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Maria Stein Marion Local sweeps defending champ Norwalk St. Paul in three for first state title November 30, 2007 By Jim Jicha “I saw these nine seniors go undefeated in the eighth grade and I thought when they get to high school it’s going to be interesting”. That’s what Marion Local Coach Amy Steininger had to say after her top ranked Maria Stein Marion Local squad swept second rated defending champion Norwalk St. Paul in three 25-14, 25-22, 25-16 to capture their first state championship. Marion Local (28-1), ranked atop the Coaches’ poll all season, defeated Newark Catholic 25-19, 25-13, 25-14 in the semifinal. St. Paul (26-3) bested number three Jackson Center in their semifinal 25-19, 28-26, 25-22. Net play was the deciding in the title match as Marion Local out blocked St. Paul 30-6 and registered a 16-4 edge in total team blocks. Acknowledging the obvious, St. Paul Coach Nancy Miller said “We definitely had a problem hitting into their block. It was frustrating to us”. She called Marion “a top caliber team all around” saying “they did an excellent job of taking us out of our game tonight”. St. Paul was also hurt by 26 attacking errors, many no doubt a result of trying to hit around and over their taller opponents. Marion Local, which committed 12 hitting miscues, was led at the net by 6’4” middle blocker Megan Barhorst with 11 block assists, and 5’11” outside Kristin Bergman with seven. Combing for six more were 6’2” outside Kathy Dirksen and 6’1” middle hitter Abby Niekamp. Barhorst and Niekamp will play for Cleveland State and Florida State, respectively, next year. Marion Local Coach Amy Steininger said afterward that her squad focused in their pre-match talk on using their height advantage, adding “Our whole front line did a great job for us. I felt we really dominated the net”. Younger and shorter players helped them dominate elsewhere as well. Sophomore setter Shelby Moeller, who tiptoes in at 4’11”, contributed 16 assists, eight digs and four service aces. Freshman 5’8” outside Alyssa Winner paced the defense with 14 digs. Marion led all the way in game one, jetting off to a 5-1 lead behind Niekamp who spiked two kills and teamed with Dirksen on a block. St. Paul broke the run on a spike by outside Christine Dow that was blocked into the antenna, and they closed to within 6-5 on a kill by Victoria Spaar, a double block by Amber Welfle and Kaylee Bundschuh and a spike by Bundschuh. Things stayed close for a bit. Niekamp scored a kill, and Barhorst and Bergman teamed for a block, but Dow came back with a kill and an attack error cut Marion’s lead to 8-7. Welfle exchanged kills with first Barhorst, then Bergman. Marion went up 12-9 on well placed hits by Barhorst and Niekamp, but Spaar and Dow kept St. Paul close at 13-11. However, following an exchange of errors, Niekamp demolished a short set from Moeller and served a huge rally as Marion flew away 20-12. Barhorst and Bergman teamed up on three blocks and Niekamp added an ace. Setter Katie Schulze served an ace to make it 22-13, and after a kill by Welfle, Barhorst spiked a point on a slide to the right. Following a St. Paul attack error, Barhorst and Dirksen teamed up for a game point block. Undeterred, St. Paul came out strong in game two, with Spaar spiking a kill and blocking Bergman for points one and two. Winner got Marion on the board, but Spaar parried right back. An ace by Winner tied it at 4, and the teams traded errors. Another kill by Spaar put St. Paul back in the lead and they remained atop up to 12-9, helped by kills from Welfle and Emma Badovick. A side out kill by Winner brought Moeller to the service line and she jump served Marion into the lead with three straight aces. St. Paul setter Andrea Fritz dumped into a hole on the left, but Niekamp spiked and tipped for kills and, following a St. Paul timeout, Amy Droesch added a kill. Spaar stopped the run with a kill and blocked for a point, but was in turn blocked twice, first by the threesome of Droesch, Bergman and Niekamp, then by Bergman and Barhorst. Unfazed, Spaar and Dow teamed up for a St. Paul block and Spaar served an ace. The next volley was intense, with Fritz racing way back to avert a Marion point, and when Dow slammed a cross court shot to the hardwood, the score was again deadlocked at 18. Marion, however, flew away again as Bergman smoked a kill into St. Paul’s backcourt and Barhorst teamed with Dirksen, then Bergman, for two blocks. Winner dove to save a St. Paul tip at a corner of the net and Barhorst made that count with a kill. Marion led 22-18. Dow and Bundschuh scored kills for St. Paul, but Barhorst followed each with points of her own as the score progressed to match point. Kills by Badovick and Spaar brought St. Paul to within 24-22 and prompted a Marion time out. That had the desired effect, as Niekamp demolished a short set from Schulze to end the threat. Game three went back and forth early with five ties and four lead changes. Marion struck first on a block by Winner, but Spaar tied with a kill. The teams traded attack errors. Moeller served an ace. Spaar countered with another kill, and blocked Niekamp as St. Paul moved up 5-3. After a service error, Niekamp spiked and tipped Marion to ties at 5 and 6. Bergman then scored a kill off the block and she and Barhorst blocked Dow to give Marion an 8-6 lead they never relinquished. Dow scored next on a crosscourt shot, but Marion added two more on a tip by Bergman, and another diving save by Winner that prolonged a volley which ended on a St. Paul