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Toledo St. Ursula tops rugged field to win Best of Ohio September 9, 2004 By Jim Jicha Toledo St. Ursula coach John Buck was looking for intensity when his squad hosted the Best of Ohio Volleyball Tournament last Saturday. His Arrows did a number of things well as they beat Cincinnati St. Ursula 25-14, 25-20 to take the championship match. Toledo showed a bit of everything in avenging a bitter loss to last year’s Division I State Champion in the Semifinal. But more than anything the Arrows played with intensity, fighting for every volley and celebrating every point. And that made Coach Buck especially happy. The Best of Ohio tournament is, top to bottom, one of the strongest in the state, and winning it is no small feat. Consider that the match for seventh place was between Holland Springfield, led by 6’5” sophomore middle blocker Stephanie Browne who made the Youth National Team this summer, and Anthony Wayne whose top hitter Callie Miller will play for Michigan State next year. St. Ursula was led by the hitting of Hayley Wiemer, Brittany Fox and Alison Mugler in the finale against Cincinnati. This was thanks to the superb setting of Emily Florian and Jessica Dominiak whose lives were made easier by the digging and passing of Mugler, Tighe Westrick, Laura Fender and pretty much everyone in the backcourt. Alliya Drzewiecki and Kelly Thomas served well during numerous scoring spurts. Cincinnati took a 3-1 lead on kills by Michelle Kenning and Mackenzie Angner, and a block of Wiemer by Allison Mercurio. But Mugler started a run with a kill, and two points later she blocked an overpass to put the Arrows up 5-3. The Bulldogs went back up 8-7, but committed a service error after which the roof in. Thomas served three aces which along with a tip kill by Drzewiecki put the Arrows up 12-8. Cincinnati closed to 13-10 but Wiemer slammed a short set between defenders, Fox blocked a spike by Stephanie Wessels, Wiemer served an ace on the back line and Fox found an open floor on a slide to the right after a nice fake the other way. A kill by Angner gave the Bulldogs a one point respite, but Toledo quickly broke serve and went on another run that culminated on two kills by Mugler, the second coming after diving digs by Dominiak and Mugler herself kept the volley alive. This made the score 22-11 and the teams traded points from there on. Game two featured a lot of scoring on errors. However, play was intense and there were nice defensive moves on both sides with some good volleys. The Arrows jumped out in front 5-1 and 13-7 with 13 of the 20 points coming on mistakes. After Wessels killed an Arrows overpass to bring her team to within a point at 16-15, Mugler spiked a short set to start a 6-1 run that put Toledo up 22-16. However, the Bulldogs scored three straight on errant Toledo hits. Wiemer just missed on a smash down the line, but she came back two plays later with a bomb to mid court that made it 23-20, and when a Bulldog hit was out Toledo was at match point. Mercurio scored one more point for Cincinnati. And then Fox smoked a short set that sliced off a diving Bulldog to give the Arrows the title. Coach Buck commented afterward how nice it was to beat Cincinnati. He felt his team worked hard for the win. Both teams were down a player (6’2” Maryland bound middle hitter Maggie Schmelzle for Cincinnati, and 5’9” outside Allison Florian from Toledo), but as Buck said “you have to play with what you got”. Toledo made it to the final with wins over Anthony Wayne and St. Henry. The Arrows took an early 9-3 lead in game one against the Generals and controlled the tempo from there. Game two was closer when with St. Ursula on top 17-13, the Arrows went on a 8-1 run to end it. The Generals were led by Callie Miller and setter Andrew Helminiak. Toledo romped to an 11-0 lead in the semifinal match against St. Henry, last season’s Division IV State Runner-Up, and won the match 25-14, 25-18. Wiemer started things with a block and served ten points as Fox, Drzewiecki and Mugler scored on kills and blocks and Fender made some sparkling defensive plays. Trailing 17-4 the Redskins went on an 8-1 rally started by a knock down spike from Kayla Lefeld. Lindsay Thobe spiked a kill, and after two Arrow errors and an intervening Toledo point, Lefeld had another kill, Lanee Mikesell and Betsy Hoying scored blocks and Cami Lefeld hit a kill. That made it 18-12, but Wiemer smashed a cross court spike. Fox made it 22-14, tipping for the point on a slide to the right corner, and Drzewiecki ended the game with two aces, the second just clearing the net and dropping into a hole. The Redskins came out firing in game two and took a 10-8 lead when Hoying drilled a kill through the blockers. An ace by Dominiak put the Arrows up but Lindsay Puthoff hit a spike that was blocked far over the line to tie it at 11. Putoff and Thobe double blocked to put the Redskins back on top at 14-12. St. Ursula tied it at 15 on a Redskins error at which point Katelyn Schissler ignited a rally that saw Emily Florian serve six points. Schissler first killed an overpass, then blocked a spike by Hoying. She next found a hole in which to hit, after a great volley that saw the Arrows reject several St. Henry missives, and Redskins libero Kylie Elking make some great digs. Losing this volley appeared to take the wind out of St. Henry’s sails as they followed with three miscues and never recovered. Wiemer aimed a bomb at Puthoff for point 23 and after a Redskins hit