Division III State Semifinal
Someone will win first state title ever as Lima Central Catholic and Albany Alexander advance
Lima Central Catholic made a successful debut in the state tournament with a 25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23 win over St. Bernard Roger Bacon.
If the Thunderbirds were awed making their first final four appearance against an opponent that has a time share arrangement with the Nutter Center, they did not show it. Central never trailed in game one. After Roger Bacon appeared to take command, winning game two and going up 12-9 in game three, Central rallied for seven straight points and stayed at least three ahead of the Spartans for the rest of that set. The final game featured nine ties and five lead changes. The last change went to Central when, after Roger Bacon had gone ahead 21-19, the Thunderbirds scored six of the last eight to points to advance to their first state title match.
Central Coach Dave Franklin said he downplayed the significance of the second game loss to Roger Bacon by reminding his players they had been blasted 25-10 by Huron in one game of their regional final and gone on to win.
Accurate hitting and blocking accounted for the difference in this match. Lima Central made nine less attack errors than the Spartans and scored four more team blocks. Their blocking also prevented some Roger Bacon points.
When asked about where his team was strongest Franklin agreed about the blocking, saying “our play at the net…blocking is probably our best defense…closing the block is our number one discipline”. Amazingly, Central’s tallest player is 5’10”.
Franklin downplays that too. He tells his players “If you’re tall you’re farther away from the court. If you’re short you are closer and can dig everything”. The Thunderbirds dug 51 balls, only three less than Roger Bacon which is renowned for their back court play.
Led by Kacy Querry (8 kills), Rachel Illig (16 kills) and sophomore Danielle Taflinger, Central took early leads of 3-1 and 7-4. They scored 9 of 11 points to go up 16-7 as outside JoJo Krieg (17 kills, 11 digs) pounded three spikes and served an ace.
Roger Bacon came back, closing to 20-18 behind the hitting of Alli Wilson and a dump and ace from setter Katelyn Schawe (39 assists, 4 aces). But Krieg scored on a cross court shot, and after a kill by Spartan outside Chelsea Sprong (9 kills, 10 digs), Krieg banged another kill and served out as Querry ended the game with a kill from the middle over to the left line.
With Central up 9-6 lead in game two, Wilson spiked a point to start a Spartan rally. Schawe served an ace and five more points. After a Central point, Sprong scored two kills and dove for a dig at the net as Roger Bacon moved ahead 17-10. Their biggest lead was 23-14 after an ace by middle hitter Maria Carmichael.
Roger Bacon took a 6-3 game three edge on two blasts by outside Chelsea Hoffman, and stayed up by three to 12-9. But after the Spartans made two attack errors, Krieg spiked a kill, setter Alexis Diglio (46 assists, 3 aces) aced two serves and Lauren Thomas scored two kills. That gave Central a 16-12 lead and, soon after they were up 21-16. Roger Bacon got within 23-20, but Krieg blasted a cross court smash, and Querry and Thomas double blocked Wilson for game point.
Game four was back and forth up to 6-6, at which point Ashley Mooney served four Thunderbird points. Central kept that margin to 16-12. Carmichael terminated a short set from Schawe to cut the lead to 17-15. On the next volley Carmichael dove for a line drive dig of a Central spike, which Schawe dumped into a hole.
Krieg now made the first of two critical spikes. Roger Bacon then tied it on a kill by Maria Groh and an ace from Schawe. Krieg followed with her second spike. But Groh blocked for a retie, Sprong spiked a kill and Wilson served an ace to put Roger Bacon up 21-19. But on the next volley, a Spartan touched the net and Illig demolished a cross court spike after libero Chelsea Crow (15 digs) had dug two Spartan missives. Thanks to Krieg's earlier kills, that retied it, and when Taflinger crushed a Diglio short and blocked Hoffman, the Thunderbirds were up 23-21.
