Ohiohsvb.com                    News About Ohio High School Volleyball

Home
About the Website
Contacting the Website
Contributing To the Site
Navigation
Common Questions
News On Border States
Links To Other Sites

Toledo Central Catholic downs Ottawa-Glandorf for first trip to regional since 1999

October 31, 2007

By Jim Jicha

Tenth ranked Toledo Central Catholic passed their first big test last Saturday with a 23-25, 25-20, 25-12, 25-21 district final win over fifth rated Ottawa-Glandorf. The 21-4 Irish, who are Division II for the first time, will now head for their first regional since 1999 when they were ousted by Magnificat.

Central overcame a strong opponent as well as their own propensity for committing errors to win the match. The Irish had several miscues in game one, and between games Coach Melissa Belcher told her squad they were making too many hitting errors, not getting enough touches and were letting the Lady Titans out block them. That must have worked because Central jumped to 6-0 leads and led all the way in each of the next two frames.

Ottawa-Glandorf is led by 6’2”outside hitter/setter Madalyn Shalter, a four year starter who will play for Northwestern next season. With a great supporting cast, this could have been the Titans’ year to reach state. They were ousted by Big Walnut in the regional semifinal in 2004 and in the final in 2005, and were upended by Bowling Green in the district semifinal last year.

Bowling Green moved up to Division I, but alas, down came Central with possibly their strongest team ever. After a disappointing Labor Day weekend start in St. Ursula’s Best of Ohio, the Irish kicked into gear against D-I powers, beating Magnificat, Solon and St. Ursula, splitting with Notre Dame Academy and giving McAuley a run.

But they were unranked until the next to last state poll when they vaulted into ninth place.

Scoring went back and forth in game one. No one could gain momentum, and the teams were tied at every digit up to seven.

Central drew first blood on a cross court blast by 6’2” University of Alabama recruit Ashley Frazier. But their next missive was in the net, and Ottawa-Glandorf sophomore outside hitter Cassie Verhoff served an ace.

From there the teams traded points to six, Frazier and right side Amber Wiczynski scoring for Central, and Shalter and middle blocker Sara Blankemeyer for the Titans.

Setter Kelsey Gerken put the Irish back on top with a two handed tip to a corner, but that proved short lived as Andrea Ellerbrock and Emily Heitmeyer teamed on a booming block to start a four point Titan run, the longest of the game by either side. Setter Jenna Ellerbrock contributed an ace.

Central right side Southern Illinois recruit Amanda Arnold got the Irish back on track, and an ace by defensive specialist Chrissy Ankenbrandt cut the Titans’ lead to one. Frazier was blocked on the next volley by Verhoff and Andrea Ellerbrock, but she reposted with an off speed hit and a tip to put Central back on top 12-11.

The teams traded the lead again until Blankemeyer retied it at 17. Following a Central error, the Titans edged ahead 22-19, helped by the passing of libero Kori Bruns.

Frazier tied it again, spiking two points after which a Titan touched the net trying to stop her.

But Shalter nipped the rally by winning a battle at the net, and after an exchange of errors, she two handed an off speed hit to the back line for the game winner.

One bright spot for Central at this point was they had out-erred the Titans 10-5, so fixing that might change things.

And Coach Belcher’s talk in the huddle proved to be just what the doctor ordered, as Central broke the Titans’ lead-of serve and ran off six straight to start game two. Arnold served the run, Frazier nailed three kills, and Wiczynski scored down the right after Youngstown State bound libero Amanda Gray converted a Shalter blast into a great pass to Gerken. It was one of several such passes Gray would make.

However, with Ottawa-Glandorf trailing 15-9, Shalter blocked Frazier and added another point with a tip to the left line. And when Jenna Ellerbrock aced a serve, Irish fans began to squirm.

But Irish sophomore Julia Haupricht broke the string, and Central soon regained their six point edge thanks to a couple Titan miscues and a kill by Wiczynski. They pulled away 24-16 as outside Ashley Sujkowski chipped in with two kills, Gray passed another Titan blast and served an ace. Arnold clobbered a cross court kill for the game winner.

Game three was déjà vu of the previous frame, for awhile. Central scored the first six, as Arnold pounded a kill down left side and Frazier blasted away from the middle and the right. Ankenbrandt served an ace, and she and Gray took care of things in the backcourt.

And later, after Titan outside Emily Heitmeyer spiked a point, Central was again ahead 11-5, just like game two.

But now Central really turned it on. Middle hitter Kirsti Helldobler started an 8-1 romp by scoring off a slide and Sujkowski nailed three kills and a well placed tip. Central kept pace to the end.

The Irish began game three okay with a 5-1 run. But then they came down to earth with two double hits and a net ball. Shaking that off, they edged ahead and were up 11-7 after a streaking back court smash by Frazier.

But Heitmeyer blasted a Jenna Ellerbrock short set and Andrea Ellerbrock blocked for a point to cut the margin. Frazier terminated the next volley, but an Irish digging error and a two handed placement by Shalter brought the Titans within 12-11. On the next play, Gray pancaked a Titan smash and Wiczynski spiked a kill. Andrea Ellerbrock, however, reposted with a kill and a Central hitting error left matters even at 13.

At this crucial juncture, Belcher called time out. She said afterward, “I told them they needed to settle down, they were in their momentum, they needed to finish it”.

And after another faux pas, Gray transitioned a great dig-into-a-pass to Gerken, and Frazier demolished the set. A net call on Ottawa-Glandorf put Central back atop 15-14, and following a block by Shalter, the Irish took the lead for good, going up 17-15, 19-16 and 21-17.

Things got tense, however after a net serve was followed by a Central player touching the net on a sure kill. But Frazier came back with a cremation shot that was dug into the stands, and Wiczynski and Haupricht teamed up on a block.

Frazier softly tipped one into a hole to put her team on the cusp, and then buried the match point. That winning shot came after Gray had deftly passed another blast from Shalter.

Central advances to the Ontario regional and will face Celina, the only team to beat Marion Local this year.

On the other side of the bracket are Mansfield Madison and Wooster Triway.

Madison beat Norwalk for the second time in the district final, and their losses include Wooster, Bowling Green and Marion Pleasant. Triway has rebounded with the return of setter Allison Kearney, who missed over half the season with an injury.