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State Volleyball Tournament - Final Four Pairings and Previews 

Division I 

Championship

Toledo St. Ursula (28-0) vs. Cincinnati Seton (23-5)

Semifinals

Today’s match-up between the Toledo St. Ursula Arrows and Cincinnati Seton Saints is of particular interest to fans, and not just because of their memorable semifinal match last year, won by St. Ursula in a spectacular comeback 16-25, 16-25, 39-37, 26-24, 15-6.

Oh, that is one big reason, of course. The Arrows rallied from 19-23 in game three and 20-24 in game four. Setter Emily Florian served both rallies, serving out game four. Florian is back, and so are several Saints’ players, with bitter memories of what almost might have been.

But, what also makes this meeting even more interesting is that both teams are in the big school record book for consecutive victories.

Toledo St. Ursula went 29-0 last year and they are currently 28-0, for a 57 match win streak. That is the longest in Division I history.

Seton holds the all-Ohio record of 98 straight wins, set back in 1984-1987 when big schools were in Class AAA.

St. Ursula cannot set a new all-time record until 2007, and that’s a long shot at this time, but to even keep the hope alive they’ll have to beat the school that holds it today.

Seton finished second to Mt. Notre Dame in the GGCL this year, the team St. Ursula beat Thursday evening. But Seton was also second last year to Mercy, and Mercy did not cause the Arrows nearly the trouble the Saints did.

Seton defeated Wooster Thursday 25-11, 25-19, 25-22, and Saints Coach Kerry Butkovich said afterward “overall we brought it tonight, we got contributions from everybody”. Seton had little trouble for half the match, shutting down the middle and forcing Wooster to go outside which according to Wooster Coach Jen Snowbarger slowed down their game. But Wooster adjusted and roared to life late in game two.

The Saints used seven, six and five point rallies to go up 20-7 in game one. The first two runs were fueled by the hitting and blocking of 6’1” middle Megan Griffin and 6’2” middle Annie Lucas. Middle Emily Sullivan scored a block to put Seton up 17-7 and added six kills down the stretch. Emily Kelly, Libby Walter and Griffin served the runs.

In game two Seton rolled out to leads of 9-3 and 20-9. That’s when Wooster came to life, as outside Becca Norman tipped into a hole and spiked a kill, setter Hannah Brown served two aces and freshman Kelci Marschall spiked a kill through Seton’s block. That cut the lead to 22-16.

Chelsea Graham spiked a point for Seton, but then the Saints were caught in the net and senior middle Michelle LaLonde and sophomore outside Natalie Phillips hit kills for the Generals. Sullivan broke that mini-run, and after a long hit by Wooster, setter Chelsea Graman blocked for the game winner.

Seton appeared in charge in game three with leads of 5-2, 10-4 and 17-11. Griffin and Sullivan led the offense with Gina Coffaro and Lucas chipping in.

But Wooster put on another rally, led by senior Katherine Salmans, and tied the Saints at 19. Griffin crunched a short set, and after an errant Seton serve, Graham two handed a well place hit. Wooster was then caught in the net. LaLonde kept the Generals alive at 22-21 with a termination.

Seton went up 24-21 on a kill by Sullivan and an errant Wooster spike, and after one more kill by LaLonde, Sullivan ended it.

For the match, Sullivan had 20 kills in 25 attempts with one error for .760, and Griffin was 14 of 28. LaLonde and Norman led Wooster with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

Kelly Walter had 12 digs for Seton while Norman led Wooster with 14.

Seton out blocked the Generals 8-2.

Showbarger said her squad felt pressure and was nervous in game one, but relaxed as the match went on. She was impressed with Seton’s grit and ball handling, but credited her team for not giving up. Michelle LaLonde said Seton’s relative lack of mistakes and their ball control were major factors in the outcome.

Comparing this year to last, when Wooster lost a semifinal to Mercy, Hannah Brown said this was “definitely better because we fought back”.

Toledo St. Ursula won the other semifinal over Mt. Notre Dame 25-19, 25-22, 28-26. If the score does not seem overwhelming, consider that the Cougars were the best Division I team in Cincinnati during the regular season, and that prior to last year St. Ursula was unable to get past such teams at state.

