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McAuley topples state ranked opponents to win Fall Classic September 28, 2005 By Jim Jicha When Cincinnati McAuley arrived at the Fall Classic Volleyball Tournament last Saturday morning, their season was not going well. The Mohawks had lost five straight, and their 3-6 record ranked last among the twelve contestants. But late Sunday afternoon, when sophomore outside hitter Rachel Krabacher tipped a diving save by defensive specialist Kristin Ruffing into a corner on the other side of the net, the Mohawks became the champions of this prestigious tournament, having vanquished four state ranked opponents in the process. The Fall Classic is unique in Ohio for its two day venue. Teams play four matches, with pool play on Saturday determining the brackets for Sunday. And because the Classic attracts a top notch field, college scouts often show up for the Sunday matches on their “day off” to view the talent. Miami University, Dayton, Kent State and Georgetown were among the colleges represented this year. No doubt they were duly impressed by the 6’1” Krabacher, whose standout play all weekend was a major factor in McAuley’s success. McAuley’s quest began on Saturday against the two ranked teams in their pool. Their first opponent was Erlanger St. Henry, rated in the top five in Kentucky. The Mohawks had beaten them a month ago in a tri-match, providing incentive for revenge. The match was close, but McAuley hung on and nipped the Crusaders 18-25, 25-19, 15-13. Junior outside Kristen White led McAuley’s attack with eight kills, and Krabacher and sophomore Alison Bartish tied with six. Krabacher led everyone in efficiency at .461 and, more importantly, she had six blocks. Next, McAuley toppled 12th ranked Solon 25-14, 25-20, and advanced to the First Place Teams bracket. Krabacher led with 7 kills in 8 attacks, and no errors. That figures out to a whopping .875! Plus, she had five more blocks. McAuley’s first opponent on Sunday was unbeaten and 9th rated Walnut Hills. But the Eagles’ perfect record and high ranking mattered little to the Mohawks, who played almost flawlessly in a 25-10, 25-13 blitz. A look at the stat sheet reveals that the entire McAuley team committed but one hitting error en route to an attacking efficiency of .604! The Mohawks flew out to a 7-0 game one lead with sophomore setter Michelle Clifford serving, and junior outside Kristen White and 6’1” sophomore middle Rachel Krabacher pounding kills. Walnut Hills middle hitter Natalie Marsh ended that rally, but although she and outside hitter Brooke Sparks stopped other smaller runs, the Mohawks continued building their lead. Junior rightside Alison Bartish ended the game with a blast down the line. It goes without saying that the passing corps of White, Kristin Ruffing, Jamie Cooper and Kristen Meister, was stellar, as was sophomore setter Michelle Clifford’s setting. And that continued in game two. Marsh got the Eagles off to a 3-1 lead with a couple of crunching spikes. (The Kentucky bound hitter wowed the fans both days with her ability to terminate volleys.) But McAuley moved ahead 4-3 as Walnut Hills dug a spike by White out of bounds and Krabacher spiked a short set. Sara Weil tied it with a kill, and Walnut Hills took their final lead on a Mohawk defensive miscue. McAuley moved back on top 7-5 on Abby Schaller’s cross court kill, and the Eagles tied one last time on a kill by Sparks and an ace by Marsh. Then McAuley pulled away for good with Ruffing serving them to an 11-7 lead, garnering an ace in the process. After a kill by Sparks cut the margin to 12-9, Ashley Criswell scored on a kill for McAuley and Cooper served six points. White had three kills and Cooper chipped in with an ace. That made it 19-9, and after a 4-2 run by Walnut Hills, the Mohawks ran off four more points to end it. The final tally came on a Krabacher kill. Leading the Mohawks were White with 10 kills, Bartish and Krabacher 7 kills each, Clifford 27 assts and White 6 digs. McAuley only had two blocks, but with the offense they put up it didn’t matter. The championship match with Mercy was a completely different story, at least in the first game, with the 13th ranked Bobcats pulling away from a 4-4 tie to leads of 7-4, 11-6, 15-7 and 21-8. The Mohawks were unable to stop senior outside Erica Janszen on the left, and senior middle hitter Jessica Schachleiter scored a bunch on a mix of spikes, tips and blocks. Mercy also has sophomores, seven to be exact, and three of them gave McAuley fits too, outside Missy Harpenau, middle/outside