Sprong got Roger Bacon on the board again, but Taflinger nailed another short set, and after one more point by the Spartans, Illig smoked a kill down the line for match point.
Roger Bacon libero Vickie Pumpple led both teams with 19 digs.
Krieg said winning the state semifinal was “the experience of a lifetime”, and Franklin said winning against a team like Roger Bacon added to entire experience. He said “this group of girls will take on anything, UCLA bound Sara Sage, and a storied program like Roger Bacon”
On Saturday they will take on Albany Alexander for everything.
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Alexander advanced to their first final by outlasting Gates Mills Gilmour Academy 25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 24-26, 16-14. The match was played as closely as the scores indicate, but the stats show wide divergences. Alexander held a huge lead in kills, 71-46, but also committed a whopping 36 attack errors to Glimour’s 22. Upon seeing his team’s error total, Alexander Coach Bradd Jeffers said “that’s got to be a record”.
Gilmour out blocked Alexander 11-5 and committed fewer service errors. In the end it all came out about even.
Jeffers said Gilmour’s blocking and the hitting of outside Raysa Sylvester were two big factors in Gilmour winning games three and four. Before the tiebreaker he told his team “Ladies, you’re going to have to win – go out and make plays”
Game one saw three ties but otherwise Alexander led all the way. Betsy Irwin tipped for the first point and spiked for the last one. After a tie at 4-4, Julie Els scored a kill, and Whitney Smith, who led both teams with 23 kills, served an ace to pace a four point Spartan run that put them atop for good.
Gilmour closed to 8-7, but Alexander spurted to leads of 15-10 and 19-13.
The second frame went back and forth with 10 ties and six lead changes. Smith scored the first point for Alexander after setter Lauren Raines dig a Gilmour spike over the net.
But Gilmour middle Brittany Shirk sent an off speed shot to Alexander’s backcourt and Madison Mawby followed with a kill. Alexander middle Megan McCoy retied it at 3, and the scoring and leads changed hands up to 11-11.
A kill by Smith put Alexander up for good as Gilmour followed with an error and Irwin served two aces. The teams traded five points each after which Alexander went up by six at 22-16. Els spiked for game point.
Gilmour jumped on top 3-0 and 6-1 in game three on kills by Sylvester, Mawby and Mary Kramer and an ace by Jess Hammer. Diving digs by Sylvester helped Gilmour outlast Alexander on some volleys, and the Lancers moved further ahead 15-6.
Irwin scored five as Alexander crept within three at 17-14, terminating a Raines short set, tipping and crushing two over passes and spiking for two. But Sylvester, Mawby and Kramer led a 4-1 Lancer spurt, and soon after a double block by Hammer and Shirk made the score 23-14. Shirk popped a hit to an empty back court for game point.
Gilmour again jumped out 4-0 in game four, but Alexander evened it at 5 and went up 7-6. Gilmour retook the lead 9-7 on a short set pop over blockers by Shirk. And while there would be nine more ties, Alexander would never again lead. The Spartans tied at 12 on a kill by Smith. The teams exchanged points to 14, then alternated brief runs of two, then three and again two, making it 21-all, and then exchanged points to 24. Sylvester came up with two big kills, and Kramer and Hammer teamed on a block to keep Gilmour a step ahead. A Gilmour service error gave Alexander their final tie at 24. Kramer tipped for another Lancer go-ahead. On the final volley, Gilmour dug two blocks by Smith and Shirk finally blocked a tip by McCoy for game point.
The closeness of game four continued into the tiebreaker to the tune of seven ties and four lead changes.
Alexander led 2-0 and 4-3, Gilmour 3-2. Alexander moved ahead 8-4 with Smith scoring two kills, and she, McCoy and Els teaming up for two block points.
But Gilmour scored six straight, with Kramer hitting a tip and serving three straight aces. Alexander took a timeout after the first one. Following the timeout they dug Kramer’s next serve into the net. Kramer hit her third serve into the top of the net, and it bounced over.