The offensive stats were not impressive for either team. St. Ursula had an attack percent of .165 while the Cougars came in at .085. Mt. Notre Dame had one more kill than the Arrows but committed seven more errors. As Arrows Coach John Buck noted afterward, matches between teams like this feature big blocks and lots of digs, and the offenses suffer.

In fact, the defensive stats were very impressive. Mt. Notre Dame led here too, 63-61 in digs and 10-7 in blocks.

The match was similar to a football game where one team leads in first downs, yards and time of possession, but their opponent wins.

The heroes of this match were not the spikers, but the liberos. Alexis Lonneman of Mt. Notre Dame led all defenders with 26 digs. And the single most important reason St. Ursula was able to pull this match out had to be Tighe Westrick, who not only dug 24 balls, but came up with many at critical times.

St. Ursula led game one from beginning to end, and gradually built an eight point lead of 23-15. Junior outside Kelly Thomas scored their first two points on kills.

The Cougars led 14-12 in kills, but also led 14-4 in errors. Thomas had four kills for the Arrows, and Allison Florian three. Victoria Randolph and Lindsay Upton led Mt. Notre Dame with four apiece and Malorie Wessel had three. Only once did either team score more than three in a row; the Cougars got four to make it 23-19, but then had two hitting errors.

Game two was the total reverse of the first with 13 ties and six lead changes. Sophomore Alliya Drzewiecki and Allison Florian led St. Ursula.

The Arrows jumped out 3-0, but the Cougars responded with four, led by Upton with a kill and two blocks. However, the Cougars could never get a lead of more than one, and after an ace by Wessel put them up 17-16, St. Ursula scored five straight. Drzewiecki scored two kills to make it 19-17 and another for a 22-20 lead, and in the latter stages of the game Westrick made some key digs.

Kelly Thomas and Katelyn Schissler blocked to make it 23-20. The final four points resulted from errors, two by the Arrows, then two by the Cougars.

St. Ursula led most of game three, although there were seven ties. The Arrows gradually built a 15-7 margin before Mt. Notre Dame rallied. The Cougars scored five straight with Abbie Rees serving, and Upton hitting two kills and blocking for one. After a violation, they scored three more to cut the margin to 16-15. Mt. Notre Dame finally took the lead at 21-20 on a block by Cassie Vome and Emily Doerr’s blast of an Arrow overpass.

Allison Florian came up with a block and St. Ursula went up by two when the Cougars lifted a block by Florian and then committed an attack error. The teams traded points, and with their backs to the wall, the Cougars tied it on a kill by Upton and an ace by Rees.

Ashley Heyman put St. Ursula back on top with a kill off the slide, thanks to a great back set from Emily Florian. But Mt. Notre Dame retied it on a kill by Upton, who then served an ace. Once again, however, the Cougars committed an error by hitting one out. Drzewiecki blasted a kill to put the Arrows up 27-26.

The game ended on another Cougar hitting error, but that came only after superlative play by St. Ursula defenders who saved a Cougar cross court smash and dug a blast by Wessel.

Mt. Notre Dame Coach Donna Mechley said afterward the biggest factor in her team’s loss was their inability to get any big runs going. She said that was a tribute to St. Ursula’s defense, and their offense where all the hitters can put the ball in play.

And indeed, Mt. Notre Dame never really got out in front. Their biggest lead was one point.

Meanwhile, St. Ursula's Buck was proud of his team for hanging in when Mt. Notre Dame surged at the end. Part of the Arrows’ chemistry is the resiliency they have on the floor, and the sense they aren’t going to lose.

******************************************************

When asked about Wooster’s game three come back, Seton hitter Emily Sullivan said that the Saints have worked since last year on how to finish a game, to which Coach Snowbarger added “nothing is ever a comfortable lead for us”.

Today Seton will get their chance to finish thinking about last year.

And Toledo St. Ursula will get to demonstrate their resiliency.

Division II

Championship

Walsh Jesuit (25-2) vs. Roger Bacon (28-0)

Semifinals

“On a scale of 15 that was a 20. One thing about this team is you can never count them out”. Those were Walsh Jesuit coach Missy Christ’s comments after the Warriors overcame a 0-2 game and Big Walnut in the first Division II semifinal played on November 11.

