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Padua Franciscan advances to first regional final with win over scrappy Hubbard November 2, 2007 By Jim Jicha Parma Padua Franciscan advanced to their first regional final with a 26-24, 25-19, 26-18 win over scrappy Hubbard last night at Stow High School. Bruin Coach Tony Messina emphasized in practice this week the need to play every point against teams like Hubbard, and the Eagles proved him right as they fought for every point. Padua started off impressively, but could never fully shake the pesky Eagles. Freshman Olivia Chrzanowski spiked the first two points, and when junior Abby Kornowski served two aces, Padua was quickly up 4-0. Hubbard got on board with a tip by Brittany Lange and a line drive down the middle from Katoria Carter. On the next volley, a Padua smash was dug by Eagle libero Gabby Flynn, and the Bruins next spike was long. Flynn seemed to be everywhere the entire match. Padua, however, moved ahead 9-3 with sophomore outside Kaitlyn Leary smacking two kills, she and Brittany Morris double blocking, and junior setter Meghan Cugliari serving an ace. Hubbard replied with four points, led by Lange who scored a kill and Kayleigh Barton who blocked Leary. But Morris broke Hubbard’s serve with a kill and Leary added three points on impressive blasts. Morris prevented a Hubbard point with a one handed dig. An Eagle defender sent Leary’s last spike back over the net, but her dig also cleared the back line. Barton halted the run with a kill, after a diving save at the net by Flynn, and sophomore Jackie Carlisle spiked for a point and crushed an overpass for another. She continued with two more kills and teamed with Carter on a block as Hubbard clawed within a point at 16-15. The Eagles then took the lead when Padua chipped in with two miscues. The teams traded points, after which Hubbard learned the hard way about déjà vu, when Morris crunched a Cugliari short set and Leary clobbered two more kills, going to the left on the second one after Carter and Morris stopped her in the middle. Leary added two more for a 22-19 lead, but an alarming event occurred on the next volley when Cugliari went down holding her ankle and limped off the court. Hubbard scored on that volley, and after a Bruin miscue, tied it on a double block by Lexi Starheim and Barton. Leary scored a kill off the block, but Hubbard edged ahead 24-23 when Carlisle scored on a diving dig that crossed the net and landed in a hole, and setter Lauren Ferguson one-handed a save and then spiked a kill. That lead proved to be ephemeral. Flynn ran to the wall to retrieve a partial block from a spike by Bruin sophomore Christine Fritche and sent the ball over the net, but Fritche scored anyway on second effort. Leary followed with an ace and Fritche teamed with middle hitter Carly Molls for a game ending block. Cugliari returned for game two, and Hubbard Coach Chuck Montgomery mused afterward that the Eagles had missed an opportunity to go up in game one, adding, “When the setter went out I thought we had a chance”. He credited Padua with a great job of stopping the Eagles from getting anything going, then and at other times. Game two was a struggle all the way to 17-17, with 12 ties, several lead changes and the biggest advantage for either squad a mere two points. But after a kill Chrzanowski, Padua erupted for six more points thanks to a blocking clinic courtesy of Morris, who stopped three Hubbard spikes cold. Chrzanowski added an ace. Hubbard delayed things for two points, but the end finally came when a spike by Leary from the left side was blocked and rolled the length of the net on Padua’s side until, alas for the Eagles, it landed out of bounds. Led by Lange, Carter and Starheim, the Eagles came right back at Padua in game three, which was tied at every point up through six. Then, a cross court smash by Molls started an 8-1 Padua run that was led by two frosh and two sophomores. Leary served an ace and Molls blocked for a point. Following a hitting error, Chrzanowski resumed the scoring with a kill, Molls aced a point and Fritche blocked a tip. Hubbard clawed their way back behind Starheim, Carter and Ferguson, and when Starheim and Barton ended a long volley with a double block, the Eagles were only down 16-15. Padua, however, took advantage of an untimely net serve to rebuild their lead to 20-15, as Leary tipped an overpass of her own spike and then blocked for a point. And Leary made up for a Bruin error by terminating two straight points. Katie Peck made it 23-16 with a kill after some razzle dazzle defense that saw Cugliari dive to save a point and Fritche race back to retrieve her dig. A Hubbard hitting error put the Bruins were at match point. Carlisle delayed the celebration with a termination, but after a Bruin spike down the line was barely out, Leary drove the game and match winner home. Coach Messina said afterward he was pleased with his team’s play, adding, “Our goal was to get here. Once we got here, we decided to keep it going”. Now they are in the regional final with a starting lineup consisting of two juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen. To go any further the Bruins will have to topple number one ranked and undefeated Salem on Saturday. ********************************************************************* Padua Stats: Kaitlyn Leary 19 kills; Olivia Chrzanowski 12 service points, 4 aces, 10 kills Brittany Morris 5 blocks, 5 kills Lauren Goebel 11 digs Meghan Cugliari 31 assists
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