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Lima Central Catholic prevails in tri-match of ranked unbeaten teams September 19, 2008 By Jim Jicha Everyone showed up at Indian Lake High School undefeated last Saturday. When the Indian Lake Tri-Match was over, top ranked Division III Lima Central Catholic was a bit ruffled, having lost the first game in both matches, but still unblemished at 11-0. Second rated Division IV Jackson Center ended at 10-1 and the eighth ranked Division II host Lakers fell to 11-2. The Thunderbirds also won the tri-match last season, when they came out of nowhere to topple Huron and Roger Bacon, among others, and win the state championship. This tri-match is held every year with the schools taking turns as hosts. Never before had all three contestants been so highly ranked all at the same time. Thunderbird Coach Dave Franklin called the comebacks against tough opponents a “confidence boost”, adding “it was great to defense out Jackson Center after losing the first game”. He said his team’s focus is “to play one match at a time, one game at a time, one point at a time”. Jackson Center won the first match of the day 25-18, 25-17 over Indian Lake, using long rallies to break open close games. Outside hitter Alissa Ware began play with a kill off the block and Laker middle blocker Sadie Oyer retorted with a well placed hit. Jackson Center then spurted ahead 5-2 as Ware smoked a short set, outside hitter Casey Gates moved to front row and encored Ware’s first kill, and setter/outside Cortnee Sosby dove to save a tip after which the Lakers obliged with an error. After the teams traded two points, Indian Lake crept to within 7-6 when setter Brooke Walton converted a too-close-to-the-net pass into a dump and outside hitter Devin Grandi smashed a kill. At that point, however, Tiger setter/outside Bethany Hoehne converted on a two-handed cross-court hit. That brought Carly Burch to the line, and the senior defensive specialist proceeded to serve seven points. Ware tipped and spiked the first four and blocked the next. The Lakers helped with two errors, the second coming after a great dig by Gates. Grandi broke the run with a kill from back court, but senior middle Tara Spicer spiked a kill and later blocked an overpass of Sosby’s serve as Jackson Center roared to leads of 19-7 and 21-8. The Lakers scored six of the next seven to narrow the margin to 24-18, led by Grandi and an ace by Walton, before Gates finally drilled the winner off a Laker block. Oyer spiked and blocked Indian Lake to a quick 4-1 game two edge, but Gates smashed two kills to fuel a three point run to 4-all. Oyer responded with a well placed hit to back middle and served an ace to make it 6-4. However, a block by Gates and a dump by Sosby helped put Jackson Center atop 7-6. Indian Lake scored on a dump from Walton, but Gates tipped for a point and Ware blocked for another. That left the Tigers on top 9-7. Following an exchange of net serves, Ware repeated her first game rampage with five kills, while Spicer added a block and Sosby saved a ball at the net. Kara Develvis served the run which left Jackson Center in control at 16-8. Grandi again broke the run, and soon after the Lakers used a 5-1 run on kills by Oyer and Grandi, and an ace from senior hitter Sara Tevis, to narrow the lead to 19-15. But Gates staunched the comeback with two kills, and blocks by Sosby and Ware pushed the margin to 24-16. After a kill by Laker sophomore Laker middle Emily Watkins, Ware drilled Hoehne’s next set for match point. Jackson Center kept right on going in their first game with Lima Central Catholic, although they were unable to shake the T-Birds. And in the second set Lima Central produced two six-point runs to blow things open as they rallied to win the match 22-25, 25-15, 25-21. Game one went back and forth with eight ties and four lead changes until the Tigers finally moved ahead for good at 16-15. Ware scored first with a block. Junior Thunderbird middle hitter Danielle Taflinger blasted a short set from Alexis Diglio, and she retied at two after a termination by Hoehne. Following a T-Bird hitting error, Gates blasted two kills to propel the Tigers to a 5-2 lead. That proved short lived as Diglio served an ace and senior middle Kacy Qeurry spiked a short set kill to lead a five point burst that put Central ahead 8-6. Jackson Center, however, came back with four straight and they moved ahead 12-9, led by Gates and Ware. Shortly after, Lima Central scored four straight, with outside hitter JoJo Krieg spiking down the left and libero Mary Fisher serving an ace. Two ties later, Gates demolished a short set by Sosby to put Jackson Center atop 15-14. Taflinger responded with a cross court termination off the slide. But that was to be the final tie, as Gates spiked and tipped for points, and after being blocked by Taflinger, she terminated a kill through the block for an 18-16 Tiger lead. A tip by Ware following a diving save by Hoehne made it 20-17. The Tigers obliged with a miscue, but their senior middle Kyley Carmen came up big with a block that ended a long volley. Lima Central scored again when Querry won a duel at the net with a tip, but Ware kept the lead at three with a blast in the middle, and Hoehne added a cross court shot from the right. Following an error, Lima Central was down, but not out, at 24-19. Taflinger smoked another Diglio short set, and the Tigers followed with a lift. On the next volley, Taflinger and Krieg made diving digs to twice avert game point, and that led to another point when a hit by Krieg was dug into the ceiling. Ware finally terminated a line drive down the left line to thwart the comeback. Lima Central took quick charge of game two. Taflinger started by terminating a Diglio short set, and after a kill by Ware, she streaked a spike from the right off a slide into the left corner. Illig blocked a dump as Krieg served up five straight including an ace. Taflinger and Illig also added kills off sets by junior Taylor White. (Krieg, by the way, served seven aces in last year’s state championship match against Albany Alexander. She also paced the T-Birds with 18 kills.) At any rate, the teams traded points up to 9-4, when Illig started another six point run. Defensive specialist Abbey