was out, she scored match point with another blast. St. Henry had won an opening round match with Mansfield Madison 25-21, 25-18. University of Pacific bound Kelly Campbell is known for hitting but she got the Rams going with her jump serves. The first came on an overpass that was demolished by a teammate and this was followed by three aces. Whitney Zimmerman joined Campbell in scoring with a cross court spike. St. Henry stayed with the Rams thanks to kills by Puthoff and Kayla Lefeld, and blocks by Cami Lefeld, Hoying and Puthoff. The Redskins broke from an 18-all tie for the finish to go up by three. A kill by Zimmerman cut the lead to 21-20, but St. Henry scored three more. They got caught in the net as a Rams’ hit sailed out, but Mikesell won a play at the net to end it. St. Henry jumped off to a 15-8 game two lead only to see the Rams close to 17-15 with a kill by Alepha Cornell and another ace by Campbell. St. Henry pulled away briefly with an intervening kill by Zimmerman completing the scoring for Mansfield. A kill by Mikesell upped St. Henry’s lead to 22-18, and Maria Wuebker served out as Puthoff scored on a block, kill and another block. In other first round action Cincinnati St. Ursula nipped Elyria 26-24, 25-22 and Toledo Central Catholic topped Holland Springfield 25-19, 25-17. St. Ursula took a 13-8 lead in game one after an ace by setter Jenny Roettker. A kill by junior Kelly Ruth got Elyria on track and Caitlyn Myor served up three points, one on a block by sophomore Karlee Bruck. The Bulldogs went up 17-14, only to see the Pioneers go on top after three errors and an ace by setting sensation Kate Verhoff. The Bulldogs eventually went up 23-21 on a booming block by Kenning followed by a crosscourt kill by Angner off a nice backset from Roettker. But Ruth reposted with a kill down the line and Verhoff scored on a block. Mercurio hit one down the line for St. Ursula but a two handed hit by Verhoff found an empty backcourt tying it at 24-all. Unfortunately for Elyria, their next two hits were in the net and out, putting the Bulldogs up 1-0. Game two was another nail biter. Verhoff backhanded a dump to put her team on top 14-12. An ace by Marie Bazely and a kill by Wessels gave the Bulldogs a 15-14 lead. The teams traded leads and ties, with a kill by Ruth forcing another deadlock at 21. But a kill by Wessels put St. Ursula up for good, with sophomore Jayna Stenger following with a kill from left side after Elyria rejected two spikes on the right. Verhoff came up with another dump, but Stenger put St. Ursula at match point with another kill that was blocked out of bounds. The match winner came when an Elyria hit sailed out as a Bulldog defender pulled away at the last second. Central Catholic had difficulty with Springfield before pulling away in both games. By the way, these teams have only two seniors between them. Browne scored several kills for Holland. Margot Joniec, who like Browne wears #12, kept the Irish in it with spikes of her own, and she and Ellen Herman also contributed aces. Kills by Mallory Strall put Central up 13-10 and 14-11 with Springfield sophomore setter Hillary Fountain scoring a kill in between. Jaclyn Helminiak crunched a Central Catholic overpass to cut their lead to 14-13, but Meg Petrie got two kills and a Herman tip gave the Irish some breathing room which they soon ballooned into a 22-14 lead. Browne then scored on a crosscourt spike but Joniec smashed one down the line. Central committed some errors, but prevailed thanks to a booming block of a back court spike from Browne by freshman Ashley Frazier, who then scored the game winner on an off-balance kill. Central Catholic was nursing a 17-14 lead in game two when Petrie served two aces to ignite a rally that carried them to 22. Maggie Morse spiked a kill for Springfield, and they scored again when the ball dropped on Central’s side on a play at the net. But Herman got a block on the next play at the net, and after another kill by Morse, Joniec put the match away scoring a kill and serving an ace down the line to the corner. Central was not as fortunate in the second round against Cincinnati St. Ursula. The Irish fell behind in game one 5-1, 9-4, 12-5, 14-6 and 16-7, after which the teams basically traded points. Wessels had at least six kills for the Bulldogs, including the game winner, and an ace. Game two saw the teams, led by Herman and Angner respectively, go back and forth. Central’s undoing came after they closed to 11-10 on a block by Petrie. At this point St. Ursula scored five points with Emily Ray serving. This was the longest rally in the match and while Central gradually pecked away closing to 19-18 and 20-19 they could never even things up. After Kenning scored a kill to put the Bulldogs up 24-21, the Irish made a final valiant effort, with Herman hitting a spike that was blocked out and Petrie coming up with a clutch hit in the middle that went right through a double block. But on the next play Angner lofted a tip into a hole and Cincinnati was off to the final. In one consolation Mansfield Madison overcame a seven point deficit to win game one, and used two rallies to break up a close match in game two, as they beat Anthony Wayne 25-23, 25-14. Madison tied game one at 22 on an ace by Zimmerman who served several points in a rally. Helminiak hit a tip that was dug out to put the Generals back on top. But Campbell scored twice on a kill and a tip, and the Generals won it on a hitting error. The Rams built an 8-4 lead in game two, but after a service