Something happened to Walsh Jesuit between the second and third games. They appeared out of synch early, but starting in game three they were definitely in their groove. It seemed as if they were choreographing their performance, and in game three it all came together.

Middle hitter Katie Dull said nerves were a problem in game one. As a result their passes and sets were off. That would explain why she was hitting under a lot of balls and left handing some spikes.

The changeover actually occurred near the end of game two when Big Walnut led 23-17. That’s when Warrior co-captain Christan Green smashed a kill down the rightside and then served her team to a 23-23 tie. 6’2” junior middle Mandi Rowell had three straight kills in the run.

Big Walnut won anyway, as senior outside Jodi Davis hit into a hole from backcourt to break the run. On the final volley Dull tried to spike from backcourt, and the instant the ball broke the plane of the net 6’1” junior Hannah Swysgood applied a booming block.

But the momentum had shifted. “Our confidence level soared during the run and between games” explained Christ.

Big Walnut coach Ron Lehman saw the changeover too. “We didn’t feel like we were in control after (game) two. We liked being up 2-0, but we didn’t pass well the last three”. Lehman added the Eagles were not flying to the ball as much in game four. And he noted that his team struggled with Rachel Rodriguez serving. The 5’8” setter served nine points to put the Warriors up 12-7 in game four.

The stat sheet showed there were 18 ties and 10 lead changes in games one and two, but only five each thereafter.

At any rate, Big Walnut was on their game at the start. Swysgood started the match with a cross court smash, and after a brief interlude by Dull who scored on a tip and two blocks, the Eagles soared to a 10-4 lead. Sophomore Corinne Windle spiked a kill to start a seven point run, during which Swysgood jump served two aces and junior middle Erika Bills spiked two kills.

After a net call ended the run it was Dull’s turn at the line and she jump served two aces, with outside senior Megan Rodriguez spiking a kill off the block. That cut the lead to 10-9.

Bills got the Warriors back on the board with a well placed hit, but junior Emily Vassil countered for Walsh and the Warriors went up 12-11.

The Eagles went back on top, getting nice digs from outside Jodi Davis and libero Justine Bauder, as Walsh hit one out and Davis also spiked a point. Walsh tied twice more, the second at 16-all after two kills by Dull.

But the Eagles scored six straight in a 9-2 run to the finish, as Davis served and also made a great dig on Dull, and Swysgood provided two kills.

Dull started things off in game two with two kills and a block as Walsh jumped out 5-2, but Big Walnut chipped away and took their first lead at 11-10 on a four point run.

Walsh edged back in front at 13-11 and, after Swysgood and Davis scored kills to tie it, again at 14-13.

But Davis smashed a kill down the right line and 5’11” junior setter Summer Hale blocked Dull. Swysgood then spiked a kill, blocked Dull and then popped the ball over Walsh’s defense for an 18-14 lead.

The Eagles used another 4-point run to go up 23-17 and that’s when Green served her big run, the one that turned the momentum Walsh Jesuit’s way. Green said afterward she was “super nervous”, but it didn’t show. And although the Eagles still won the game they lost the war.

Big Walnut scored first in game three on a kill by Davis. Dull tied it and Walsh went up 3-1, and after one tie, the Warriors were never headed. Green served a six-point rally that put her team up 14-6, and the teams traded one or two points at a time. Play became more intense as the end neared, with Dull sliding face forward on one diving save.

After Big Walnut scored twice to cut the lead to 22-18, Rachel Rodriguez surprised them with a dump and Dull demolished a straight down kill. Davis and Swysgood teamed up for a block on Dull, but that only put off the inevitable as Dull crushed another spike down the left for the win.

In game four Davis and Swysgood teamed up for six kills and Sarah DeLong served six points, as the Eagles took a 7-2 lead. Dull ended the skein with a block on Davis, and Rachel Rodriguez served up nine points to give Walsh a 12-7 lead that they never relinquished. Dull and Green teamed on a block, Rodriguez served an ace, Green spiked a kill, Dull scored a solo block and Megan Rodriguez scored two kills. Big Walnut contributed a couple of long hits.

