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GGCL breadth and depth evident as Cincinnati Ursuline wins Northeast Ohio Power Volleyball Invitational October 5, 2007 By Jim Jicha The breadth and depth of the Greater Girls Cincinnati League was in evidence last weekend as Ursuline, tied for last in the Scarlet Division with St. Ursula and Seton, won the inaugural Northeast Ohio Power Volleyball Invitational hosted by Mentor. Ranked sixth in the state, 13-7 Ursuline is but 2-7 in the GGCL. But, hey, St. Ursula won Toledo St. Ursula’s Best of Ohio Invitational held on September 2, and Seton repeated as Fall Showcase champs at Magnificat the following week. It was Ursuline’s turn to flex some GGCL muscle. That’s the breadth part. What made Ursuline’s win even more impressive over the star studded field of ten teams, eight of them ranked and two then undefeated, was the fact that the Lions were without the performances of two stud outside hitting starters, senior Brooke Maher who was injured recently, and sophomore sensation Jade Henderson, lost early in the season. When Maher went down, freshman Jamie Goldschmidt was called up from the JV and she played a role last weekend. That’s the depth. In other final matches, Toledo Notre Dame Academy (#14) nipped Solon (#4) for third, Mentor (#13) rallied from 0-2 to beat Mentor Lake Catholic (#11 D-II) for fifth, Wooster topped Walsh Jesuit (#14 D-II) for seventh, and St. Henry (#10 in Kentucky) took ninth over Lakota West. All of Sunday’s matches went four or five games. I could only attend the first six rounds on Saturday, and so missed the really great matches, but everything I witnessed was top notch. Magnificat started things off by handing Wooster its first loss 25-21, 25-19, while Solon was downing Erlanger St. Henry (Ky.) 29-27, 25-16. In command for most of game one, Magnificat built a 14-7 lead. Wooster tried to rally from 20-14 when outside hitter Natalie Phillips pancaked a dump attempt by Blue Streaks Kristen DuBroy. Wooster eventually scored that point and sophomore setter Jade Craycraft followed with an ace. But Kara Stilphen and Kristen Kidd spiked that rally and Magnificat to a 24-19 lead, and after two kills by Wooster 6’1” junior middle Kelci Marschall, Kidd hammered the game winner. Wooster took leads of 13-9 and 17-15 in game two, but the roof caved in when Kidd scored on a cross court blast. With Rachel Gulasey serving up two aces, and Kidd and 6’2” middle hitting Toledo University recruit Michelle Matia blocking, the Blue Streaks raced to a 22-17 lead. Kidd and Matia alternated kills to the end. Solon, meanwhile, prevailed over St. Henry in a wild first game that was often tied. At 23-23 Solon hitters Kelsey Kuehner and Erin Wisner teamed on a go ahead block, only to see St. Henry middle Heather Schierer spike and tip two kill. University of Tennessee bound Solon middle Kayla Jeter tied it with a cross court termination, and after a service error, she retied it. St. Henry outside Paula Byrns put her team up 27-26, and Kuehner retied it. Solon scored the go ahead for good point on a serve by Jeter that seemed to be going out but dropped instead on the back line, and Kuehner ended play with a big block. Solon was in charge in game two. St. Henry crept to within two at 11-9, only to have the Comets shoot in front 20-12. After a Crusader mini-rally, Solon scored the final four with Liz Reinhart two-handing a St. Henry overpass for the winning kill. In round two, Lake Catholic downed Wooster 25-21, 25-21 while host Mentor took care of St. Henry 25-18, 27-25. From a 7-all tie Wooster built a 13-9 game one margin led by Marschall. But the Cardinals began chipping away with outside Julianne O’Donnell spiking down the line and freshman setter Bridget Grdina blocking for a score. They finally took the lead 18-17 on a kill by outside Lauren Jones off a Grdina backset, and kept going to 24-20. Defender Rachel Lyons scored the game winner on a dig of a Wooster block that cleared the net and was dug out by the Generals. Game two saw Lake Catholic ahead most of the way, with Phillips and Marschall keeping Wooster close. Scoring key kills, Lake middle hitter Brittany Zak kept Mentor ahead at 12-10, and O’Donnell did the same at 17-15 and 19-16. And when Wooster again closed to 22-20, Cardinal setter Ashley Mason made a key block on Phillips. Mentor found itself in an early see-saw with St. Henry, but they pulled away for good from 11-11 on a score by libero Amber Gibson. Deitmen served five points to make it 18-12 and Elizabeth Sayer five more, including an ace, as the Cardinals flew ahead 24-13. Rand came up with a big block, setter Lauren Bogatay a dump and Kosec a kill. St. Henry fought back with kills by Kelsey Blackthorn and Byrns and blocks from Whitney Rolf and Byrns, but Rand ended the rally with a block. St. Henry actually controlled much of game two with Rolf and Byrns spiking them to leads of 13-8 and 22-15. But Mentor rallied from there, scoring four to start, and following a block by Byrns, tying it on a kill and ace from outside Jenna Golic, and a kill and tip by Kosec. The Crusaders scored next, but Dustman retied with a kill, and followed by turning a difficult dig into a nice pass that led to a termination by Rand. The teams exchanged errors after which Rand delivered the final kill. Round three featured a rematch between Magnificat and Lake Catholic, and while they had to work the Blue Streaks had an easier time than in August when they eked past the Cougars 25-22, 14-25, 25-21, 24-26, 16-14. This time the score was 25-22, 25-16 and Magnificat led most of the way. The lead went back and forth to start game one. Magnificat took the lead for good at 10-5 on a block by Matia, followed by five serving points from Kidd, but Lake stayed close. Kills by O’Donnell and rightside Amanda Sawicki narrowed the gap to 15-13, and when Mags went up 19-13, Zak fueled a three point run. Grdina led another three point spurt with a kill and block as Lake closed to 22-20, and a kill by Ashley Mason brought the Cougars to within 23-22. But then Matia scored a kill and Chakirelis ended an intense volley and the game with a block. In game two, Magnificat jumped in front 5-0 and 9-5, powered by three kills and a block from Matia. Kills by Sawicki brought the Cougars to within 10-8, but the Blue Streaks then pulled away to 19-10. Defender Catie Lambert ended play with an ace. Solon, meanwhile, defeated Mentor 25-21, 25-20 in a regional foreshadowing. The Comets took a big lead in game one, and led much of a closer game two. Wisner got things started in game one, and she and Jeter helped the Comets push to a 13-4 lead. With Solon up 18-12, Jeter added three more kills to offset Mentor scores as the score advanced to 24-16. But Mentor wasn’t finished. Outside hitter Jenna Golic scored a kill and served up four points behind hitting by Dustman. The rally came to an untimely end when a Cardinal winged the net. Game two went back and forth, with a kill by Golic and an ace from setter Lauren Bogatay giving Mentor a 10-8 edge. Solon retook the lead at 16-13 for, but Mentor stayed close as Rand blocked Wisner to make it 16-15. On the next volley, Solon outside Dana Forgione dug a Mentor block and Wisner followed that with a shot down the middle. Libero Kaitlin McCann served up four points, including an ace. But Mentor rallied back to within one at 21-20 on blocks by Rand. Jeter ended that with a kill, and after Liz Reinhart popped a hit into a hole, Jeter served an ace and Kuehner ended the match with a kill. Cincinnati Ursuline beat Lakota West 25-18, 25-8 in the only match of round four. West plays four talented freshmen, 5’9” setter/outside Lexi Dannemiller, defensive specialist Shannon Breen, 6’3” middle blocker Liz McMahon and outside Taylor Anderson. Belying their youth they battled Ursuline awhile with Dannemiller and outside Ericka Almady keeping it close at 8-9. But the Lions then erupted for six as setter Dani Reinert executed a last second dump, Lindsey Roy added a kill and block, and defender Andrea Lutter served an ace. Lakota closed to 18-14 on kills by outside Katelyn Cravenor and McMahon, and a dump by Dannemiller, but could get no closer. Ursuline scored the final three points, with Roy ending it on a slide right smash. It was all Ursuline in game two as the Lions roared to leads of 5-0 and 14-4. Roy ended this one too, with a slam down the middle. In round five, Notre Dame Academy topped Walsh Jesuit 25-21, 25-14, while Lake Catholic bested St. Henry 25-16, 25-19. Trailing 7-5, Notre Dame blew open the first game on a 9-point rally served by rightside Amanda Fioritto, whose earlier kills had kept the Eagles close. 6’1” junior middle blocker Elisa Duran started the run with a kill and Fioritto served an ace. Outside hitter Paige Roback smoked a kill down the line, and she and Duran teamed for a block. Setter Jordan Goad smoked an overpass, Duran scored on two tips and a liner in the middle and she and Goad teamed for a block. Junior hitter Kalie Marshall ended the run, but the damage was done. With Notre Dame in front 24-17, Zawalski led a four point Walsh run, but Goad ended matters with a hit into an empty spot. Walsh jumped in front 4-0 in game two, but a 9-0 run served by junior outside Jessie Batanian put Notre Dame atop 11-6, and the Eagles upped that to 18-10. Foschia broke the second run with a kill and libero Leanne Butkovich served two aces. But Notre Dame scored the final six with defensive specialist Paige Daney contributing three aces. Lake Catholic took St. Henry in round five 25-19, 25-16. The Cougars roared to a 9-1 game one lead and stayed comfortably ahead. Outside Lauren Jones smoked an overpass to put Lake up 23-15, O’Donnell made it 24-16, and after three Crusader points O’Donnell tipped for game point. Lake Kept the Crusaders at bay in game two as well after crafting a 13-7 lead. Junior middle Jen Calhoon ended the match with a block. Walsh Jesuit gave Ursuline fits in round six before falling 25-21, 33-31. Led offensively by led by Foschia, Dorff and Zawalski, the Warriors took an early 6-1 lead, and retook a 14-13 edge after a Lions’ rally. Ursuline went back on top but could not shake Walsh, which narrowed the margin to 23-21 on an ace by Marshall. Lions’ outside Holly Gottschall scored a kill from backcourt, and a spike by Roy ended the game. Ursuline led early on in the second game and was up 14-9 after a booming block by Reinert. Walsh scored twice, with Dorff soloing a block, but that was followed with a hit outside the pole that made the score 15-11 Lions. On the next play a spike by Foschia was dug out of bounds sending Zawalski to the line, and when her serve was finally broken by a back row attack call, the Warriors were up 20-16! Dorff and Foschia led the charge. And after the infraction, Foschia blasted a kill through Ursuline blockers, and Katie Meyer and Claire Lysaght teamed on a block to make it 22-16. Now it was the Lions' turn, as frosh Jamie Goldschmidt nailed a cross court shot and Ursuline added four more to get within 22-21. Foschia added another kill and Djukic halted a long volley with a dump to put Walsh at game point. But Goldschmidt got Ursuline on track again, and the Lions rallied up to match point with Reinert scoring on a big block and setter Jenny Honerlaw serving an ace. After that the teams traded leads with Walsh on top at 26, 27 and 28, and Ursuline having the edge at 29 and 30. After Foschia gave Walsh another lead at 31, Ursuline middle Katie Schings tied it again. Roy blocked for the Lions’ final go ahead and Goldschmidt went left and spiked the final kill. Mentor had less difficulty with Wooster 25-17, 25-23. The Cardinals controlled game one after a 4-4 tie, when Rand served a rally to 10. Mentor increased the lead to 18-10 behind hitting of Dustman and Rand, and kept that margin from there. Game two went back and forth with Wooster going on top 8-6 on kills by Jill Henshaw. Mentor went back on top led by a block from Deitmen and kills by Kosec and Rand. They grew the margin to 18-10 with Golec and Kosec scoring kills. After Wooster came back to 22-19, Mentor moved up to match point. But the Generals made it interesting with Phillips scoring two kills, Aukerman one and the Cardinals helping with a hit into the net. Hopes for a tiebreaker were not to be, however. With the score 24-23, Bogatay dished a short set to Rand on the right, and she blasted a too hot to handle cross court shot for the match winner.
Saturday Results:
Pool A Cincinnati Ursuline d. Lakota West 25-18, 25-8 Toledo Notre Dame Academy d. Walsh Jesuit 25-21, 25-14 Ursuline d. Walsh Jesuit 25-21, 33-31 NDA d. Lakota West 25-13, 25-22 Walsh Jesuit d. Lakota West 25-18, 25-23 Ursuline d. NDA 30-28, 25-22
Pool B Solon d. Erlanger St. Henry (Ky.) 29-27, 25-16 Mentor d. St. Henry (Ky.) 25-18, 27-25 Solon d. Mentor 25-21, 25-22
Pool C Magnificat d. Wooster 25-21, 25-19 Lake Catholic d. Wooster 25-21, 25-21 Magnificat d. Lake Catholic 25-22, 25-16
Position Round Lake Catholic d. St. Henry (Ky.) 25-19, 25-16 Mentor d. Wooster 25-23, 25-17 Magnificat d. Solon 15-25, 25-17, 25-15
Sunday:
St. Henry (Ky.) def. Lakota West 26-28, 25-16, 25-20, 25-15 (9th) Wooster def. Walsh Jesuit 23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-21 (7th) Mentor def. Lake Catholic 21-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-12 (5th) Notre Dame Academy def. Solon 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 16-14 (3rd) Ursuline def. Magnificat 25-13, 18-25, 25-14, 25-21 (1st)
All-Tournament team: Lindsey Deitmen, Mentor; Jordan Goad, Notre Dame; Brynne Henderson, Ursuline; Kristen Kidd, Magnificat; Kara Jeter, Solon; Ashley Mason, Lake Catholic; MVP: Dani Reinert, Urusline.
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