From there the teams traded two points apiece leaving Gilmour atop 12-10. A service error and a dump by Raines of an unsettable dig tied the score. Sylvester put Gilmour up 13-12 and Irwin clobbered a short set kill to retie. Raines found the left corner with a lob to put Alexander at match point and Gilmour called time out. Kramer tied it with a block of Irwin.
But Smith placed a spike on the back line to put the Spartans up 15-14, and Irwin aced the match point serve. She said afterward “we have certain zones that we serve to, but I was just trying to get the ball in, I wasn’t trying for an ace”.
Alexander surprised some people by making it back to state, but Jeffers said this year’s team is stronger. Raines, who had 57 assists, echoed that, noting that last year she had to focus on getting the ball to two hitters. She said “this year I have confidence in every front row player”. The stats show the balance. Smith led with 23 kills, but Irwin and Allie Sayers were also in double figures with 16 and 14, and Els had eight.
Alexander recorded a whopping 102 digs. Lauren Thomas led with 28, followed by Sayers with 22, Smith 19 and Raines 18.
Sylvester led Gilmour Academy with 18 kills and 23 digs. Kramer spiked 11 kills, and Shirk and Mawby hit eight apiece. Hammer and libero Eileen Lane had 21 digs, and setter Lauren Flocken had 34 assists and 13 digs. Hammer, Shirk, Flocken and Kramer led the blocking.
When asked about Saturday, Coach Jeffers made a promise. “We’re gonna’ be there and we’re gonna’ play hard.
You can’t ask for anything more.
*****************************************************************
Had Roger Bacon won last night, Saturday’s final would have been Spartans against Spartans. But since Lima Central Catholic won, we’ll get to see their Lauren Thomas play against Alexander’s Lauren Thomas.
Alexander and Gilmour had one common opponent, West Salem Northwestern, which beat the host Spartans 24-26, 25-23, 25-18 in their tournament, and lost to Gilmour 25-22, 22-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-12 in a regional semifinal.
Lima Central Catholic made a successful debut in the state tournament with a 25-19, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23 win over St. Bernard Roger Bacon.
If the Thunderbirds were awed making their first final four appearance against an opponent that has a time share arrangement with the Nutter Center, they did not show it. Central never trailed in game one. After Roger Bacon appeared to take command, winning game two and going up 12-9 in game three, Central rallied for seven straight points and stayed at least three ahead of the Spartans for the rest of that set. The final game featured nine ties and five lead changes. The last change went to Central when, after Roger Bacon had gone ahead 21-19, the Thunderbirds scored six of the last eight to points to advance to their first state title match.
Central Coach Dave Franklin said he downplayed the significance of the second game loss to Roger Bacon by reminding his players they had been blasted 25-10 by Huron in one game of their regional final and gone on to win.
Accurate hitting and blocking accounted for the difference in this match. Lima Central made nine less attack errors than the Spartans and scored four more team blocks. Their blocking also prevented some Roger Bacon points.
When asked about where his team was strongest Franklin agreed about the blocking, saying “our play at the net…blocking is probably our best defense…closing the block is our number one discipline”. Amazingly, Central’s tallest player is 5’10”.
Franklin downplays that too. He tells his players “If you’re tall you’re farther away from the court. If you’re short you are closer and can dig everything”. The Thunderbirds dug 51 balls, only three less than Roger Bacon which is renowned for their back court play.
Led by Kacy Querry (8 kills), Rachel Illig (16 kills) and sophomore Danielle Taflinger, Central took early leads of 3-1 and 7-4. They scored 9 of 11 points to go up 16-7 as outside JoJo Krieg (17 kills, 11 digs) pounded three spikes and served an ace.
Roger Bacon came back, closing to 20-18 behind the hitting of Alli Wilson and a dump and ace from setter Katelyn Schawe (39 assists, 4 aces). But Krieg scored on a cross court shot, and after a kill by Spartan outside Chelsea Sprong (9 kills, 10 digs), Krieg banged another kill and served out as Querry ended the game with a kill from the middle over to the left line.