The Warrior defense also shone as Vassil and libero Sarah Dean both dug Swysgood blasts. Just before the final point of the rally, Dean dug another Eagle smash into the net, and Dull dug it out.

Big Walnut got as close as 12-10 and 13-12 with Swysgood spiking a short set and Windle contributing two kills. But Megan Rodriguez served an ace in 4-0 run that put the Warriors up 17-12, and the Eagles never got closer than four.

Three of the Warriors’ final four points came on spectacular kills by Dull.

Rachel Rodriguez started the scoring in the tiebreaker with a tip, and Dull followed with a kill as Walsh Jesuit led all the way. Big Walnut scored three straight and closed to 7-6 on a kill by Windle.

Rowell ended that threat with a cross court kill and followed with a block and a kill to back court as Green served four points. The teams then traded two point spurts, after which Davis scored a kill that left Walsh up 14-9. Dull demolished a knock down spike for the winner.

Dull led all hitters with 24 kills, while Swysgood had 18 for Big Walnut with Windle adding 15. Megan Rodriguez had 25 digs for Walsh Jesuit, and Davis and Bauder led the Eagles with 18 apiece.

*****************************************************

St. Bernard Roger Bacon won the second match, defeating Warsaw River View 25-14, 25-15, 25-14. For the defending champion Spartans it was their sixth trip to state, while River View was making its seventh appearance, but first since 1994.

Roger Bacon held a large edge in kills, 43-24, and that pretty much sums up the overall result. Spartan middle hitter Heather Hausfeld was most impressed with her team’s defense which she called “awesome”. Indeed it was, and the end result was, according to setter Katie Veatch, that “I didn’t have to move for any balls”.

Veatch not having to move is not a good harbinger for an opponent.

The Spartans got off quickly with Hausfeld scoring two kills and a block. Junior outside Chelcee Honabarger scored on a tip for River View, but Jaime Frey responded with a tip for Roger Bacon, Hausfeld tipped over everyone and Frey crunched a cross court spike.

Honabarger scored another kill, but Frey nailed a hit down the left and Hausfeld served an ace. That made it 8-2 and after 6’1” Lady Bear middle hitter Kristin Daugherty blasted a nice short set from setter Darcey Bice, the Spartans really took off. With Frey now serving, the front line was different, but no matter, Roger Bacon went on a 6-0 run as Katie Westerfeld blasted three kills, and Lauren Newton added one. Daugherty scored another kill, but Newton hammered two more, ending two intense volleys and putting the Spartans up 16-4.

River View rallied for four as 6’0” junior middle Brittany Bailey teamed up with Honabarger on a block. Roger Bacon coasted home from there.

Game two saw three ties to a 3-3 score with River View scoring first on a kill by Honabarger. Veatch and Hausfeld teamed up on a block and the Spartans went up on an attack error by the Lady Bears. Bailey retied it with a kill, Hausfeld scored on a tip and Daugherty retied with a tip. A blast by Hausfeld put Roger Bacon up for good, and Frey and junior outside Kelsey Rose spiked kills.

Westerfeld added three kills for the Spartans and 6’1” freshman Kari Daugherty and Kristin Daugherty had one apiece for the Lady Bears as the score advanced to 11-7. A lift by River View put Westerfeld at the line and the 5’11” junior served eight points, including three aces, to put her team up 20-7.

A net serve ended that run, and on the next volley River View gave everything they had, including a great spike by Honabarger, but it was Frey who finally scored.

The Lady Bears then rallied for four straight, two coming on blocks by Daugherty. Hausfeld demolished a short set with Frey making a nice fake, to make the score 22-12.

River View kept up the fight, as Daugherty spiked two more points and sophomore Staci Grace terminated a shot down the left side, but the Lady Bears were done in by errors that ended two intensely contested volleys.

River View again scored first in game three. Roger Bacon went up 3-1 and after a 3-3 tie the Spartans went on an 11-2 run. The Lady Bears closed to 8-14 when Kristin and Kari Daugherty teamed up on a block, Kari scored on a well placed hit and Bacon was called for lifting. But a 6-0 run by Roger Bacon put the game and match out of reach. Hausfeld scored the winning kill from the middle.