miscue. And after a kill by Welfle, Marion upped the ante to 13-8 on a short set smash by Barhorst, who then assisted Dirksen and Winner on two blocks. St. Paul edged closer to 15-12, but Niekamp blasted two kills and Winner served Marion to a commanding eight point lead. St. Paul took a timeout and Spaar ended the run with a kill, starting a rally. Dow followed up with a score to back middle and Spaar served an ace. And after Marion used a timeout, Spaar served another ace. But 20-16 was as close as St. Paul would get. Once again, it was Bergman who sided out with a kill. She then joined Barhorst and Amy Droesch on a triple block of Dow. Barhorst spiked for points 23 and 24, and Bergman pounded a set from Droesch for the title. The Marion Local players were thrilled with the win, but none more than Katie Schulze. With a brother on the football team, she’s heard all about how “they got a title last year, now we need to win one”. She said the football team was using their title as “firepower”. (The football team won a second straight today, beating Youngstown Ursuline 20-14). Coach Steininger felt the competition in their Midwest Athletic Conference was a big factor in preparing her team for state. “We play against lots of players with college commitments”. Of course, the competition in the MAC is an impediment as well, because the D-IV league powers all converge in the New Bremen sectional. Marion Local has been ranked atop every Coaches’ poll for two years running. But in 2006 they were upended at that sectional by a St. Henry squad that finished only 14-11, but had beaten eventual D-I champ Mount Notre Dame. MAC rival New Knoxville defeated St. Henry in turn, and advanced to the state final where they fell to St. Paul. ******************************************************************************* Notes: Having a frosh in their midst was no problem for Marion Local’s seniors according to Coach Steininger. She said she called the seniors aside last summer and told them “We have a really talented freshman coming up”. The result was “they embraced her”. Freshman Alyssa Winner said of the seniors “They really accepted me and I felt really comfortable around them”. To which Katie Schulze added “She doesn’t play like a freshman”. In addition to 11 block assists, Megan Barhorst was incredibly accurate as an attacker, with 12 kills in 24 attempts and no errors. That works out to .500. Steininger later said “Megan Barhorst took her game to another level this year”. Though obviously disappointed, Norwalk St. Paul’s players took the loss in stride. Christine Dow said “it was frustrating because we knew we could have done better”. Andrea Fritz put the result in perspective with “I mean, it’s awesome just getting here. It’s awesome being second too”. Only one school in 100 gets to play for the state championship. Norwalk St. Paul and Marion Local did not meet during the regular season, but they both played in the Convoy Crestview Invitational, and St. Paul won that tournament. Marion suffered their only loss of the season, to Celina in the first round 26-24, 21-25, 26-24. They beat Ottoville and Crestview to take fifth place. St. Paul defeated Ottawa-Glandorf and Fort Recovery, then topped Celina 25-21, 15-25, 25-18 in the championship match. Marion Local and Albany Alexander were the only public schools to reach state this year. By the time Marion Local and Norwalk St. Paul took the floor, three Catholic schools, Lima Central Catholic, Toledo Central Catholic and Cincinnati Mother of Mercy had already won. And Marion's victory over St. Paul didn't really buck that trend. Maria Stein Center is a Catholic shrine. And the community of Maria Stein is in the middle of an area that is dotted with Catholic churches. Supposedly, you can see seven of them from the top of a nearby silo. Marion Local is not, as some people think, from Marion County. They hail from Marion Township in Mercer County, which is south of Grand Lake St. Mary’s and six miles east of St. Henry. The Midwest Athletic Conference is second only to the Cincinnati GGCL in sending teams to state. Starting in 1994, the league has sent 16 teams to the final four, at least one every year. It has produced six champions and six runner-ups in that time. Eight of the ten teams in the league have been to state at least once since Minster first went in 1976. Marion Local has been to state three times since 2000, and was runner-up in 2002. But this year's MAC crown was their first since 1983. In 1990 Fort Recovery and St. Henry both won state titles, in D-IV and D-III, respectively. Rockford Parkway was state champion in D-III in 1996 and 1997, but lost the MAC title to St. Henry both years. In 1996 Parkway was 2-7 in the MAC, but finished 7-1 in state tourney action. They lost the state final to Villa Angela-St. Joseph. And finally, in case you are wondering why I kept referring to the school names instead of using nicknames, which would have provided variety, Marion Local and Norwalk St. Paul are both called the Flyers. ******************************************************************************* Stats: Marion Local: Kills – Niekamp 14, Barhorst 12, Bergman 8; Assists – Moeller 16, Schulze 12; Aces – Moeller 4, Digs – Winner 14, Moeller 8, Bergman 7, Jessica Schwieterman 4; Block Assists – Barhorst 11, Bergman 7, Dirksen 4 Norwalk St. Paul – Kills – Spaar 11, Dow 8, Welfle 7; Assists – Fritz 26; Aces – Spaar 3; Digs – Hannah Livengood 15, Bundschuh and Fritz 8, Dow 7, Danielle Leto 5; Blocks – Spaar 2 solo and 1 assist.
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