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Weeks 5 and 6 Highlights - 2006

Sep. 23-Oct. 6

10/6/06 - McAuley seems to be peaking at the right time of the season as they won their eighth straight match, taking a hard fought battle over second ranked Mt. Notre Dame 26-24, 23-35, 27-25, 25-23. The Mohawks, whose ranked win streak victims include Ursuline, Cincinnati St. Ursula and Solon, were paced by Kelly Torok on defense and Kristen White on offense, with Rachel Krabacher leading in blocks. The Mohawks finish their regular season at Mercy on October 10th.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati St. Ursula toppled Mother of Mercy in three, preventing the Bobcats from gaining sole possession of first place.

In Division IV, senior setter Abby Niekamp had 39 assists and two aces to lead Fort Recovery to a four game win over top ranked Marion Local. Tiffany Gaerke and Lauren Wenning paced the hitting with 23 and 12 kills, respectively. Vicki Roessner led in digs with 14 followed by Gaerke with 13.

The Indians also defeated ranked Old Fort in the first round of Convoy Crestview's tournament last weekend. They then lost to Norwalk St. Paul, but took third with a win over Division II Ottawa-Glandorf. Ironically, Marion Local beat St. Paul for first.

With Marion Local's loss, Versailles has now clinched at least a tie for the MAC crown.

Across the state, Tuscarawas Valley moved into a virtual tie with Wooster Triway in the Principals Athletic Conference by nipping the Titans on the road 23-25, 14-25, 25-20, 25-12, 15-13.

On Tuesday, West Holmes overcame an 0-2 start and six serving errors in game three to defeat host Mansfield Madison 25-27, 21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 15-12. With Keysha Allison and Markie McDowell spiking kills and Allison scoring a block, defensive specialist Dani Atherton served up five points to vault the Knights to a 23-15 lead in the pivotal third game. Atherton served another run in game five that took West Holmes from an 8-9 deficit to a 13-9 lead. The Rams closed to 13-12, but Allison pounded two kills to end it. The Rams were lead by Morgan Groscost and Brittany Grove.

9/30/06 - It was a big day for Walsh Jesuit as the top ranked Division II Warriors knocked off second ranked Division I Mt. Notre Dame 25-19, 12-25, 25-21 and host Magnificat 25-10, 25-18. Mt. Notre Dame, which toppled Division I top ranked Mother of Mercy on Thursday, defeated Magnificat in the first match of the day 19-25, 25-14, 25-21.

Not to be outdone, Division II Wooster Triway traveled to Wooster and downed the Division I Generals 18-25, 25-23, 25-27, 29-27, 15-11.

Elsewhere, Toledo St. Ursula gained a hard fought 25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 26-24 win over Archbishop Alter. St. Ursula was rebounding from Wednesday's 18-25, 27-25, 29-27, 18-25, 15-5 defeat at the hands of Toledo Notre Dame Academy, a loss which snapped the Arrows' City League 81 match win streak.

And in a big MAC match Thursday, unbeaten Versailles nipped Marion Local 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 16-25, 15-11 to take sole possession of first place. St. Henry, with league losses to both teams, kept alive a slim hope of a 14th straight league title with a win over New Knoxville.

9/27/06 - Smithville took a giant step closer to an outright Wayne County Athletic League title last night with a hard fought 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18 road win over West Salem Northwestern. That gives the undefeated Smithies, who earlier edged Northwestern in five at home, a two game lead with the season heading into the stretch run. Smithville's balanced attack was led by sophomore setter Jena Hartzler and hitters Sasha Horst, Jenna Pew, Ashley Brown and Lori Ickes. Northwestern was led by sophomore hitters Kara Koch and Kristen Warner.

Down 0-2 with their backs to the wall, the Huskies pulled away from a 9-9 tie in game three, with Warner scoring six kills and an ace, to force another game. It looked as if a tiebreaker might be in the offing as Northwestern edged ahead in game four, forging a 14-11 lead helped by seven kills from Koch.

But with the match's momentum slipping Northwestern's way, Ickes pounded down three straight points from left side to tie the score at 14, then added a tip and service ace to put her team up for good at 17-15. The teams traded scores with a kill by Horst making it 19-17 and Hartzler then served up five straight points to make it 24-17. Brown spiked the winning point through the block.

Elsewhere, Huron moved to 8-0 in their conference with a 25-22, 25-13, 23-25, 25-19 win over Margaretta. The Tigers lost a 25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 15-9 squeaker to tenth ranked Division I power Wadsworth last weekend.

In Cincinnati, Mt. Notre Dame pulled out a huge 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 22-25, 15-12 road win over St. Ursula to stay within a game of Mother of Mercy, whom they will face at home on Thursday.

In tournament action last weekend, host Mother of Mercy topped Notre Dame Academy (Ky.) 25-18, 25-18 to win their Cincinnati Volleyball Fall Classic for the first time in 13 years. The Bobcats downed Magnificat 25-20, 25-17 in one semifinal, while Notre Dame defeated the only team to beat Mercy this season, Newport Central Catholic, in the other. Magnificat nipped Newport in the consolation. McAuley took the Second Place Teams pool with wins over Solon and Louisville Holy Cross. Vandalia-Butler, who beat Ursuline a week ago, beat Solon as well.

Mercy is not especially tall - Missy Harpenau is their only starter listed at 6'0" - but they are extremely athletic and they probably have the best defense in the state. Plus, Western Michigan bound setter Sam Viox does a phenomenal job of reading the defense, making last second decisions and then putting up great sets.

In Central, Dublin Scioto won their invitational, downing Gahanna-Lincoln in a thrilling finale 16-25, 25-23, 25-22. The Irish got solid play from senior hitters Kelly Schoener and Chelsea Darnell, defensive specialist Dana Foster, setter Alannah Hayes and a sophomore hitter named Allie Nagel.

Marysville took their own quad by winning a wild one over Buckeye Valley. The Monarchs nabbed game one 25-22 with Buckeye Valley snaring game two 25-23. The Barons seemed on their way to victory with a 20-14 tiebreaker lead, but Marysville rallied, after which the teams battled on and on...and on and on...et cetera, et cetera...until Marysville finally prevailed 42-40! Junior setter Kristin Ratliff led the offense, and sophomore outside Hannah McShea had a huge day with 24 kills in the Buckeye Valley match and over 50 total.

Big Walnut won their own quad, topping Hilliard Davidson in three, while Bishop Watterson took Westerville North's quad, nipping Newark 23-25, 25-15, 28-26.

Newark Catholic traveled to Holland Springfield and successfully defended their Golden Spike title with victories over host Springfield and Bellevue, while Shekinah Christian defended their Ridgedale Invitational crown over Gilead Christian.

In the Northeast, Mentor won Massillon Jackson's Polar Bear Classic by handing Canal Fulton Northwest their first loss. Louisville beat the host Polar Bears for third, West Holmes downed Copley for fifth. Orrville, who nipped Hudson for seventh is now an uncharacteristic 7-9, but the Red Riders have played a strong schedule.

Dresden Tri-Valley won the Dover Volleyball Invitational over their hosts, and Apple Creek Waynedale finished third.

And last week, Sylvania Northview eked out two wins to take charge of the NLL with a 7-0 mark. The Wildcats toppled Bowling Green on the road 25-21, 25-13, 9-25, 17-25, 15-13, then escaped an ambush at home from Holland Springfield 25-21, 25-27, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13.