Mooney served two aces, and junior middle Laurel Conrad added a tip and a block on Ware. That put the T-Birds on top 15-4 and the teams traded points to the end, which came on an empty net cross-court shot by Krieg from the left. The tiebreaker was intensely fought, and although Lima Central never trailed and there were but two ties, the winner was in doubt until the end. Lima Central scored first on a Tiger net infraction, and after a nice tip by Ware that was lifted, the T-Birds soared to a 5-1 lead. Krieg made a saving dig that landed in Jackson Center’s left corner and also served an ace, while Taflinger tipped a short set into a hole. Then followed what seemed like a five minute exchange that would compete for the Volley of the Year if they tracked such a thing. Everyone on both sides had a hand, literally, in keeping the ball in play, especially Gates with diving digs, and Illig who kept a ceiling ricochet from blasting to the floor. Ware finally ended it with a too-hot-to-handle shot that was dug into the net. The teams traded scores with a kill by Querry making it 7-3. Gates followed with a termination down the left and a block on Conrad, but Conrad came right back with a blast through the block. On the next volley she and Diglio made saving pops over the net to keep the ball in play until an error by Jackson Center. Gates followed with a tip and an ace, and a kill by Ware cut the margin to 9-8. But Querry holed a Diglio short set to keep Central on top, and an ace by libero Mary Fisher made it 11-8. Krieg kept the T-Birds lead at three with two great digs that kept a volley going until a Tiger hitting error, and after a point by Jackson Center, she spiked another kill. But Jackson Center scored three to tie at 14 with middle hitter Michelle Carman contributing a block. Another long intense volley ensued, which finally went Lima’s way when Diglio won a play at the net. Illig nailed a point and Querry prevailed on a play in the middle to end yet another grueling volley. Hoehne scored for the Tigers, but the T-Birds stretched their edge to 19-15 and 21-16 on kills by Illig and Querry and aces from Mooney and Fisher. Jackson Center closed to 21-19 with Spicer prevailing in the middle to end a volley kept alive by T-Bird defenders Mooney and Fisher. The Tigers then blocked Krieg, but Taflinger got the T-Birds back on track with a short set termination, and Krieg placed an overpass of a serve from White into a hole. Ware kept the Tigers alive at 23-21 with a cross court shot. Taflinger, however, delivered a spike off a slide right that was dug way out, and she followed by cremating a Tiger overpass of Krieg’s serve for match point. It was now Indian Lake’s turn to take on the top ranked Thunderbirds, and the Lakers wasted no time sailing out to a 5-0 lead. But in the end Lima Central prevailed to the tune of 22-25, 25-19, 25-16. Grandi was instrumental in the first game win, and she started things off with a dig that went over and landed in a hole. On the next volley she followed another saving dig with a hit into an empty right corner. Oyer blasted a short set from Kirsten Brademeyer, and then spiked a back set into the right middle. And Lima Central failed to return a serve by Laker sophomore Brianna Lump. Taflinger put the T-Birds on the scoreboard, but a net serve ensued and Oyer’s block on Taflinger put the Lakers up 7-1. Taflinger, however, came right back with a kill and Krieg served up six points including three aces. Diglio dumped for a point and Fisher dug a spike by Oyer as the T-Birds went on top 8-7. Indian Lake move back in front 9-8 and the teams kept pace to 11-10. Grandi then blocked and spiked the Lakers up 15-11, but Querry and Krieg led a four point burst that retied matters. The Lakers moved ahead for good 17-15 and 20-16 as Oyer scored twice and sophomore Casey Craft delivered a cross court ace into the T-Birds’ left corner. Lima Central closed to 20-19, but Oyer responded with a tip and, after a diving save by Grandi, Walton hit an off balance shot from back court into a hole. Illig cut the lead to 22-20 with a spike that was blocked over but out, and after a termination by Grandi, she terminated two more spikes into back middle that left the T-Birds down 23-22. Two untimely Central mistakes ended the game. The T-Birds atoned for game one by never trailing in game two. Following five ties they pulled away from 7-all. Taflinger and Oyer parried kills on the first three rotations, with Conrad and Krieg giving Lima Central the edge at 6-4. The Lakers tied on an ace by Brademeyer. Querry blasted a spike right at someone, and after a net serve, she started a four point run with a blast that was dug over and out. Conrad followed with a block, Mooney served an ace and Krieg hammered a kill as the T-Birds moved out 11-7. Lump ended that run, but Lima Central used four 2-1 mini-runs to move out 19-11, with Krieg and Illig each contributing three kills. Indian Lake scored twice on a kill by Lump and an ace from Grandi, but Lima Central responded with three as Krieg scored from back court and, after a kill by Querry, added another down the left. A block by Querry put the T-Birds on the cusp at 24-15, and a net serve ended a four point Laker rally. Game three saw good digging coupled with hitting errors on both sides to start. A booming block by Oyer helped Indian Lake to take a 3-1 lead, and Krieg and Tevis then exchanged kills. But Krieg pounded a kill down the left, and then boomed an ace serve down the left to spark a six point T-Bird run to an 8-4 lead. Taflinger and Illig blocked for points and Diglio deftly dumped into a hole as three hitters faked. Krieg concluded the run with another ace. Grandi interrupted with a kill through a double block, but Taflinger crushed a short set to start a seven point rally. Grandi ended that run with a kill and followed with a block, but Lima Central soared ahead 21-8 on a 6-1 run. The Lakers ran off five straight at that point but it was too late. With Lima on top 22-15, Taflinger crunched a Diglio short set to end a volley kept alive by Grandi, and White put the T-Birds at match point with a hit to deep right corner. One volley later, Taflinger demolished a short for the winner.
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