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Top ranked Salem rallies over Walsh Jesuit in D-II regional semifinal tiebreaker November 2, 2007 By Jim Jicha Top ranked Salem (26-0) rallied from a 10-13 tiebreaker deficit to defeat Walsh Jesuit and win a regional semifinal at Stow High School last night 25-15, 16-25, 22-25, 25-13, 17-15. The Quakers thereby avenged a three game loss to Walsh in last year’s semifinal, when they also came in undefeated. Calling the Warriors “the strongest team we’ve faced” Salem Coach Don Conser said he expected the tough match. He noted that after watching Walsh defeat Kenston at district “We practiced diligently blocking and being in the right place to dig. We weren’t always there, but we were there enough”. With 17 team blocks and some 50 digs, indeed they were. The Warriors finished the season at 17-10, but that record is deceptive what with losses to the likes of Olmsted Falls, Ursuline, Mt. Notre Dame, Cincinnati St. Ursula, Notre Dame Academy, Padua and Magnificat. Warrior Coach Missy Christ said this year’s schedule was “the toughest we’ve ever faced”. She would tell her players “don’t worry about the losses, just play where you need to”. With their level of play last night, they almost knocked off Salem. Game one was a tense barnburner for about halfway as they teams tied seven times on the way to 12-12. After Salem scored two quick points on Warrior errors, Walsh middle Anne Dorff hit a cross court kill and teamed with Claire Lysaght for a block. One Walsh point later, Quaker sophomore hitting sensation Amy Scullion pounded a point, and served as her senior sister Kati spiked another. Walsh outsides Katie Zawalski and sophomore Allison Foschia scored as Walsh went up 5-4 and 8-5. The Quakers retied it on kills by middle Sarah Brobeck and Kati Scullion. After a final Walsh go ahead at 9-8, Salem ran off four straight. Kati Scullion scored first, then served while Amy drilled two spikes and tipped for a point. Salem junior setter Taylor Toothman helped the rally by digging a dump from Walsh setter Annie Djukic. Walsh promptly retied on kills from Zawalski and Djukic, but Salem proceeded to blow the game open thereafter with a 13-3 run. It began with a kill by Ami Scullion and an ace from Brobeck. And following a kill by Zawalski, they ran off five more. Toothman served an ace and also put up a great short set which Ami Scullion cratered, and Brobeck dove to prevent a Walsh point. Ahead 20-15, Salem finished it with another five point run served by senior Paige Kenreigh. Game two saw two different teams on the floor as Walsh raced to leads of 2-0, 5-1 and 9-2. Foschia led with five kills, and Lysaght, Djukic and Ariel Pund blocked for points. Salem scored six of the next eight points, but Walsh used an 8-2 run to blow open a 19-10 lead. Zawalski led that one. The Warriors coasted from there with Dorff smashing a Djukic short set for the game winner. In game three the teams tied three times to 3, after which Salem took advantage of receiving and passing problems on the Walsh side of the court for a 13-6 lead. But the Warriors came back big, outscoring Salem 10-1 behind Zawalski who spiked two kills and served six points, two of them aces, and Dorff who chipped in by blocking for two points and smoking an overpass that resulted from another block. That put Walsh on top 16-14. Salem retook the lead at 18-17 with Allison Ward and Jessie Dillon blocking Foschia, Toothman saving a point with a one-handed dig and Kati Scullion blasting a cross court spike. After a termination by Foschia retied it, the teams committed four errors. Three of them were by Salem, and Walsh hung onto that lead until the end. Amy Scullion scored on a running jump spike of a short set from Toothman to cut the margin to 23-22, but Foschia responded with a well placed two-hander to a hole on the right, and a Salem tipping error ended it. What does a coach say when his undefeated team is down in a situation like this? Well, Conser didn’t have to say much because a player started the between game huddle with “We can do this” and the conversation went from there. And so also did the Quakers’ play, as game four turned into a rerun of game two, only with Salem in control. With Kati Scullion, Dillon and Brobeck blocking Zawalski and Dorff, and some kills from Amy Scullion and Ward, the Quakers jumped in front 4-1 and 9-3. Scoring went back and forth awhile until a kill by Brobeck made the score 17-11. Then Kati Scullion smoked an overpass, blocked a Warrior dump attempt and demolished a cross court pass. And when Brianne Wagner served up an ace, Salem was up 21-11. Shortly after, Amy Scullion spiked the final two points, sending the match into a tiebreaker. At this point Conser told his team “In three of the four games we’ve played we got to 15 first. Can we get there first this game”? Actually, he was stretching the truth, because in game three they only got to 14 before Walsh rallied ahead. And ironically, Walsh ended up getting to 15 first in game five! Salem scored first on a long Warrior hit that ended an even longer volley, and second on another long hit. But when Zawalski clobbered a short set to get Walsh going, Foschia followed with a well placed hit and Zawalski served an ace. Kati Scullion tied it with a kill from back court, but now Salem committed two errors, one after Foschia dug a Kati Scullion blast. With Salem down 6-4, Brobeck scored two big points, tipping for one and blocking Foschia for another. Wagner served an ace for a brief go ahead but Foschia retied it. After three errors, two by Salem, Amy Scullion tied it again at 9 with a tip. However, Dorff blocked another Quaker tip and Zawalski ended an intense albeit ragged volley with a kill. And when Djukic served an ace the Warrior crowd was sensing something big. Ward stepped up huge for Salem with a block of Dorff, but Zawalski did likewise for Walsh by ending a heated volley with a short set cross court blast. Walsh was now up 13-10. Amy Scullion nailed a kill from right side, and after she rotated to the serving, Kati clobbered a spike which was dug, but too far, and Ward took care of that. With the pressure on Foschia smashed a spike off a Salem block, taking Walsh to match point. But Kati Scullion found a hole with an off speed hit into a hole to keep the Quakers alive, and Kenreigh followed with the biggest ace of her life. Foschia took Walsh to match point again with another cross court kill and Kati Scullion smacked a liner down left side. Foschia tried for another go ahead, but Kati got a hand on it and Amy saved her dig. When Foschia tried again, Brobeck and Kati Scullion were there with a big block. Scullion was there again on the next volley, and when a Walsh player tried to tip an errant pass, she blocked that too. Conser said afterward “I just smiled from ear to ear when she (Scullion) scored”. Someone asked why and he said “because it was match point”. The win was Conser's 547th in 30 years as coach at Salem. With the win, the Quakers advance to Saturday's regional final against Parma Padua Franciscan. **************************************************************************** Stats: Salem: Amy Scullion 22 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 10 digs; Kati Scullion 20 kills, 1 ace, 7 blocks 26 digs; Sara Brobeck 8 kills, 8 blocks 9 digs; Taylor Toothman 45 assists Walsh Jesuit: Katie Zawalski 19 kills, 10 digs; Allison Foschia 14 kills; Annie Djukic 42 assists; Anne Dorff 7 blocks
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