Kayla McWilliams who tipped for the game winner, and of course, setter Sam Viox who ran the show. Mercy had beaten McAuley twelve days before and the championship match was looking like an encore. But McAuley got back on track in game two, and after some back and forth took leads of 10-6 lead and 15-10. At that point, however, Harpenau spiked a kill down the line, Schachleiter spiked an ace, and Mercy rallied as McAuley fell victim to some close calls. Cooper got a sideout kill for the Mohawks, and White followed with a serve that the line judge called on the line for an apparent 17-12 lead. But the referee ruled the ball was out, so the lead was 16-13, and Bobcat sophomore Michelle James promptly cut it to two with a kill. Krabacher then came up with what would have been a big sideout, demolishing an overpass from a dig of her previous spike. Unfortunately she also brushed the net. Momentum was slipping Mercy’s way and the match was at a crossroads. But this turn of events did not ruffle Krabacher, who pounded another smash onto Mercy’s court that counted. Ruffing provided some breathing room with an ace. When Mercy again closed to one at 18-17, Krabacher smashed a cross court kill from the right. Schaller scored to make it 20-17, and the Mohawks got a break when a termination shot from Janszen landed barely out. With the score 23-18 White scored on a tip and Clifford served up an ace. The tiebreaker was the kind coaches and parents hate, but fans that don’t care who wins love. There were five ties en route to 6-6, and although McAuley led much of the way, their biggest margin was two. After McAuley went up 6-4, Janszen came up with a kill through the block and tip over the block to tie. The Mohawks moved ahead 9-7, after which the teams traded points, White scoring three for McAuley, and Schachleiter and Harpenau parrying for Mercy. Schachleiter tied it at 11 with a serve that McAuley dug three times but could not get over. Bartish and Harpenau exchanged pressure kills. Schaller put McAuley up 13-12 with a kill and Krabacher came up with a booming cross court block that landed in an open opposite corner. With play reaching a crescendo, Janszen kept Mercy’s hopes alive on a termination cross court spike. And that’s when Ruffing made her biggest dig of the day, diving near the net on the right for a save, and Krabacher tipped the ball neatly into a hole by the line, giving the Mohawks their 14-25, 25-19, 15-13 victory. The stats showed good balance with Schaller and White scoring six kills each and Krabacher adding five; Ruffing and Clifford serving two aces apiece; and Ruffing and White coming up with seven digs followed by Kristen Meister with five. Krabacher had four blocks and Clifford 20 assists. Walnut Hills nipped Chaminade-Julienne, who had surprised 2nd ranked Magnificat on Saturday, 25-23, 27-25 in the match for third. C-J was unable to contain Marsh, who spiked the winning kill in game one, or Sparks who scored on a tip and a spike to end the match. Both games were close. Sara Dorman and Natalie Bauer blocked to give C-J a 14-12 game two lead, after which a couple of youngsters, Walnut Hills freshman Kelly Findley and C-J sophomore Lisa Treadway exchanged kills. Marsh followed with a block, then nailed a great set by Jane Thompson, one of many the 5’6” setter put up during the day, to score off the slide and tie it up. After that the teams were within a point of each other until the end. St. Henry took the Second Place Teams bracket with a 25-20, 22-25, 15-10 win over Magnificat, which was playing without hitting star Sarah Petrulis who sprained her ankle in the C-J match on Saturday. The senior laden (nine in all) Crusaders led most of game one, and won on a block by Nicole Baker. Magnificat led most of the second game, but could not pull away. Defensive specialist Carly Syms, who had some great digs for the Blue Streaks, smashed a back court spike to put her team up 14-12. St. Henry tied at 16 after a dump by 5’10” setter Sara Meineke and a block by outside Andrea Price. Mary Petrulis led a Blue Streak with two kills for a 21-17 lead, and Syms scored on a two handed hit from back court to make it 24-21. Jessica Artman spiked the game winner. St. Henry tied at 2-2 in the tiebreaker and led all the way thereafter. The Crusaders used a balanced hitting attack with Baker, Price, Stephanie Niemer and Hillary Otte all chipping in, and Baker and Meineke teamed up on a big block. Otte scored the final point on a spike that was blocked way out.
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