With Central up 9-6 lead in game two, Wilson spiked a point to start a Spartan rally. Schawe served an ace and five more points. After a Central point, Sprong scored two kills and dove for a dig at the net as Roger Bacon moved ahead 17-10. Their biggest lead was 23-14 after an ace by middle hitter Maria Carmichael.
Roger Bacon took a 6-3 game three edge on two blasts by outside Chelsea Hoffman, and stayed up by three to 12-9. But after the Spartans made two attack errors, Krieg spiked a kill, setter Alexis Diglio (46 assists, 3 aces) aced two serves and Lauren Thomas scored two kills. That gave Central a 16-12 lead and, soon after they were up 21-16. Roger Bacon got within 23-20, but Krieg blasted a cross court smash, and Querry and Thomas double blocked Wilson for game point.
Game four was back and forth up to 6-6, at which point Ashley Mooney served four Thunderbird points. Central kept that margin to 16-12. Carmichael terminated a short set from Schawe to cut the lead to 17-15. On the next volley Carmichael dove for a line drive dig of a Central spike, which Schawe dumped into a hole.
Krieg now made the first of two critical spikes. Roger Bacon then tied it on a kill by Maria Groh and an ace from Schawe. Krieg followed with her second spike. But Groh blocked for a retie, Sprong spiked a kill and Wilson served an ace to put Roger Bacon up 21-19. But on the next volley, a Spartan touched the net and Illig demolished a cross court spike after libero Chelsea Crow (15 digs) had dug two Spartan missives. Thanks to Krieg's earlier kills, that retied it, and when Taflinger crushed a Diglio short and blocked Hoffman, the Thunderbirds were up 23-21.
Sprong got Roger Bacon on the board again, but Taflinger nailed another short set, and after one more point by the Spartans, Illig smoked a kill down the line for match point.
Roger Bacon libero Vickie Pumpple led both teams with 19 digs.
Krieg said winning the state semifinal was “the experience of a lifetime”, and Franklin said winning against a team like Roger Bacon added to entire experience. He said “this group of girls will take on anything, UCLA bound Sara Sage, and a storied program like Roger Bacon”
On Saturday they will take on Albany Alexander for everything.
*****************************************************************
Alexander advanced to their first final by outlasting Gates Mills Gilmour Academy 25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 24-26, 16-14. The match was played as closely as the scores indicate, but the stats show wide divergences. Alexander held a huge lead in kills, 71-46, but also committed a whopping 36 attack errors to Glimour’s 22. Upon seeing his team’s error total, Alexander Coach Bradd Jeffers said “that’s got to be a record”.
Gilmour out blocked Alexander 11-5 and committed fewer service errors. In the end it all came out about even.
Jeffers said Gilmour’s blocking and the hitting of outside Raysa Sylvester were two big factors in Gilmour winning games three and four. Before the tiebreaker he told his team “Ladies, you’re going to have to win – go out and make plays”
Game one saw three ties but otherwise Alexander led all the way. Betsy Irwin tipped for the first point and spiked for the last one. After a tie at 4-4, Julie Els scored a kill, and Whitney Smith, who led both teams with 23 kills, served an ace to pace a four point Spartan run that put them atop for good.
Gilmour closed to 8-7, but Alexander spurted to leads of 15-10 and 19-13.
The second frame went back and forth with 10 ties and six lead changes. Smith scored the first point for Alexander after setter Lauren Raines dig a Gilmour spike over the net.
But Gilmour middle Brittany Shirk sent an off speed shot to Alexander’s backcourt and Madison Mawby followed with a kill. Alexander middle Megan McCoy retied it at 3, and the scoring and leads changed hands up to 11-11.
A kill by Smith put Alexander up for good as Gilmour followed with an error and Irwin served two aces. The teams traded five points each after which Alexander went up by six at 22-16. Els spiked for game point.
