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Huron avenges 2006 loss to Sidney Lehman Catholic

September 9, 2007

By Jim Jicha

Huron downed Sidney Lehman Catholic 23-15, 16-25, 25-14, 25-18 last Wednesday in a sweaty match-up of cross-state Division III and IV powers that was stopped numerous times to dry the floor.  

The Tigers avenged a 25-23, 16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 10-15 loss at Lehman last season. And for a while it seemed this match might go the tiebreaker route as well when Lehman took a 13-10 lead in game four. 

Paced by the one-two outside hitting tandem of 6’3” UCLA recruit Sara Sage, and 5’10” future Bowling Green Falcon, Susie Isphording, Huron roared to a 13-6 lead in game one. Cavalier frosh Jessica Thobe led a mini-rally to 14-10, but Sage terminated that, literally and figuratively, with three kills, as defensive specialist Jill Barnes served up six points. Shortly thereafter, Tiger setter Kelly Lehrer converted an errant pass into a game winning dump. 

Lehman came back strong in game two behind Thobe and 6’0” middle blocker Amanda Duritsch, using a 10-1 run to break open a 5-5 tie. Things got tense when Sage, with her team down 20-10, led a furious 6-1 Huron rally. The Tigers’ final point came after a Lehman timeout on razzle-dazzle defense by Sage, Lehrer, Abbey Seeholzer and sophomore Adriana Deluca who combined to prevent two spikes and a dump from scoring. Sage finally terminated that volley. 

But Duritsch ended the rally as she cratered a Huron overpass. Junior outside Annie Fortkamp scored a kill, and after a Tiger miscue, Thobe delivered the game point with a spike off the block. 

Huron led all the way in game three. With the score 9-7, Tiger sophomore Jesse Miedema scored on a well placed hit and Isphording blasted two kills, ballooning the margin to 17-9. Lehman and Sage countered a couple points, and after Sage rotated to backcourt, Miedema and Isphording fueled a 6-2 run to the finish. 

But Lehman came right back in game four with outside Jessica Slagle contributing three kills and an ace. With the score tied at nine, Sage, Lehrer, Isphording and Seeholzer came up with more backcourt magic to save three Lehman blasts, but this time Slagle ended matters with a spike that rolled along the net and into a hole on Huron’s side. And when Cavalier junior outside Sarah Lynch found an empty spot, and Abigail Dobras served an ace, the Cavaliers seemed poised to pull away. 

Lehman’s hopes, however, were quickly dashed by an 8-1 Huron spurt. Sage started it with a too-hot-to-handle smash that was eventually dug out. Lehman hit two balls long, Sage blocked for a point, and the Cavaliers were called for four hits. Huron obliged with an errant hit, but Lehman returned the favor with a net serve. Sage followed with an ace and Isphording demolished a kill down the left, after Lehman defender Kirsten Slonkosky had pancaked a previous spike.

With Huron on top 21-16, Lehman called timeout to no avail as Isphording followed with a kill. There ensued an intense volley that was kept alive when Sage and freshman Taryn Graham teamed up on a diving save and a dig off the ceiling. That volley was eventually halted by Isphording, who ended the next one as well after Sage went deep to retrieve a partial block. 

Thobe finally stopped the onslaught, but one point later, Isphording ended the match with a blast down the middle that was dug out.