The teams were fairly even on digs with Roger Bacon leading 50-46. River View was led by libero Kasey Bowman and Honabarger who had nine digs apiece. Four other defenders had four or more.

Libero Vikki Auer had 17 digs for the Spartans and Westerfeld 12.

Despite the loss, River View Coach Cari Bahmer was proud of her players who “even though they were down kept fighting back…they didn’t fold or give up”. And, it should be noted, this was a young team with Bice the only senior.

They were up against a team that PrepVolleyball.com ranked third in the nation. A team that had knocked off soon-to-become Division I champ Seton, GGCL champ Mount Notre Dame, Kentucky powers St. Henry and Louisville Mercy, Archbishop Alter (three times) and a host of other strong Division I and II powers.

And while Roger Bacon lost three starters from last year’s state championship team, this year’s five seniors were all major contributors to last season’s championship.

Their “chemistry” is what created this year’s success, according to Coach Caryl Schawe, who added “of five seniors, not one of them cares about their individual stats…and that makes us successful”.

Division III

Championship

Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph ended Rockford Parkway’s amazing tournament run in Saturday's final to win their second state title 25-16, 25-17, 25-20. The Lady Vikings also won in 2001.

Parkway, who won back to back state titles in 1996 and 1997, had played a rugged schedule and lost their last seven regular season matches, but won seven in a row to get to the final. But Villa Angela had played a tough schedule too. They knocked off Division II runner-up Walsh Jesuit and played several strong Division I and II schools from the Cleveland area.

The Lady Vikings were led offensively by junior Margo Amigoni and senior Shannon Davis who each had 12 kills. Meanwhile, they held Parkway middle Rebekah Roehm to just 12 kills and a .089 attack percent. Roehm had 33 kills and a .435 attack percent against Westfall on Friday.

And once again the Lady Vikings were very effective blocking, with middles Hailey Martin and Hannah Groudle scoring five points. Making matters even better for VASJ, the Panthers committed errors when they tried to hit around the blocks.

Viking Coach Mark Royer said another factor in their win was Cristin Brown who was “awesome on serve receive”.

The state tournament was an emotional rollercoaster for Royer, whose father-in-law Joseph Dougherty passed away a week and a half before the finals.

Villa Angela took a 4-0 lead in game one on kills by Donna Epstein, Martin and Davis. Parkway rallied behind three kills by Roehm, a kill by Laura Art and an ace by Erika Snyder to go up 9-7.

But the Vikings went ahead 11-10 on a well placed hit by Amigoni and a kill by Groudle, and after a kill by Art tied it, VASJ took the lead for good, going up 13-11, 18-13, and 20-14. With the score 22-14, Groudle blocked Roehm and then smashed a kill down the right line. The teams then traded errors to end it.

VASJ used a 7-point rally to break from a 4-4 tie in game two. Donna Epstein served and Amigoni spiked three kills. Setter Colleen Lynch also scored a kill. The Vikings’ biggest lead was at 14-6.

Parkway narrowed it to 14-9 with an ace by Tory Henkle and a tip from Roehm, but after that the teams traded points to a 21-16 VASJ lead. At that point, Lynch scored a kill and Martin blocked Roehm. Art scored one more for Parkway. Martin then pounded a short set kill and Parkway committed an error after a serve by Epstein.

Parkway led much of the way in game three, starting with 3-1 and then 6-4. Amigoni spiked a cross court kill as VASJ moved on top 8-6 on two aces by Epstein. Parkway went back in front 9-8, and the teams traded leads. With VASJ up 14-13, junior Karrison Clifton got two kills for Parkway, and Roehm scored on a tip.

Davis scored for VASJ, but the Vikings then hit one out and Art put Parkway on top 18-15 with a kill. But the Panthers were undone by errors and VASJ tied at 19. Art scored a kill for Parkway’s last lead.

Amigoni then spiked a kill down the right side, and the Vikings rallied all the way to match point. Groudle scored off a slide and, after a Parkway timeout, Amigoni served an ace. Groudle scored again off the slide and Parkway called their second timeout.

On the ensuing volley, Groudle rejected three Parkway spikes, then blocked a tip to put VASJ on the cusp.

Shannon Davis scored an especially fitting kill for the match winner.

