Ohiohsvb.com News About Ohio High School Volleyball |
|
|
Anna clinched state title by "playing to win" all the way December 1, 2006 By Jim Jicha “They’re that good”. Those were the words of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph coach Mark Royer after his Vikings were beaten by Anna in the D-III title match 25-21, 25-22, 25-23. In avenging last year’s semifinal loss to the defending state champs, the 30-0 Rockets became the only top ranked team to win a title, and the only team to finish the season undefeated. The Rockets ran the gauntlet to reach the final, toppling second ranked Midwest Athletic Conference champ Versailles in the regional final, and number three Albany Alexander in the state semifinal. Both teams were undefeated. Anna rolled to big early leads in the first two, which proved fortuitous given determined late-game Viking rallies. The Rockets led all of both games, save for one tie. Game three on the other hand was a nail biter, with the lead changing hands seven times amidst 16 ties. The Rockets led in overall kills 54-35, but they committed eleven more hitting errors and were out blocked 11-4, which evened the scoring out somewhat. But Villa Angela no riposte for 6’3” Anna middle Kelli Barhorst. They blocked her a few times, but the future Ohio State Buckeye tallied 23 kills with a nice mix of terminations and tips. Royer said Anna’s tipping kept his team off balance. “We thought they’d hit more”. Rockets coach Karen Zumberger agreed that tipping was one factor in the outcome with serving the other. “The tip in the middle…we took advantage of that all day. And we served hard to keep them off their game. I could see (Cleveland) getting flustered”. But the possibility of a fourth game weighed heavily on Zumberger. “I don’t know if I took a breath that third game. In the time out I told them to keep serving, don’t take anything off…keep playing to win, keep going at them”. Game one saw an immediate tie as Barhorst and 6’0” Viking junior middle Hannah Groudle exchanged kills. But Barhorst ignited a seven point rally in which she scored on three spikes, a tip and a block, and outside Lauren Fogt served an ace. Rocket sophomore libero Ariane Billing contributed a diving dig save at the net. Groudle ended the run with a tip, and teamed with outside Margo Amigoni to block Barhorst. After three quick Rocket misfires VASJ was within a point 11-10, but they couldn’t capitalize. Anna outside Rachel Billing (11 kills) scored on a cross court blast, and after a kill by sophomore middle Laura Gehret, and blocks by Barhorst and Emily Stewart, the Rockets were up 15-12. Barhorst added three more points to make it 19-13. However, with Anna up 22-16 the Vikings went on a 5-1 tear, started by Hailey Martin. Sophomore Tiana Vuyancih chipped in with two kills while setter Colleen Lynch blocked a tip attempt by Gehret. Barhorst staunched the run with a terminating straight down spike, and a bad pass terminated the Vikings’ rally and the game. Villa Angela’s opening game two serve was broken by a Barhorst tip, and the Rockets shot to a 7-0 lead, with Stewart spiking two kills and setter Kelsie Zumberger converting a teammate’s too-close-to-the-net serve receive into a well placed dump. But Villa Angela would not go away. With Anna up 14-4, Viking defensive specialist Erin Creegan served up a four point run, two scores coming on kills by Amigoni. And after Anna went back up 18-9, Groudle and Martin led an 11-4 run that closed the gap to 22-20. Zumberger scored a clutch kill off a set from Barhorst, and Rachel Billing sandwiched a kill between points by Amigoni and Martin. Gehret spiked the game winner off a Viking block. The first eight points of game three were scored on kills, with four ties. A block by Martin and a kill by Amigoni gave the Vikings the game’s first two point edge, and the team’s traded two more scores apiece. Anna scored three straight on a kill by Gehret, a block by Stewart and a kill by Barhorst. Groudle reposted with a stuff block on Barhorst, and she and Allie Weary encored another block on Barhorst to put VASJ back on top 10-9. Kills by Stewart and Zumberger flipped the lead again, and three errors deadlocked the game at 12. After two more ties, Amigoni spiked a termination shot and served an ace for a 16-14 lead, but Anna came back with two and the teams traded points. Stewart knotted it at 19 on a hard to defend hit from the right. Stewart then served up two aces, with Barhorst and Billing spiking kills in between, and with a 23-19 lead Anna appeared to have finally broken free. But Amigoni responded with three scoring blasts, and after a Rocket timeout, she tied it up again with a nicely placed tip at the net. Barhorst came to the rescue by crunching a short set from Zumberger, taking Anna to match point. The final volley was a frantic battle of Villa Angela spikes and Anna digs and when a Viking cross court sailed out the right corner, the Rockets claimed their first state championship. Royer said he always felt his team could come back, and a fourth game might have been just what the doctor ordered. We’ll never know what would have happened if that final hit had been a little lower and in. But the Rockets did just what Coach Zumberger told them to in that time out. They went at the Vikings full tilt. And they played to win until they did.
|
|
Copyright © 2002-2010 [ohiohsvb.com]. All rights reserved. |