Cincinnati Ursuline, Olmsted Falls to meet Satuday in match up of unbeatens

With southwestern volleyball so dominant at the big school level, Division I fans are used to having two teams from the same city, county and league, specifically Cincinnati, Hamilton and the GGCL, meet up in the final four. Cincinnati schools have won twelve of the past fifteen state titles, thirteen if you count West Chester Lakota.

But Thursday’s state semifinals saw a nuance when Olmsted Falls (28-0) and Brecksville-Broadview Heights (21-5) met in the first match of the Division I semifinals. The two schools hail from Cleveland-area suburbs in Cuyahoga County, and both are members of, ironically, the Southwestern Conference.

With two 6’0” four-year veteran hitters, George Washington University bound Lauren Whyte and Brittany Snider, and a top notch sophomore setter Dayna Roberts, plus senior outside Christine Peffer and senior libero Brooke Purvis, Olmsted Falls expected to make a run this year after a near miss in district last season when they were ousted by league member Amherst Steele.

But they had to survive a 0-2 deficit in the regional final against Toledo St. Ursula, whom they had previously beaten in the semifinal of the Best of Ohio.

Brecksville on the other hand did not expect to make it this far, although Coach Rob Cline knew his team matched up with every possible foe in the northeast bracket. The Bees had been to state four times, but their last appearance was in 1987, and the program had fallen to 7-15 in 2006. Then Cline arrived, and he began a “re-teaching” process that produced quick results.

Having beaten Brecksville twice before, Olmsted Falls had to contend with that old bugaboo about how hard it is to beat a team three times. But Bulldogs Coach Dawn Moses was having none of that and she told her team “We don’t have to beat them three times, we just have to beat them once”. That was in recognition of the fact that not beating a team both of the first two times is two thirds of the reason it’s so hard to do it three times.

Of bigger concern to Moses was how her players would react to playing in an arena, so she brought them to the Nutter the evening before. Whyte said her first view “was really cool”. “It made me a little nervous but I was excited to play”.

Brecksville started the scoring with a kill by 5’10” senior Kristen Towne. Whyte tied with a blast down the line and errors helped the Bulldogs go up 4-2. But Kent State bound 6’1” Bees middle Meredith Paskert blasted an Ashley Sturgeon short set and 6’0” freshman Abby Brinkman blocked Whyte to tie.

Falls was then called for being out of rotation and Paskert served an ace to put Brecksville ahead 6-4. The teams then traded scores and leads for quite some time. Olmsted went in front 7-6 after Whyte dug a tip over the net into a hole. The Bees buzzed ahead 10-8 on a kill by 5’11” sophomore Olivia Chrzanowski, an ace from libero Melanie Smith and a kill by Towne.

The lead exchanges continued as 6’0” junior Corinne Manley put Falls back in front 13-12, and Paskert scored twice for Brecksville. The Bulldogs scored three straight, and Brecksville did the same leaving the score 17-16 Bees. But Whyte retied for the tenth time with a kill and her ensuing ace resulted in the ninth, and final as it turned out, lead change. In fact, Brecksville would not score again.

Peffer nailed a kill, Whyte served another ace, the Bees contributed a couple of errors and Roberts and 5’9” freshman Angie Bush teamed with Peffer on two block kills, the second one for game point.

Olmsted Falls started game two right where they left off, scoring the first five points as Whyte dug two blasts and scored two kills, and Snider tipped a back set from Roberts into a hole.

Brecksville closed to within three, but terminations by Snider and Manley upped the margin to 14-9. The Bees got three straight to close within 14-12, but Olmsted reestablished their lead at 18-13, and they edged further in front 23-17. Chrzanowski scored twice to spark a three point spurt to 23-20. On the next volley, Manley and Snider came up with big digs that prevented another point, and the Bees eventually obliged with a long hit.

Paskert kept Bulldog fans on the edge of their seats with a kill and block, before Snider line drove a short set from Roberts to end the game.

Game three saw five ties but only one lead change as Olmsted Falls took control early on and kept it.

Brecksville scored first and the teams tied the first three points. Olmsted Falls went on top 4-3 and the teams tied two more times. From there, the Bulldogs surged in front 8-5 and 12-6 and they were never headed.

Brecksville came up with three as Brinkman smoked a quick hit down the middle and Paskert served an ace. They crept closer to 18-16 when Paskert blocked Manley.

But Snider prevailed in a battle at the net with a block that ended a long volley. The Bees then saw déjà vu all over again when Roberts started her service with an ace and served out. Snider scored the final point with a cross-court shot that was blocked way out.

Paskert was philosophical afterward about the loss. She said “it hurt to lose this game, but I would have never guessed we’d have been here”. Cline summed his feelings up with “Our kids exceeded my expectations”.

Cincinnati Ursuline Academy surprised folks who are used to four and five game wars when GGCL teams meet at the state level with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-18 win over Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame.

It wasn’t surprising that they won. After all they are now 28-0, and they beat the Cougars (23-5) twice in the regular season. But the first match went four and the rematch at Ursuline ended up 25-16, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 18-16.

