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Notre Dame Academy repeats as Fall Classic champions October 14, 2004 By Jim Jicha One thing I’ve found in running this website is it's impossible to keep up with everything. Sometimes I don’t have time to report on matches I attend. Writing isn't the difficulty. Rather it's turning a stat sheet into a story and translating numbers into names. Such was the case with Mother of Mercy’s Fall Classic, held the weekend of September 25 and 26. I went on that Sunday, having attended Elgin’s tournament the day before. With the upcoming week busy plus Convoy’s Pepsi Invitational the following weekend, I ran out of time. But since the Classic is one of Ohio’s premier tournaments, bringing together twelve strong teams from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Louisville, I was determined to write something. Last weekend I took a break from volleyball to attend the Notre Dame-Stanford game in South Bend. One of my sons is a big Irish fan and I can get Stanford tickets. We toured the campus and went to the bookstore. We also visited the Main Building (the one with the gold dome), the Grotto and the architecturally stunning Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The 44 large stained glass windows of this beautiful church are a must see. Then we had lunch and headed for the stadium. Once there I had oodles of time on my hands, even after the game was underway. It was with this in mind that I’d brought the stat sheets from the Fall Classic, since I recalled our outing two years ago to see the Irish and Cardinal (for those of you unfamiliar with Stanford, I did not leave an “s” off the name of their mascot, which is the color “cardinal”, not the bird). Much time at a football game is spent sitting idly, watching people stand around. A play is run, often lasting less than five seconds, followed by thirty seconds of huddling. On a first down, which may entail a measurement, the chains need to be moved. When a flag is thrown the result is a conference or sometimes even a group meeting. And then there are the TV timeouts which, unlike team timeouts that volleyball also has, seem to run on interminably. I’m used to spending a Saturday afternoon sitting in the center of a bleacher watching two matches simultaneously, with volley after volley and no break. When one match ends the second often continues until a new match starts on the first court, and if you leave for any reason you’ll miss a big play. Against that backdrop seeing Notre Dame play Stanford was culture shock. The Irish won their 800th game, something only Michigan had previously done, so I did get to witness history in the making. And I was able to get the story for this article down on paper. Not lost on me was the irony that that the Classic was won for the second straight year by Kentucky power Notre Dame Academy. The Pandas defeated host Cincinnati Mother of Mercy 25-20, 25-22 in the championship match. McAuley defeated Magnificat 30-28, 25-20 to finish third. In the semifinals it was Notre Dame over Magnificat 25-13, 22-25, 15-9, and Mercy over McAuley 25-9, 25-20. Notre Dame controlled their first game with Magnificat but the Blue Streaks raced to a 7-1 in the second, behind the net play of middle hitter Jessica Artman and serving of setter Abby Turza. The Pandas used two mini rallies to tie at 10-10, and eventually went up 20-17 behind the hitting of Emily Cahill, Kristina Eisenmenger and Ashley Klare. However, Blue Streaks rallied to tie on a nice two handed tip Mary Petrulis. After another kill by Klare, Sarah Petrulis spiked a kill down the line, a spike by Mary Petrulis was blocked out and Sarah had another kill. Magnificat’s final points came on another kill by Mary and a block by Turza. Magnificat's excitement was short-lived, however, as Notre Dame bolted to a 6-0 lead in the tiebreaker with Cahill smacking two kills and Allie Bertke scoring on a tip and three aces. Magnificat closed to 10-7 on points from Artman and Jackie Williams, but Bertke countered with two cross court kills. A Blue Streak timeout was to no avail as Kristy Hock followed with two aces, putting the Pandas up 14-7. The Blue Streaks got two more scores, but Cahill hit a crushing spike for the Pandas’ winning point. In the other semifinal, Erica Janszen and 6’1” middle Tricia Meyers combined for six kills, and Meyers added a block, as Mercy jumped on McAuley for a 12-1 lead from which the Mohawks could not recover. Mercy again took big leads in game two at 11-2 and 16-8, but this time the Mohawks roared back. Sophomore Alison Bartish and freshman Rachel Krabacher began rejecting Mercy’s hits, Kristen Meister came up with some scrappy digs, and with kills from Ashley Criswell, Jamie Torok and Beth Huey, McAuley crept to within two at 20-18. Janszen smoked a kill down the line for Mercy and Torok followed with a blast for McAuley, but then Mercy broke for the finish. Janszen spiked another point, Tori Sunderman served an ace, and yet another kill by Janszen made it 24-19. A tip by Huey kept McAuley’ hopes alive, but Meyers responded with a short