to accomplish with a postseason run.”
The Falcons, who are 11-0 in GCLC play, have clinched at least a share of the league title, but they can lock it up on their own Saturday when they face second-place Roger Bacon (19-2, 10-1 GCLC) in the regular-season finale.
Fenwick then will begin its quest to return to the Final Four after falling short against Parma Heights-Holy Name in the Division II state semifinals last year. The Falcons, who are ranked third in the Division II coaches' poll despite having the most first-place votes, open the postseason as the top seed in their sectional with their first match set for Oct. 19 at Lebanon High School against either Ponitz or Stivers.
“We let some nerves get to us being in the big gym, the bright lights, and coming in this summer, we used that as motivation from the beginning,” Maziar said. “We take everything we learned from that Holy Name game, and the mistakes we made, we’ve taken into consideration throughout the season. … People were commenting at the beginning of the season that we were going to go to state again, but no, we wanted to win our first game and then we wanted to win the GCL and every game after that. We have to earn our way to the top, so we’re living in the now.”
Maziar and the other seniors have been a part of more than 80 career wins, coming onto a team that made it to state in 2015 when they were eighth-graders. Maziar especially has been impactful since first walking into the gym at Fenwick. She was voted a team captain as a freshman and has served in that role ever since.
“My mentality was just to work hard and give everything I’ve got,” Maziar said. “I just came in doing my thing and I didn’t expect to be captain, but when I heard the things my teammates said about me and found out they had voted me captain, I was really honored. It was very special because …the fact they thought of me as an influence —some of the girls were 18 and I was 14, so it was a big deal and I was super thankful.”
Falcons coach Tyler Conley said Maziar has earned everything she’s achieved.
“She came in as a freshman, was an extremely hard worker and picked up a complicated offense as a 14-year-old,” Conley said. “She took a team that went to the Final Four the year before and had a lot of senior leadership and took on one of the bigger roles among the freshmen contributors we had. Her work ethic is second to none. She was willing to learn, and it helps she had talented liberos, talented hitters, but she’s the one putting the team in position to get points, so it’s been great.”
Julia Gordan, another fourth-year player, is nearing 1,000 career kills, including 259 this season, and senior libero Bella DeSalvo is approaching 1,000 career digs as a fourth-year varsity contributor.
Maziar said she has learned she doesn’t always have to receive the perfect dig and make a perfect set, just so long as she can put her attackers in good position with a hittable ball. Now that she has the state record she is focused on achieving her personal goal of 4,000 career assists, but Maziar said that likely will require a deep postseason run.
Conley believes the Falcons are playing well enough to get back to state and looks forward to seeing what his experienced squad can do.
“We’ve started to hit our stride, which is hard to say when you’re 20-1, but through the middle portion of the schedule, we felt like we were not playing up to our potential,” Conley said. “The last 10 games or so, we’ve been fighting to adjust. It’s hard when you’re a team with as many talented and experienced players not to get complacent, but the girls are playing better with each match and working toward our goals.”
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