The best explanation of what happened Thursday night came from MND coach Donna Mechley. “I think Ursuline played extremely well. They came out ready to play from the start, and they made very few errors”. She added “I think Ursuline has improved a lot and they played extremely solid tonight”. Mechley went on to say that the Lions made somewhat less mistakes than MND in their five game match, but “they made a lot fewer errors tonight”.

On a side note, the best team I’ve seen all year is Ursuline, when they played in Mentor’s Northeast Ohio tournament. And I would agree with Mechley that they’ve improved a lot. That’s scary!

If a business could perform with the same degree of precision as does the Ursuline volleyball team, that business would be deemed Six Sigma compliant.

Lions Coach Jeni Case said she felt fit the difference in the two matches with MND was that “The girls stayed more focused (this time). After we beat them two games (the previous time), I could see a let down”. She said that didn’t happen on Thursday. She also noted that earlier the Lions had had difficulty with defending against the right side, and they have worked to correct that.

They certainly had no problems defending anywhere on they court last evening.

Game one saw just two ties and two lead changes. Ursuline scored first and MND tied as both teams scored on errors (okay, the Lions did make a few), and the Cougars took their only lead on a cross-court termination by 6’2” senior outside/middle Jen Meyer.

But Ursuline defensive specialist Anna Prickel dug Meyer’s next missive, and 6’0” sophomore Anna Prickel tied it with a kill. And after Cougar hitting error, an ace by libero Kori Moster and a tip from 5’10” junior hitting sensation Jade Henderson, the Lions were up 5-2.

Henderson paced the Lions attack with 14 kills. Moster led the defense with 17 digs, and made some really incredible diving saves.

Mt. Notre Dame stayed close for awhile and two kills by Lauren Huser cut the margin to 9-7. But 5’10” junior Lauren Marlatt and 6’0” senior Katie Schings block killed to start a three point run.

When Huser and junior outside Marissa Otto countered with two kills, Lions setter delivered a two-hander to the right line and Ursuline senior outside Chelsea Sensibaugh smoked a cross-court shot to up the lead to 15-10.

The Lions went further in front 19-11 as Sensibaugh and Schings scored kills on plays that started with Prickel and Moster passing missiles from the floor. The Lions kept scoring two at a time from there, and won on a double block from Reinert and 6’0” sophomore middle Christina Beer.

Game two was closer, but Ursuline led all the way, save for ties at one and two. Errors helped them to a 5-3 edge, and blocks by Beer and Reinert made it 8-4. MND outside scored on a spike from the right that was blocked over but out, and Otto cut the margin to 8-6.

But Beer demolished a short set from Reinert, and Henderson tipped and spiked for three as the Lions’ lead grew to 15-9.

Meyer then powered a spike down the right that was dug way back and then some more, and MND rallied a bit. Eckels and Meyer double blocked Henderson after MND libero Kylee Tarantino, whose 25 digs led both teams, kept a dump attempt by Reinert from landing.

On the next volley Reinert dove to dig a serve that dropped over the net and Schings scored by tipping into a hole. That proved to be a big point because Huser and Eckels then blocked Schings, and Huser delivered a cross-court shot to cut the margin to 16-13.

Ursuline and MND traded three point runs with, and the Cougars crept to within two on a dump to left back by setter Kelly Morrissey and a long hit by Henderson. After a block from Beer, Morrissey hit a hole in mid-court with another dump. That left the score 21-19.

A serving error and an overpass blast by Sensibaugh gave Ursuline some breathing room, but Meyer came back with a blast to the back middle, and when her next spike was rejected by Schings, she won a battle at the net by tipping into a hole.

Ursuline called timeout after which Henderson got the Lions back on track with a spike that was blocked over but out. Schings ended the game with a big block in the middle.

Game three was the most intensely fought with 12 ties and six lead changes. Henderson blocked to start and Otto scored a kill off the dig, and the scoring and leads went back and forth. MND went up 4-3 on kills by 6’1” senior Amanda Wilken and Eckels. But Schings retied on a tip to the right, after Meyer had rejected her initial spike. Lions’ defensive specialist Annie Juenger served an ace.

Scoring continued back and forth with MND up 6-5 and 8-7, and Ursuline on top 7-6 and 10-8. Beer ended a long volley of spectacular digs with a kill to put Ursuline up 11-10, and from that point on the Lions never trailed, although there would be three more ties.

Two errors that put Ursuline on top 17-15 proved to be the Cougars’ downfall. Marlatt followed with a cross court to right front, and an ace by Schings and two Cougar miscues, one that followed a timeout, left Ursuline with a comfortable 22-15 edge.

MND rallied with three points, but Moster ended that with a diving dig that landed in a hole. Marlatt and Beer teamed on a block in the middle and when Beer cratered a Cougar overpass, the Lions’ bench poured onto the floor in what was reminiscent of a celebration they had on the same side of the floor in 2002.

The 2002 festivities, however, came after they ended a long rally to score the winning point in the state championship match with GGCL league champion Cincinnati St. Ursula. The Lions still have one more to go, with undefeated Olmsted Falls standing in their way.

Case said in the media room “I will make sure tomorrow they aren’t celebrating anymore”.