error, Anthony Wayne tied it on a dump by Helminiak, a block by Michelle Rairigh and an ace from Megan Marzec. At this point Madison came up with a five point rally thanks to an ace by Cornell, a cross court smash by Zimmerman and three errors by the Generals. Miller ended that with a bomb that was blocked off the wall and Helminiak followed with a kill to make it 13-10. Miller and Campbell then traded kills and the teams traded miscues. Miller scored on a slide with a back set from Helminiak to cut the lead to 16-13. But Campbell nailed a kill that moved her to the serving line and ignited a seven point rally. First sophomore Abby Pfleiderer blocked a Generals overpass caused by Campbell’s jump serve. Campbell’s second serve landed in bounds behind the back row, and the next one was dug out of bounds. On the next play a General was caught in the net. Campbell then served one on the line, and followed that up with a crosscourt serve into the opposite corner. With Madison up 23-13, Campbell served one into the net, but the damage was done. Zimmerman scored a kill, and not to be outdone, Pfleiderer put up a short serve totally unlike the last several line drives that resulted in an off balance dig followed by a lift. By the way, Anthony Wayne only has one senior, and while it is Callie Miller, this team has loads of young talent, including freshman libero Jillian Schwerer. In the other consolation, Elyria won the first game 25-16, then came up with two rallies in game two to turn a 14-6 deficit into a 25-19 victory over Springfield. After Verhoff scored on a dump in game two, Springfield came up with kills by Fountain and Morse to lead 14-6. Their next hit was out, however, and Erin Sims served up five points with Ruth contributing a block and kill, and sophomore Charde’ Phillips scoring on a block that was lifted by the Blue Devils. Another kill by Morse interrupted things, but Elyria rallied for four more to go up 16-15. Fountain tied it with a spike, but Bruck retorted with a kill. Browne retied it with a kill and Elyria’s next hit was out, but Verhoff went on a rampage to lead a seven point Pioneers’ rally. She started it by converting an errant pass into a dump. After a net call on Springfield and a kill by Sims, Verhoff turned another errant dig into another dump. And after a Springfield miscue Verhoff made a heads up play at the net to pop the ball over the Blue Devils team. She then smoked an overpass to make it 24-18, and the teams then exchanged points to give Elyria the win. In the match for third St. Henry once again fell behind early in game one, trailing 10-2, and, after a mini-rally, 18-10 and 22-12. Toledo had balanced scoring from Petrie and Hermanalong with an ace from Brogan Carder. The Redskins’ brief rally was fueled by kills from Kayla and Cami Lefeld, and Puthoff. Central reposted with kills from Strall, and Joniec and an ace by setter Liz Steedman. St. Henry rallied from 22-12 to cut the lead to 23-18, and when Central made three mistakes the lead was reduced to three at 24-21. Frazier hit a cross court kill to the corner to ice the win for Central. Game two was much closer and started with back and forth. With St. Henry up 6-5, Central rallied for four points to take a lead they never relinquished, although it stayed close. Central got key scoring from Strall and Petrie, and solid play by Herman including a reaction hit from back court that found a hole. That came just after two St. Henry points, on a tip by Cami Lefeld and an ace by setter Christa Schwartz, that had cut Central’s lead to 20-17. With the lead down to 21-19, Strall shredded the defense with a spike and Steedman served an ace to provide breathing room. Puthoff scored a block, but Petrie took Central to match point with a kill. Puthoff came up with another kill, and followed with a big block after rejecting three previous Irish spikes. A Central hit sailed out and the lead was one, at 24-23. An intense volley ensued with Mikesell making a great save for St. Henry, but Petrie finally ended it with a kill. Elyria nipped Mansfield Madison in game one for fifth place 25-23. Game two was close for awhile with the Pioneers up 8-4 and 11-7, and the Rams cutting the lead to 14-13. Ruth led Elyria’s attack with Cornell and Campbell spearheading for the Rams. At this point Verhoff blocked a tip, but the Pioneers served into the net. And that was Madison’s last point, as Verhoff served nine straight, coming up with two aces and another two handed hit that went over everyone to an open floor. Caitlin Myor also contributed a kill as the Pioneers won 25-14. Springfield won their first game from Anthony Wayne 25-18 in the seventh place match. The Blue Devils went up 13-6 in game two when Browne blocked Miller and pounded a kill to the corner. Springfield increased the lead to 18-8 on a kill by Jaclyn Helminiak and two aces from freshman outside hitter Roxie Duran. Miller blocked Browne to return the earlier favor during a mini-rally by the Generals in which Melanie Heinlein served two aces. But Springfield put a stop to that and upped their lead to 22-14. Sophomore Brittney Stalma scored a kill for Anthony Wayne, but Morse hit one for the Blue Devils. The Generals got one more shot when the ball dropped on Springfield’s court after a play at the net, and an ace by Marzec cut it to 23-17. However, Morse pounded one down the middle to put Springfield on the cusp and when the Generals hit one out Springfield was a 25-17 winner.
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