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West Holmes hands Olmsted Falls first loss, earns fifth trip to state November 9, 2004 By Jim Jicha The Knights of West Holmes earned their fourth consecutive trip to the state Final Four, and fifth in six years, as they handed the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs their first loss of the season Saturday night before a large crowd at Wooster High School. The Bulldogs wound up at the Wooster Regional because their district was moved from the northeast. After hearing of the switch in August, West Holmes Coach Jim Park told his team they should expect to see either Olmsted Falls or Fairview Park Fairview in the final. The Bulldogs nipped Fairview twice in league matches, and again in the district final to move on to Wooster. Victory did not come easily for the Knights and the match was as close as the 25-20, 25-20, 26-24 score. However, West Holmes only trailed once in games one and two, this despite never leading by more that six. Whenever the Bulldogs tied the score or came close, someone would make a big play for West Holmes. And when Olmsted Falls took a 24-22 edge in game three, the Knights made several big plays to win the match. According to Coach Park, “three letters summed the whole thing up - OCC”. He was referring to the Ohio Cardinal Conference, which had that afternoon seen two other members, Wooster and Orrville, qualify for trips to the Nutter Center. The OCC could have up to eleven athletes name to All-Ohio teams this week. Park attributed his team’s strong tournament showing to playing against tough teams and top athletes from the league. All of their losses were to league opponents. He felt the Knights’ past experience at the regional and state levels was also a steadying influence, keeping jitters to a minimum. Jitters appeared to be a factor for Olmsted Falls as the Bulldogs fell quickly behind 6-1 at the start. West Holmes scored their first two points on aces when sophomore Keysha Allison’s serves were shanked out of bounds. Middle hitter Mandy Humphrey scored two on a spike and tip, and Brittany Mathie added a kill Olmsted Falls settled down after a timeout but the damage was done as five points proved to be the margin of victory. The Bulldogs got a kill from Amanda Paydock and Lisa Terbeek served an ace to make it 6-4. The Bulldogs stayed within striking distance, led by the hitting of junior outside hitter Alex Brown, and they crept within two on six occasions. But every time they got close, Humphrey or outside hitter Tricia Uhl came up with a kill or block to forestall any thoughts of a rally. Although West Holmes led most of the way in game two, there were five ties and the Knights’ biggest margin was two until Humphrey spiked a kill to make it 17-14. Fans were treated to some offensive and defensive gems en route to that score. Bulldog setter Kayli Tyson surprised West Holmes with a great dump that that left West Holmes leading 9-8. Shortly after, Knights’ libero Ali Drushal pancaked a Bulldog spike and Allison followed with a kill to put the Knights up 12-10. Olmsted Falls tied it 12-12 on a long volley that was kept alive when Bulldog defensive specialist Meghan Mental pancaked a West Holmes tip at the net and Brown cratered the next set. A West Holmes hitting error, one of eight miscues in the game for the Knights, resulted in Olmsted Falls’ only lead of 13-12. The next volley was intense and Brown went way out of the playing area to save an errant touch, but eventually Uhl delivered a clutch kill to tie it up and start a 5-1 run leading to the 17-14 score. With the Knights up 18-16, Humphrey delivered two powerful spikes and Uhl served up an ace for a five point margin. The teams traded points until Brown and Kendra Whyte scored kills to pull Olmsted Falls within three at 23-20. But Uhl was there with another kill, and Brittany Akins delivered an ace for the game point. In game three the Bulldogs again fell behind 6-1, but after a timeout pulled even at 7-7, and they stayed with the Knights from there on. And, they kept Humphrey at bay with intensified blocking by Whyte and Paydock. Play became ragged at times with both teams committing errors. The Knights took an 18-16 lead on a long volley kept alive by great digs. But Olmsted Falls rallied for four points on a kill by Brown, an error by the Knights and two aces from Tyson. The teams traded points until a kill by Paydock put Falls on the cusp at 24-22. Hopes for a fourth game were quickly dispelled, however, when Humphrey smashed a short set from Morgan McDowell straight to the floor, and Allison followed with a spike that was dug way out of bounds. Allison then crushed a short set from McDowell to make it 25-24. Mathie followed with a spike that was dug too close to the net, and a defender got her foot too far under the net while maneuvering to pop the ball over. The ball did go over, but alas for the Bulldogs, the match was also over. West Holmes will face St. Francis DeSales in the state semifinal. This will be libero Ali Drushal’s fourth appearance as a starter at state. Uhl and McDowell will be starting in their third. The match will feature two of the state’s top hitters, Humphrey for West Holmes and Georgia Tech bound middle hitter Talisa Kellogg from DeSales.
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