It was fitting, first because her sister Clare had scored the winning point in 2001, and second, because it was her mother Norma’s birthday.

Semifinals

“Their blocking was outstanding. We played Versailles and Bloom-Carroll and I thought they were great, but Villa Angela-St. Joseph was even better”. Those were Anna Coach Karen Zumberger’s first comments about Villa Angela’s 25-16, 25-20, 25-16 win over her Rockets.

Later, Warrior outside hitter Shannon Davis would say “our block was unbelievable; it took them totally out of their game”.

For the record, Villa Angela out-blocked Anna 14-1.

Another factor Zumberger cited in the loss was the Rockets’ passing, which she said was off. That helps explain the differential in attack errors with Anna committing 30 to the Warriors’ 9.

VASJ Coach Mark Royer said his team likes a fast tempo game and they loved the Nutter Center where a ball gets put in play immediately after the whistle ends the previous play.

Anna scored first on an ace by freshman middle hitter Laura Gehret, but that was to be their only lead in game one. Villa Angela scored four straight with junior middle Hailey Martin saving a teammate’s errant pass and Davis scoring the first of her match high 13 kills.

Junior outside Rachel Billing ended the rally with a cross court blast and 6’2” sophomore Kelli Barhorst spiked a short set from freshman setter Kelsie Zumberger. But Martin scored for VASJ on a tip, and after the teams traded errors, the Warriors went up 9-4 when junior outside Margo Amigoni spiked two kills and Donna Epstein blocked Barhorst. They increased the margin to 18-10 with Davis adding two more kills and a block. Anna scored three with Billing contributing a kill and an ace, but VASJ scored 8 of the last 11. Davis spiked the game winner.

In game two, Anna again scored first, this time on an errant hit by VASJ. Rocket senior outside Diane Albers then ended an intense volley with a kill, after which the Warriors tied at 2-all when Davis blocked a short set spike by Barhorst. Anna rallied for four behind two aces from junior Emily Stewart and a block by Barhorst.

At that point, Davis scored another block and then served five points, with Amigoni spiking a kill and Martin and Epstein blocking for two points. Anna never led again, but they stayed close. With VASJ up 18-15 the Rockets tied it on an uncontested shot by Gehret and two more kills from Billing, and they retied at 19 and 20.

Warrior setter then started a game-ending rally with a block. She blocked again for point 24, and on the next volley Anna spiked out.

Villa Angela jumped out to a 7-2 lead in game three. Anna rallied to 7-6 behind a kill and an ace by Barhorst and two kills from Albers. But VASJ moved ahead 12-9. Martin two handed a Rocket overpass for a point blocked and spiked a short set, and Davis nailed two tips to make it 17-9. Anna closed to 21-16, after which VASJ scored the final four, with Davis tipping for the match winner.

Anna’s coach said her team was a little nervous at times. According to VASJ players, the only one nervous on their side was their coach, Mark Royer. “I wasn’t nervous” said Davis, and Amigoni agreed “After the first five points I was fine”, volunteering about Royer that “You can tell when he’s nervous”.

Royer had earlier taken the team to a nearby park where they had a scavenger hunt. He made sure it was the same park he took his 2001 team, which won the state title after overcoming multiple match point serves against Huron in the semifinal.

Playing at state was especially neat for Amigoni, Davis and Lynch all of whom have older sisters who played on the 2001 team. They were thrilled to see their big sisters cheering them on.

*****************************************************

Rockford Parkway continued their amazing tournament run by beating Williamsport Wsetfall in the other semifinal 25-16, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16. The Panthers had finished the regular season at 10-12 and on a seven-match losing streak.

Middle hitter Laura Art said they played some hard teams at end. She thought their schedule helped them in the tournament. 

Going into the tournament the question was, according to outside hitter Tiffany Steinbrunner, “are we going to win or lose”.  She said they had a burst of confidence after their sectional final win over Paulding. Their next win came over Coldwater, a team they’d lost to in league. That win “was one of the best games we played…after that we knew we could make it to state”, said Steinbrunner.

The Panthers then beat Swanton, Centerburg and Margaretta and headed for the Nutter Center.

With Westfall unable to stop middle hitter Rebecca Roehm, Parkway controlled the tempo most of the way. The 5’11” senior racked up 33 kills and 19 digs on the night.

