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Top ranked Mother of Mercy advances to state semifinal over 2nd ranked Bishop Watterson November 2, 2007 By Jim Jicha Cincinnati Mother of Mercy advanced to their second straight final four and third in four years with a 17-25, 25-15, 25-10, 25-19 win over Bishop Watterson. The regional final, which was played last Saturday at Hilliard Davidson High School, featured a clash between the state’s top two ranked teams. Both were 24-1, each having lost to Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, although Mercy also beat MND. Watterson middle hitter Cassie Farrell started the scoring, but two long Eagle spikes and a block by middle Kelly O’Conner gave Mercy a 3-1 lead. Farrell tipped and Maria Harmon aced to tie it. O’Conner terminated the next volley on a slide to the right to start a Mercy run to 8-3. Outside hitter Missy Harpenau spiked for a kill, setter Michelle James followed a dig of a Farrell spike by Stephanie Vorherr with a two handed dump, and libero Kayla McWilliams aced a point. Trailing 11-4, the Eagles rallied for six straight points, starting what would become a rampage. Isabel Custodio began the run with a kill, and middle hitter Katie Sumner smoked an overpass, spiked a point and blocked for two. Harpenau interjected a kill, but Sumner tipped for a point and outside Claire Lee served an ace to put Watterson on top 13-12. After O’Conner retied it, Watterson scored four more as opposite Sunny Finnegan saved an errant pass over the net. Two tips and two spikes pushed Watterson’s lead to 21-16, and Lee scored the final two points with a block of Harpenau, and a bomb that was dug out. Watterson continued to roll in game two with Farrell scoring twice on blocks, Harmon serving an ace and Lee spiking and blocking for points. The Eagles were up 6-2 and had outscored Mercy 27-8. But Harpenau powered three blasts, and with Watterson up 8-5, middle hitter Colleen Meyers started an eight point Bobcat run with a kill. Three scores came on long Eagle hits, one after Mercy defensive specialist came saved a block with a clutch dig. Vorherr and Meyers also blocked and spiked for points. Harmon broke the string with a cross court shot that was dug into the stands, and she and Farrell led Watterson to within a point at 13-12, but comeback hopes were jolted by two errors. And, after one more Watterson point, O’Conner blasted a short set from James, and Mercy blew the game open. Defensive specialist Anna Solomon served up three aces, O’Conner demolished a short set and tipped for another point, and McWilliams aced two serves. Mercy won when a spike by Harpenau was dug but dropped between defenders. Game three was all Mercy. A block by O’Conner was blocked out by Watterson to start things off. Vorherr, who was serving, ended an intense volley with a kill from back court, and Harpenau and O’Conner teamed up on two blocks as Mercy jumped in front 6-0. Farrell got Watterson on board with two kills, and the Eagles closed to 8-5 with Sumner crushing a short set by Chelsea King, and Lee spiking a kill. But Harpenau boomed a block, and following a Mercy hitting error, the Bobcats spurted ahead 13-6. From there the lead ballooned to 16-8 and 20-9 on two more aces by McWilliams. James served an ace to end the game. Watterson came out strong in game four, with Ferrell tipping and blocking for a 3-0 lead. James stopped the run with a dump, but the Eagles stayed ahead up to 11-9. Mercy finally tied it after Meyers spiked through blockers to end a long volley, and they went on top on an ace by McWilliams. The teams battled on as Watterson took a 15-14 lead. Then, a blast from the middle by Vorherr that was blocked over but out proved to be the beginning of the end for Watterson. O’Conner sizzled a spike from the middle to the right back line. Vorherr crunched another kill. And defensive specialist Michelle McWilliams served an ace. The Bobcats continued their onslaught, following an error, as rightside Emily Cosker spiked cross court, Vorherr tipped and Solomon served two more aces. A net serve interrupted the run, and Harmon served a line drive ace for Watterson. Custodio and Farrell teamed up on a block leaving the Mercy atop 23-19. On the next volley, James’ set went to Harpenau in back court and her kill moved Mercy to match point. It also moved her to front row, where she delivered the coup de grace with a blast through the blockers. Mercy Coach Denise Harvey said after the match that her squad wasn’t aggressive enough in game one. Once they became aggressive and began serving tough, Watterson began having trouble. The Eagles definitely had difficulty with serve receives in games two though four as Mercy chalked up several aces. Harpenau said the Bobcats “came out a little shaky” and called Watterson’s big run “kind of nerve wracking”. But she said “We didn’t let it get to us” adding “In the second game we just gave it everything…we knew we had to keep pushing”. Mercy will need to keep pushing in Friday’s state semifinal when they face Mentor and 6’3” middle blocker Alexa Wray.
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