set spike that was too hot to handle, ending the match. Notre Dame and Mercy battled fairly evenly in the final, but in both games the Pandas pulled away at the end. In the first, Notre Dame setter Jenna Gronotte led off with an ace. A couple of volleys later sophomore Mercy setter Samantha Viox tied it with a nice tip into a hole along the net. The Pandas were effective at partially blocking Meyers and keeping her from scoring, but Sunderman picked up some of the slack for the Bobcats. The lead exchanged hands multiple times with Notre Dame tying it at 19-19 when a Bobcat touched the net. Up to this point Cahill had been fairly quiet but, following a Bobcat miscue, she made her presence known with a smash that made it 21-19. The Pandas scored again when a spike by Janszen was barely out. On the next volley Klare made a great pass of a Mercy spike and Bertke blasted a kill. Cahill put up a big block making it 24-19 and one Mercy point later, a spike by Cahill was blocked out. The second game saw more to and fro until, with the teams again tied at 19-19, the Pandas took off. Bertke nailed a spike and Eisenmenger blocked Janszen, and after a Panda error, Eisenmenger spiked a cross court smash deep in the corner and Klare blocked Meyers. That put Notre Dame up 23-20 and, after a Panda hit was barely out, a kill by Cahill made it 24-21. Mercy scored once more on a hit by Lauren Harpenau, but Klare and Hock teamed up on a block for match point. The first game between McAuley and Magnificat went down to the wire, with a blast by Torok tied it at 24-24. Turza put the Streaks up with a dump and the teams traded points until scores by Torok and Huey gave the Mohawks a 27-26 lead. Sarah Petrulis tied it with a kill, but on the next play she was blocked by Criswell. Williams spiked to tie it again at 28-28. McAuley's youth provided the winning margin with sophomore Bartish spiking point 29, and 6’1” freshman Krabacher blocking Williams for the winner. Game two was close until McAuley spurted to a 22-16 lead behind the serving Criswell. Sophomore Kristen White had several points for the Mohawks. Chaminade-Julienne won the Second Place Teams bracket with wins over two tough Kentucky teams. They beat St. Henry in the semifinal 25-23, 25-15, gaining sweet revenge from the night of September 14. That’s when C-J upset nationally ranked Roger Bacon in a tri-match, only to be brought down to earth by St. Henry. Neither team could establish momentum in the first game with many lead changes and thirteen ties. St. Henry was led by outside hitters Megan Dooley and Andrea Price and defensive specialist Jessica Isaac. Megan Slayback, Stephanie Ross and Ali Hess fueled Chaminade’s attack, and setter Natalie Bauer scored two dumps. Defender Elaine Marrinan was all over the backcourt for C-J. When St. Henry took a 21-20 lead on a kill by Dooley, Hess tied it on a cross court spike. Dooley hit a well placed tip that put C-J off balance and resulted in a four hit violation, and St. Henry went up 23-21 on an ace by Ann Summe. But after an intense volley with some great defensive play on both sides, a St. Henry player touched the net bringing Hess up to serve. Sara Dorman tied it with a kill and Hess hit an ace. And after another intense volley along with a great pass by Marrinan, Ross demolished a spike that was dug off the wall for game point. Chaminade had an easier time in the second game. After some early ties, Hess served a rally that put the Eagles up 19-8, and they were never headed. C-J Coach Howard Garcia commented that that the Eagles did an excellent job of converting free balls, which was not the case in the teams’ previous meeting. They also served very accurately in the zone, taking St. Henry’s setter out of sync. In the second match, Chaminade prevailed over Louisville Holy Cross despite being outscored by ten points, and despite a great performance by Holy Cross outside hitter Brooke Haines. Trailing 12-8 in game one, the Eagles top hitter Stephanie Ross rotated to back row and served up seven points. Freshman outside hitter Megan Slayback had two kills, Bauer and Dorman a block apiece and Ross contributed an ace. C-J went up 17-13 only to see Holy Cross rally for four to tie it when Tonya Reed blocked Hess. Holy Cross went up 21-19, but Katie Slayback and Hess blocked Haines, and Ross and Dorman came up with another block to tie it. On the next volley Holy Cross was called for a lift, this coming after Ross pancaked a Holy Cross spike to keep the ball alive. Holy Cross went back on top 23-22 on kills by freshman Elizabeth Schuler and Haines. Ross placed a spike perfectly between defenders to tie, but Dana Clark put Holy Cross on the cusp scoring a kill on a play at the net. Fortunately for the Eagles, Holy Cross’ next serve was in the net, and after a long volley accompanied by frantic play Holy Cross got the ball tangled in the net. This put the Eagles on the verge and Megan Slayback’s kill put them over the top. When Schuler started game two with a booming block of Ross, that proved to be a precursor of things to come. Reed had two kills, C-J blocked a tip