The teams parried to a 3-3 tie in game one, but Parkway soon took a lead and was never headed. Steinbrunner pounded a short set, Roehm hit a kill to an empty back court and Steinbrunner served an ace. Roehm and Art led Parkway to a 17-9 count.

Kari Rodgers scored a kill to start a five point Westfall rally as junior Brittney McBride served up one of her three aces. But an errant hit led to an 8-2 Parkway run to the finish line.

The Panthers started fast in game two, taking leads of 3-0, 5-1 and 10-3 with Roehm leading the way. Westfall scored four of the next six, but setter Tory Henkle, who had 30 assists, served Parkway to a 16-7 lead, garnering an ace in the process, and the Panthers roared to a 2-0 game lead.

In game three the teams traded two points apiece, with Parkway moving out to 10-5 lead. They were still up 12-8 when Westfall rallied for five points on the serving of middle Mallory Earich. Sophomore outside/setter Cassie Sowers, who led both teams with 23 digs, spiked two kills.

From there the teams traded scores for awhile to a 19-18 Westfall lead. A kill by Roehm started a 4-1 run as Parkway moved up 22-20. But Rodgers scored on a hit into a hole and Sowers retied it with a block.

Art demolished a Westfall overpass for one of her 10 kills, but that proved to be the last score for Parkway. On the next volley the Panthers hit one in the net, after which junior middle Tara Burleson spiked a kill to put Westfall up 24-23. McBride served another ace for the win.

The Panthers came our roaring in game four as Henkle served the first eight points. Mustang middle Samantha Graham spiked three consecutive kills to cut the lead to 11-6, and Westfall came as close as 13-10.

A net serve brought Henkle back to the line and she served up four more points, as Parkway rolled to a 21-11 lead. Art scored the match winner on a spike that was blocked out of bounds.

Division IV

Championship

Newark Catholic (29-0) vs. Sidney Lehman Catholic (29-0)

Semifinals

“It was an exciting one. We played very well the first two, we were in a funk the third, and I am very proud of our players for coming back”. That’s what Coach Jeri Helfer had to say about her Newark Catholic squad after they overcame a 14-22 deficit in game four of their Division IV semifinal against Norwalk St. Paul and won the match 25-19, 25-16, 16-25, 27-25.

The Green Wave was 28-0, and had beaten St. Paul in the championship match of the Golden Spike in September. The score of that one was 25-20, 25-19.

The first two games yesterday looked like déjà vu.

Game one was close at the start with eight ties to 9-9. At that juncture, middle Sarah Clapper smashed a spike straight down, and after a St. Paul lift, setter/outside Meredith McDonald blocked a tip, as the Green Wave pulled ahead 14-10. The Flyers scored two on a kill by junior outside Kate Schafer and an ace by sophomore setter Andrea Fritz. But Clapper served up two aces to put her team up 18-12, and eventually scored the game winner on an uncontested spike to an empty back court.

The teams tied the first four points of game two, after which Newark Catholic pulled ahead 6-4, 9-5 and 14-7. St. Paul got within four only to be outscored 9-4 down the stretch.

Nothing was amiss at the start of game three as the Green Wave took leads of 4-1 and 7-5, although the Flyers did tie it at 5. But when St. Paul sophomore Christine Dow smashed a kill down the line, she started a 12-1 run that put the Flyers up 17-8. Sophomore Victoria rightside Spaar served six points and after a kill by Newark rightside Amy Cox, junior Stacia Fritz served the rest of the rally.

Junior outside Ryan Centers scored a kill and served an ace to put the Flyers up 20-10 and they coasted to the win.

Game four went back and forth for awhile. Schafer served an ace to put St. Paul up 8-7, and sophomore Jordan Stacey scored a tip and Cox blocked to give the Green Wave a 9-8 lead. But then the Flyers went on another roll, scoring 14 of the next 19 to go up 22-14.

At that point Helfer called a time out. She told her team “it’s a lot easier to win eleven more points than to win another game”. And she told setter Sadie Warthen to run the whole net and make the blockers (St. Paul’s) guess more.

