Parma Padua Franciscan, Archbishop Alter advance to Division II final

Parma Padua Franciscan achieved another goal yesterday.

The Bruins started last season with the goal of playing volleyball in November, something no Padua team had ever done. That came to fruition when they reached the regional.

But after losing a hard fought four game regional final to top rated Salem they made “one more step” the new goal for this year. As Coach Tony Messina explained, the goal was “One more victory which would put us in the state”

When the Bruins defeated Walsh Jesuit and Lake Catholic to win the regional last weekend, they reached that goal.

So they needed another goal, explained Messina, because “I’m a goal oriented person and this is a goal oriented group of young ladies”. Their goal coming to state was “not just showing up”.

The 25-3 Bruins achieved that and then some with an aggressive performance that brought home a 25-23, 25-22, 25-18 win over Mansfield Madison (26-3).

They also did a good job of “separating”, according to Coach Tony Messina.

Right back Abby Kornowski explained, “Usually half way through, they’ll tell us separate, separate. That’s where we have to go on a run. That gives you the lead, that’s when you really step on the gas”.

“We’re a slow starting team” noted Cugliari.

Messina said the Bruins have gotten better at starting aggressively and separating. “Early in the season, some of the matches we lost, we never got that separation, we always found a way to give back three or four points back to the other team. In the past two weeks we’ve done an incredible job of focusing. This match was like our regional semifinal with Walsh Jesuit where we were able to separate and finish the job. We were close every game and the girls were able to separate”.

The Bruins separated nicely in games one and three, and they led both all the way except at the beginning. And in game two, which was tied eight times and saw five lead changes, Padua finally took the lead for good at 15-14, although they never completely shook the Rams.

Padua was led by 6’0” junior middle/outside Kaitlyn Leary with 16 kills. Christie Fritsche, Jaklyn Veres and Brittany Morris combined for 18 more. