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Mansfield Madison, Celina advance to Ontario regional final October 31, 2008 By Jim Jicha Fans who attended Wednesday’s regional semifinals at Ontario High School can be excused for thinking they had stepped back in time. That’s because all four contestants from last season returned, and the bracketing resulted in the same pairings. The first match of the evening turned into déjà vu all over again for Wooster Triway as the Titans again fell in four to Mansfield Madison, this time by a score of 17-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-17. Things did not look good for Madison initially, as Triway scored the last seven points of game one and then raced ahead 14-6 in the second set. But after a Titan service error, Madison senior setter/outside Jackie Schwamberger served six straight points, and the momentum shifted completely in the Rams’ favor. The Rams’ big gun was 6-0” middle blocker Lauren Townley with 20 kills and seven blocks. Schwamberger added five blocks and freshman Ashley Galbraith contributed seven kills and a couple of momentous blocks near the end. But the mainstays were junior libero Kellie Orewiler, and defenders Nikki Holmes and Holly Siwek. Their digging kept Triway at bay, and their passing fueled the Rams’ offense. Orewiler paced the backcourt with 25 digs and was 30 for 30 on serve receives. Madison Coach Jen Lauber felt her team was tight to start and they were “playing not to lose”. That, however, changed in game two. Lauber said her game plan was “to be aggressive”, which she had written on the palm of her hand. She added, “And when we were down 14-7 in game two things did not look good, so we got aggressive”. Lauber likened the Rams to a “big boulder”. “We’re so hard to move, but once we get going it’s hard to stop us”. Schwamberger attributed the Rams’ slow start to nerves, “We came in nervous, we just weren’t in it…our heads weren’t in it (at the start)”. As for her serving run, she said “we were serving aggressively, and when we serve aggressively they can’t get off that big pass”. She echoed Lauber’s assessment that “once we get on a roll you really can’t stop us”. Townley said the Rams were motivated by “flashbacks of last year” when the Madison struggled to get past the Titans 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21. “They were going out hard on us, so we decided to put our game faces on. We knew they wanted to beat us, and we didn’t want to lose it”. Game one was a battle until near the end. The Rams kicked off the scoring with a kill by Galbraith and a well placed hit by Schwamberger, just after she recovered from digging a dump attempt by par excellence Triway setter Allison Kearney. The Titans rallied from 2-5 to tie at seven, led by 6-0” senior middle Ellen Grenert and 5’11” outside Erica Ritchey. After ties at eight and nine, Kearney moved her team a step ahead with a kill. Triway moved further out 15-12 as junior outside Krista Leighty nailed a spike and Grenert demolished a shoot from Kearney. Soon after, however, sophomore Madison setter Morgan Peterson dumped for a point, and Schwambereger tied the game for a sixth time with a kill. That proved ephemeral, however, as the Rams muffed digging a tip by Ritchey, and Kearney followed with one of her trademark two handed dumps. Ram senior outside Holly Siwek interrupted with a kill down the right, but Ritchey reposted with a spike down the left that was shanked into the stands. That brought Lauren Rock to the line and the 5’2” libero served out. Outside hitter Leigha Poulson and Leighty contributed two kills apiece, while Rock and 5’0” Skye Patterson kept the floor free of volleyballs. Grenert got Triway rolling in set two by stuffing a spike right into a blocker. Then she spiked another point and put a block kill on Townley, while Poulson dug a tip by Townley and Kearney nailed another dump. Townley came back with two kills, one off a great shoot by Schwamberger. But after errors by both sides, Triway sophomore outside Briele Sweeney spiked two points for a 9-4 lead, and Kearney contributed two blocks while Poulson terminated a cross-court shot as the margin increased to 14-6. Then came the fateful net serve that brought Schwamberger to the line, and she started off with an ace, followed by two serves that took Triway out of system and into making errors. And after kills by Townley and Galbraith, the Titan lead was down to a single point. Madison finally knotted it at 16, but Sweeney kept Triway a step ahead with a kill. Kearney tried another dump, which an alert Siwek thwarted, and freshman Ram outside Emilee Muzechuk retied it with a block. The Rams moved ahead on a diving dig by sophomore defender Nikki Holmes that found a hole on Triway’s side, and soon after Holmes scored on another dig to put her team on top 21-18. But Triway moved back on top 22-21 when, after a service line infraction, Ritchey scored on a nicely placed tip that was blocked and dug nowhere by Madison, and Kearney nailed another dump. Peterson, however, reposted with a dump and an uncharacteristic mix-up at the net by Triway gave Madison a 23-22 edge. A tip by Schwamberger following another dig by Holmes put the Rams on the cusp. Ritchey postponed things with a spike that was blocked over and out, but Schwamberger ended the game with a blast to the left back. Madison jumped out 3-0 and pretty much controlled game three. Townley showed her versatility at the net by terminating one volley, and deftly backhanding a teammate’s errant pass into a hole to end another. That put Madison up 5-1 and Triway never got closer than three, as Schwamberger led mini-rallies that grew the lead. After a kill by Muzechuk put Madison up 9-5, Siwek whirled out of bounds for a split second save of her own partial block, and Schwamberger demolished a Peterson short set. With the score 13-8, Holmes saved yet another ball, and Schwamberger drilled a spike right into Kearney’s block. An ace by Schwamberger made it 16-8, and with the score 20-13, Schwamberger contributed a block that fueled a run to 24-13. The Rams took a 2-0 lead in game four on points by Siwek and Galbraith, but Grenert smashed a short set and Triway scored two more on errors to go on top. Madison went back on top 7-4, but Grenert and Ritchey led a Titan rally that knotted the score at eight, and Ritchey retied it at nine with a quick hit of a backset by Kearney. However, Schwamberger drove a quick hit to the left corner, and Townley followed with a tip off the block, giving the Rams the lead for good as it turned out. Schwamberger added an ace, and Siwek pounded a hit into Triway’s left corner. From there scoring went back and forth as Triway got within 18-15. But then the roof fell in. Muzechuk and Galbraith crushed cross-court spikes for points. After a net serve, Schwamberger dove to the floor to retrieve a partial block and Galbraith demolished another cross-court shot. Townley and Galbraith then went left and right for two booming block kills, and when Townley cratered an overpass, Triway found itself in a 24-16 match point abyss. Poulson scored the Titans’ final point, after which Townley finished it with a slam to back middle. Match Note: Ashley Galbraith is a freshman and was on the junior varsity at midseason, so I had not seen her when I attended Madison's early season win over Orrville. Commenting on her contribution on Wednesday she said “It’s exciting, them having faith in me”. She added “I was kinda’ expecting the ball”. Asked if she really wants the ball in that situation she smiled and said “Yeah”. ************************************************************************ Feelings of déjà vu were absent from the second match, as Celina avenged last year’s season ending three set loss with a 26-24, 14-25, 25-22, 24-11 victory over defending state champion Toledo Central Catholic. Celina was fortunate to prevail in game one, in which they committed nine errors and lost a 19-11 lead. Luckily for them, Central obliged with ten miscues. And after being outscored by Central 13-7 to end game one, Celina continued “slumping” in game two, according to Coach Carolyn Dammeyer, who noted they weren’t blocking and their serve receive was off. But the Bulldogs turned things around in game three, and they won the match going away with great serve receiving, digging and blocking. After an opening score by Central setter Anne McCarthy, Celina took charge on a dump by junior setter Maria Dorsten, and an ace from outside hitter Julie Klosterman. Helped by two errors, they moved ahead 5-2. Central Catholic scored three to tie, including a tip from senior outside Ashley Sujkowski and an ace by 5’11” junior Julia Haupricht. But 6’0” Celina junior middle Cenzie Yoder spiked a point right at someone and block killed to spark a Bulldog run to 12-7. The Fighting Irish closed to 12-10 on points from Haupricht and Sujkowski, but were then called for an under the net infraction. And with defender Meagan Staker serving, Celina flew out to 18-10, as senior outside Kelsey Waterman spiked two points and prevented a dump from scoring. With Central down 19-11, Sujkowski blasted a liner to the back middle, bringing McCarthy to the line, and starting what would be a ten point run. Three Bulldog errors resulted in a timeout. This was to no avail, however, and after kills by Haupricht and Sujkowski, another miscue and an ace by McCarthy that tied the score, Celina took another timeout. This also was to no avail as senior outside Alex Gbur tipped Central into the lead and Sujkowski followed with a kill. Dorsten finally terminated the rally, literally, with a streaking cross-court shot off a dig, and Yoder spiked and blocked Celina back in front 22-21. Two more errors put Central back atop, and Waterman and Sujkowski traded kills, giving the Irish a 24-23 game point lead. But Celina 5’11” sophomore Morgan Weininger pounded a spike to retie it (Central was also in the net), the Irish hit long, Klosterman spiked into a hole in the back middle, and Celina was home with a 1-0 lead. Senior outside Megan Weissenberger started the game two scoring for Central which, after a brief Celina lead of 3-2, raced ahead 10-4. Haupricht contributed a kill and ace and Gbur added two kills and a block. Two aces by Gbur made it 13-5 and a kill and digging by Weissenberger upped the ante to 17-6. Celina never got going and Sujkowski eventually scored game point with a kill that was blocked over and out. Momentum shifted Celina’s way in game three as the Bulldogs rolled in front 10-3, led by by Yoder, Dorsten and Klosterman. But Central scrapped back with five with Gbur serving, and eventually went ahead on a short set blast from Haupricht. The teams traded leads as Central went back on top on a diving dig score by libero Alyssa Pelish. A block by Dorsten put Celina back in front 16-15, and ten intense service breaks later the Bulldogs led 21-20. At that point, Klosterman broke the back-and-forth with an ace. Haupricht kept Central close with a tip that ended a fierce battle at the net. But 5-11 Celina sophomore Erin Dorsten responded with a blast down the line that was dug under the net, and Waterman smashed a cross-court shot to put Celina at the edge 24-21. Haupricht intervened again. But after a long volley that featured a notable save by Klosterman and a pancake from Haupricht, Maria Dorsten finally ended the game with a spike that sliced off a touch into the back middle. Game four was nip and tuck to start as Central Catholic came out firing on scores by McCarthy and Sujkowksi, and Celina tied on kills by Erin Dorsten and Yoder. The Irish crept ahead 6-4, but Celina retied at six, helped by libero Audrey Harner who passed a blast that was hit right at her. A long hit gave the Irish the lead again. But Harner’s pass was a foreshadowing of things to come. Very little touched Celina’s floor from that point on, and Central would score but four more times. An intense volley was ended by a long Irish hit, and Central’s next attempt went awry, Harner dug another blast and Erin Dorsten and Waterman block killed for two more points. With the score 12-9, Erin Dorsten smashed a Klosterman backset. That put Harner at the line where she served an ace and five points as Yoder stuff blocked and terminated for two scores. Haupricht finally intervened with a kill leaving the score at 17-10. But Staker went to the floor to save a partial block and the Irish obliged with an error, which started another Bulldog run. On the next volley, Waterman dug a would-be termination over the net and while that did not score, Yoder’s ensuing block did. Yoder followed with a kill. A net call interrupted Celina, but Klosterman dug Sujkowski and Central obliged with another error. Yoder blocked for point 22, Klosterman delivered a termination that was dug off the wall, and she encored with a great pass and another kill. Maria Dorsten delivered the coup de grace in the form of an ace. While nobody could really pinpoint what turned things around for Celina, Cenzie Yoder said winning game one helped. “We didn’t play that well, but we hung in and won that game…it’s great that we won and we didn’t play nearly as well as we knew we could.” Yoder also felt the long bus ride was a factor in the Bulldogs’ slow start, although Central made a similar trek from a different starting point. Central Catholic Coach echoed Yoder’s feelings about game one, saying the Irish missed an opportunity. She also didn’t think her team took care of the ball very well, noting that “We tried to run our fast offense, but our hitters kept hitting right into the blockers hands…when we had an opportunity to get the kill, we didn’t seize the opportunity”. But Celina had a hand in that, actually many hands. As libero Audrey Harner explained, their emphasis all week in practice was on defense. “We really worked a lot on defense this week…we had more one on one with the coach…she said to make sure you’re really reading the holes”. Celina played great defense at the end, according to Dammeyer who added, “Our blocking was extremely good, especially the fourth game. They did a nice job and didn’t give up and came back that third game and really came back that fourth game”. Dammeyer said “I just love defense, blocking, digging balls up and serve receive”. She added “I’ve always told the girls that good defense will really fluster that big offensive attack. And we did that the fourth game. I think that really threw them off.” Asked why she thought they really turned it on at the end, Dammeyer responded “I just think that they decided that hey we’re not going to go five games, we’re gonna’ do it in four. My libero really stepped it up and played awesome”. “I’m real happy with them”.
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