The Green Wave actually had to win 13 more points, but the first seven came immediately. Clapper started the rally with a straight down spike and served the next six, as Stacey scored a kill and Aleese Lewis and Shannon Wilson teamed for a block. Middle Bethany Davis temporarily stopped the run with a cross court kill, but Stacey started a three point run with a kill, and soon the Green Wave was up 24-23. Newark’s next two serves were out, but after each one Cox scored a kill, and with Newark Catholic up 26-25, St. Paul made an attack error that ended the match.

St. Paul was more effective at blocking or partially blocking Clapper in games three and four. The Bowling Green basketball recruit had 10 of her 16 kills in the first two games. Dow led St. Paul in kills with 14, scoring 9 of them in the last two frames.

McDonald and Sadie Warthen teamed for 41 assists for Newark while Andrea Fritz led Norwalk with 33. And Dow and Clapper led their teams in digs with 17 apiece.

St. Paul Coach Bill Cramer thought his team had a great chance to win the match had they pulled out the fourth game. His team would have had the momentum, plus Newark Catholic had not been pushed to five before.

Cramer was pleased that his team made it to state, but said they did not compete well in the first two games. He felt they did compete thereafter but noted that during the rally when Clapper served the Flyers’ communications broke down. Co-captains Davis and libero Samantha Tracht echoed his comments.

Newark Catholic will take on Sidney Lehman Catholic in today’s finale. Both teams are 29-0.

Lehman was a 25-15, 25-15, 25-13 winner over Old Fort. The teams had met once before, in the final of the Convoy Crestview Pepsi Invitational, when Lehman won closer 25-20, 25-22.

Old Fort defender Shelby Conn started the match with an ace. After kills by Lehman outside Jessica Butt and middle Jessica Slagle, the Stockaders used a five point rally to take a 6-2 lead, fueled by 6’2” junior Amy Benz who scored three kills.

Lehman called a timeout and Coach Greg Snipes told the team they weren’t doing things right, making errors and serve receiving poorly. With the score 7-3, Butt scored a termination shot and served two aces, and once Lehman took the lead at 9-8 they were never headed. In fact, Old Fort would lead only once more in the match. Lehman gradually pulled away to 18-13, behind two kills by Roshelle Watercutter, two more kills by Butt, and one by Slagle.

Old Fort scored one a spike by sophomore Lindsey Hoffert, but a Stockader attack error led to a six point run with Butt serving. Setter Emilee Seger scored a kill off a set from Nell Paulus. Watercutter scored the game winner with a spike down the right side after two previous attempts were rejected.

A spike by Benz was blocked out to start game two and that proved to be Old Fort’s last lead of the match. On the next volley, Slagle made a diving dig of a Benz missive and Lauren Gleason pounded a kill. Jessica Sargent served three more points.

Old Fort would eventually tie it at 12, but Lehman moved out from there to 15-12 and 18-13, and Seger served them to 24-14.

Game three was close, but the only tie was at 1-1. After Old Fort scored three to close to 11-10, Lehman blew it open with runs of 2-1, 4-1 and 7-1. Watercutter added four more kills, and with Lehman up 21-12, Claire Frantz scored a block and a kill, and Slagle served an ace. Hoffert scored one more point for Old Fort. Frantz ended it with another kill.

Old Fort Coach Nancy Hoover, who coached her 400^th win in the regional, felt her team didn’t play well, noting they blocked better in the match at Convoy. She said Lehman’s hits down the line killed them and when they took the lines away, Lehman put their hits elsewhere.

She also credited Lehman for their digging, which has been their trademark all year. Snipes agreed that defense was the key for his team. He felt his Cavaliers were on their game. He and Seger were especially pleased with the passing game, which kept Old Fort guessing who they were going to. Gleason, Slagle, Butt and Watercutter all had seven or more kills. Those four plus Paulus each had six or more digs.

Lehman also led 8-1 in service aces, and while they did have five serving errors, Old Fort had three.

Old Fort was led by Benz with 14 kills, Morgan Magers 24 assists and junior Shannon Nye with 10 digs.

As for attacking, Lehman hit .327. That would explain Watercutter remarking that “I could see the hole, everybody behind me kept telling me where it was”.

Today the holes may be harder to spot.