by Haines out, Abby Eberenz served two aces, Reed rejected an offing from Megan Slayback, who promptly hit the next one out, and in no time Holy Cross was up 10-1. From that point Haines added six kills as setter Katie Tinsley varied the offense. With the score 20-10 Tinsley short set to Schuler on the right side and on the next volley short set Haines on the left. Schuler and sophomore Dana Clark did a great job of blocking causing C-J to lay off on some hits. And when Haines buried a cross court spike, Holy Cross had a big 25-11 win. But volleyball matches are not decided on total points and although Haines started the tiebreaker off with an ace, C-J came back strong in game three to lead 8-7. Holy Cross rallied to go up 10-8 on a kill by Haines, who then served an ace, followed by a kill from Amanda Hans. After the teams traded points on errors, Reed smashed a short set to back court for a 12-9 lead. Hess scored two for C-J on a spike and a tip, but Reed blocked Hess to make it 13-11 Holy Cross. Then Ross stepped up. The Pittsburgh bound outside hitter smacked a spike that was blocked back but out of bounds. Next she killed an overpass from defensive specialist Maggie Moore’s serve. And after a long hit by Holy Cross put C-J at match point, Ross blocked a tip resulting in a lift by Holy Cross and a win for the Eagles. Vandalia-Butler was not as fortunate as C-J. They had two close second games but were unable to come up with a victory, losing to Holy Cross 25-11, 25-23 and St. Henry 25-14, 25-22. The Aviators rallied for a 22-19 lead in the second game against Holy Cross, behind the serving of Tennessee bound setter Chelsea Noble, and scoring from Meredith Herzog and Beth Oldiges. But Holy Cross came up with a rally of its own on kills by Haines and two aces from Lindsey Williams for the win. Trailing St. Henry 24-18 in game two, Butler rallied for four points, scoring on kills by Oldiges and Noble, and a dump by Noble. But St. Henry’s Andrea Price cut the rally short, smashing a spike that Butler blocked out of bounds. DeSales beat Solon in the final of the Third Place Teams bracket. Solon took an initial 4-0 lead on kills by Amanda Rodman and Angelica Rizzo and an ace by Alaina Makar. Talisa Kellogg put DeSales on the board and a kill by middle Shannon Kelly made it 4-3. The scoring went back and forth with Sarah Kaczuk and Kristi Pumpa leading Solon’s attack and Erica Kimber and Kellogg scoring for the Stallions. Trailing 15-12, DeSales tied on a kill by Michelle Wintering and two aces from Kellogg. After that there were seven more ties. Rodman put Solon in charge 24-22 with two kills, but the Comets were undone by two hitting errors and a block by Kellogg. Comet setter Meagan Buffington tied it with a dump. However, on the next volley Kellogg found a hole and the Georgia Tech bound hitter’s next spike was blocked out of bounds. As before, Solon spurted to a lead of 5-0 in game two, on an ace from Makar and a nice play at the net by Rizzo, plus three errant Stallion hits. However, DeSales rallied for seven with Dolcich serving three aces, and net play by Kellogg and Kelly. While the game remained close for awhile, the Stallions never relinquished the lead and they gradually pulled away. Junior Middle hitter Julia Judson scored the final two points on a cross court smash and a spike that was blocked out of bounds. ******************************************************* Returning briefly to football, Notre Dame’s win over Stanford was by the score of 23-15. At one point in the second half the Irish missed a two point conversion which was fine since I was rooting for Stanford. But now I wish they had made that conversion. 25-15 has a nicer ring to it.
Scores Saturday Sep. 25
Pool A McAuley def. Covington Holy Cross 25-15, 25-13 Chaminade-Julienne def. Covington Holy Cross 25-18, 25-17 McAuley def. Chaminade-Julienne 25-20, 25-14
Pool B Mercy def. St. Henry (Ky.) 25-18, 25-23 St. Henry (Ky.) def. Solon 25-23, 25-10 Mercy def. Solon 25-18, 25-13
Pool C Notre Dame Academy (Ky.) def. DeSales 25-22, 25-17 Louisville Holy Cross def. DeSales 16-25, 25-11, 15-12 Notre Dame Academy (Ky.) def. Louisville Holy Cross 25-18, 25-16
Pool D Vandalia-Butler def. Newport Central Catholic 25-16, 25-8 Magnificat def. Vandalia-Butler 25-17, 25-17 Magnificat def. Newport Central Catholic 25-14, 25-16
Sunday Sep. 26
Third Place Teams Solon def. Covington Holy Cross 25-11, 25-13 DeSales def. Newport Central Catholic 25-9, 25-13 Newport Central Catholic def. Covington Holy Cross 23-25, 25-21, 15-5 Winners Match DeSales def. Solon 27-25, 25-16
Second Place Teams Louisville Holy Cross def. Vandalia-Butler 25-11, 25-23 Chaminade-Julienne def. St. Henry (Ky.) 25-23, 25-15 St. Henry (Ky.) def. Vandalia-Butler 25-14, 25-22 Winners Match Chaminade-Julienne def. Louisville Holy Cross 26-24, 11-25, 15-13
First Place Teams Mercy def. McAuley 25-9, 25-20 Notre Dame Academy (Ky.) def. Magnificat 25-13, 22-25, 15-9 Championship Notre Dame Academy (Ky.) def. Mercy 25-20, 25-22 Third Place McAuley def. Magnificat 30-28, 25-20 |
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