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Cincinnati Seton 15-15 Cincinnati Mother of Mercy 4-11
Seton and Mercy had already played each other twice this season in league play and split their matches. So their encounter at the Nutter Center Thursday evening was for more than the district title.
The first game saw the Saints take a 14-1 lead, with Mercy doing a good job of forcing sideouts but unable to score. The teams traded serves 26 times as Seton slowly moved out to a 10-1 margin.
Liz Holmes, Ashley McDowell, Tricia Meyers and Lauren Harpenau put down some kills and blocks for Mercy. But the Bobcats were undone by lifts, long hits and service errors when they were in scoring position.
Seton had a very solid passing game, enabling middle hitter Megan Griffin and outside hitter Katie Hendrian to spike points onto Mercy’s side of the floor.
Caitlin Carey served four straight points to make it 14-1, getting an ace on a short serve that found a hole.
Harpenau’s kill gave Mercy one final chance. Freshman setter Samantha Viox served up an ace. Mercy scored again after an exciting volley with some great digs by Holmes. After their final point and three sideouts, a Mercy hit was out and the Saints were up 1-0.
In game two Mercy’s passing was more effective as they stayed with Seton and eventually took a 9-6 lead. Bobcat hitter Christy Obert had a nice stuff block to tie it at 5-5. Seton hitter Emily Sullivan’s spike gave the Saints a brief 6-5 lead. But Liz Holmes served four points in a row. Obert crushed a Saints overpass to put her team up 7-6, Holmes got an ace and Maria Tieman’s smash caused a lift in Seton’s backcourt.
The Saints responded with four points of their own with a kill from Sullivan, a block by Beth Robbins and an ace by Katie Hendrian. A kill by Holmes tied it at 10 and Mercy took their final lead when the Saints mishandled a serve.
Seton tied it again on a cross court tip by Meyer and after an exchange of serves, Carey served out. Hendrian’s kill through Mercy blockers ended the match.
Saints Coach Kerry Butkovich summed up the victory as a “real team effort”, adding that her team “chalked up 19 blocks for the match”.
Seton was led by right side Katie Hendrian with 9 kills in 12 attempts for a .750 kill percentage, middle hitter Megan Griffin with 6 blocks and 6 kills, Lindsey Frank with 10 digs and Caitlin Carey with 9 digs
Chaminade-Julienne 15-15 Vandalia-Butler 12-10
Chaminade-Julienne and Vandalia-Butler have outstanding volleyball programs and are in geographic proximity to each other. But they are in different leagues, and sometimes in different divisions, so they don’t often run into each other.
This year C-J moved back up to Division I and they met for the district title. C-J came out on top 15-12, 15-10 but it wasn’t easy.
The Eagles led much of the first game, but Butler kept coming back. C-J took early leads only to see Butler tie it or go on top. The Eagles appeared to finally take charge with an 11-8 lead, but the pesky Aviators tied it up again.
The play was intense on both sides, and both sides made lots of errors. At least thirteen points in the first game were due to mistakes.
Butler scored first when C-J got the ball tangled in the net. Sophomore middle hitter Sara Dorman’s kill gave service to the Eagles and Katie Slayback tied it with an ace. Clara Coleman’s kill and an errant Butler hit made it 3-1 C-J.
But Chelsea Noble and Cassie Mangen served up aces to tie it and a two hit call put the Aviators on top.
Chaminade’s ace outside hitter Stephanie Ross notched two kills and Butler was called out of rotation giving the Eagles a 6-4 edge, but Noble scored on a kill from back court and an Eagle hit got caught in the net to tie it again.
Ross forced two sideouts on kills, then scored an ace. But C-J’s next hit was out, and two errors later Butler was up 8-7.
After a sideout kill by sophomore middle hitter Ali Hess, C-J made what looked like a break for the finish line, scoring on an ace by Jackie Strader, a kill by Hess and two Butler mistakes. But a serving error ended the run.
Butler tied it up again scoring single points punctuated by sideouts on a kill by Noble and two Eagle errors. Butler’s rally ended on, what else, a serving error.
Another error gave C-J a 12-11 lead and Dorman and Hess followed with kills. Butler’s Amber Allen nailed a spike giving Butler new life, and they closed to 14-12 on an errant C-J hit.