Gilmour jumped on top 3-0 and 6-1 in game three on kills by Sylvester, Mawby and Mary Kramer and an ace by Jess Hammer. Diving digs by Sylvester helped Gilmour outlast Alexander on some volleys, and the Lancers moved further ahead 15-6.
Irwin scored five as Alexander crept within three at 17-14, terminating a Raines short set, tipping and crushing two over passes and spiking for two. But Sylvester, Mawby and Kramer led a 4-1 Lancer spurt, and soon after a double block by Hammer and Shirk made the score 23-14. Shirk popped a hit to an empty back court for game point.
Gilmour again jumped out 4-0 in game four, but Alexander evened it at 5 and went up 7-6. Gilmour retook the lead 9-7 on a short set pop over blockers by Shirk. And while there would be nine more ties, Alexander would never again lead. The Spartans tied at 12 on a kill by Smith. The teams exchanged points to 14, then alternated brief runs of two, then three and again two, making it 21-all, and then exchanged points to 24. Sylvester came up with two big kills, and Kramer and Hammer teamed on a block to keep Gilmour a step ahead. A Gilmour service error gave Alexander their final tie at 24. Kramer tipped for another Lancer go-ahead. On the final volley, Gilmour dug two blocks by Smith and Shirk finally blocked a tip by McCoy for game point.
The closeness of game four continued into the tiebreaker to the tune of seven ties and four lead changes.
Alexander led 2-0 and 4-3, Gilmour 3-2. Alexander moved ahead 8-4 with Smith scoring two kills, and she, McCoy and Els teaming up for two block points.
But Gilmour scored six straight, with Kramer hitting a tip and serving three straight aces. Alexander took a timeout after the first one. Following the timeout they dug Kramer’s next serve into the net. Kramer hit her third serve into the top of the net, and it bounced over.
From there the teams traded two points apiece leaving Gilmour atop 12-10. A service error and a dump by Raines of an unsettable dig tied the score. Sylvester put Gilmour up 13-12 and Irwin clobbered a short set kill to retie. Raines found the left corner with a lob to put Alexander at match point and Gilmour called time out. Kramer tied it with a block of Irwin.
But Smith placed a spike on the back line to put the Spartans up 15-14, and Irwin aced the match point serve. She said afterward “we have certain zones that we serve to, but I was just trying to get the ball in, I wasn’t trying for an ace”.
Alexander surprised some people by making it back to state, but Jeffers said this year’s team is stronger. Raines, who had 57 assists, echoed that, noting that last year she had to focus on getting the ball to two hitters. She said “this year I have confidence in every front row player”. The stats show the balance. Smith led with 23 kills, but Irwin and Allie Sayers were also in double figures with 16 and 14, and Els had eight.
Alexander recorded a whopping 102 digs. Lauren Thomas led with 28, followed by Sayers with 22, Smith 19 and Raines 18.
Sylvester led Gilmour Academy with 18 kills and 23 digs. Kramer spiked 11 kills, and Shirk and Mawby hit eight apiece. Hammer and libero Eileen Lane had 21 digs, and setter Lauren Flocken had 34 assists and 13 digs. Hammer, Shirk, Flocken and Kramer led the blocking.
When asked about Saturday, Coach Jeffers made a promise. “We’re gonna’ be there and we’re gonna’ play hard.
You can’t ask for anything more.
*****************************************************************
Had Roger Bacon won last night, Saturday’s final would have been Spartans against Spartans. But since Lima Central Catholic won, we’ll get to see their Lauren Thomas play against Alexander’s Lauren Thomas.
Alexander and Gilmour had one common opponent, West Salem Northwestern, which beat the host Spartans 24-26, 25-23, 25-18 in their tournament, and lost to Gilmour 25-22, 22-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-12 in a regional semifinal.
posted by ohiohsvbfan at 12:20 AM
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