A kill by Hess nipped that rally, and Dorman’s kill sealed game one for Chaminade.
Game two saw Ross smash several cross court blasts on short set slides. C-J was more in charge of this game. Butler’s only lead was 3-2 after which the Eagles went up 6-3. Butler closed to 6-5 on an ace by Liz Huysman and a nice double block by Hemmelgarn and Allen.
After that C-J moved out to a 9-5 margin with Hess contributing two more kills. The Eagles slowly padded the lead to 12-5 with several intervening sideouts.
Butler made a mini rally to 12-8 with Noble smashing a kill after Ross had seemingly blocked a Butler missive. Ross came right back with a kill, but Noble converted a spectacular backcourt set from Hemmerlgarn into another kill. C-J got the serve back when the ball dropped on Butler’s floor after some intense net play.
Ross served an ace to make it 13-8, but Shalyn Leighner and Allen teamed up for a block for sideout. Two sideouts later C-J was in the net making it 13-9. Butler’s next serve was out of bounds and Eagle setter Stephanie Bauer served up an ace to put her team at match point.
A kill by Butler’s Alicia Sherrill postponed any Chaminade celebrations, and Butler got one more point on an ace by Hemmelgarn. Slayback’s kill gave C-J a second shot at match point. Ross made a great dig of a Butler spike and got back to the net in time to put away the final point.
C-J coach Howard Garcia credited his team’s serving and serve receiving as key factors in the win. He was concerned early on when the Eagles mistakes cost them scoring opportunities. But thanks to good passing, middle hitters Dorman and Hess were able to put lots of spikes down.
And here’s some bad news for future Eagle opponents. Both middles are sophomores, and Ross is a junior.
Cincinnati Ursuline 15-15 Cincinnati McAuley 0-3
Ursuline and McAuley met twice in league play with Ursuline coming out on top both times in two games. But the Mohawks managed to score 12 and 18 points, respectively, in those matches. So it was a surprise how quickly and easily the Lions were able to win this match.
Ursuline looked in peak form with great serving, digging, passing and, of course, hitting. Carli Reihman had a slew of kills, Stephanie Blackburn made several acrobatic digs and added some kills of her own, and Jeanna Staun and Kate Otto had great serving nights. Erin Webster’s setting was superb.
As the Mohawks quickly discovered it wasn’t a good time to be playing against Ursuline.
Things started off badly for McAuley as three mistakes got Ursuline off to a 3-0 lead. But the Lions then blocked a blast by Mohawk middle hitter Jamie Torok way out of bounds. Unfortunately for McAuley, their ensuing serve was out, and even more unfortunately, Ursuline’s Jeanna Staun proceeded to serve out.
The run started with an ace, followed by a kill by Carli Reihman. After a couple of points on errors, Reihman and Blackburn scored on a block of Torok. That made it 8-0. Blackburn followed with a kill, and a Mohawk hit was out after another block of Torok by Reihman and Blackburn.
Points 12-14 came on a dump by setter Erin Webster, another ace by Staun, and a kill in the corner by Blackburn. Ursuline scored the game winner on yet another double block by Reihman and Blackburn after a serve by Staun that was headed out was kept in play.
Game two saw more sideouts than game one, but Ursuline still rolled to a 13-1 lead. Staun served four more points to make it 6-0. After a McAuley timeout, Staun’s next serve was long, and Beth Huey got the Mohawks on the board with a kill. This was followed by seven sideouts with Mohawk kills by Torok and Stephanie Celek and a block by Ashley Criswell.
Kate Otto then served up seven points for the Lions with Reihman pounding down the spikes. After a sideout, Torok’s kill made the score 13-2. But Amy White’s kill gave serve back to the Lions, and Reihman’s block brought them to match point.
After several sideouts and a service ace by McAuley’s Katie Brosnan, Otto stepped to the line and served match point on a kill by Reihman.
Ursuline will play Bishop Watterson in the Hilliard Davidson Regional. The other Southwest Region winners convene at Vandalia-Butler. Chaminade-Julienne will face Cincinnati St. Ursula and Seton will take on Mt. Notre Dame.
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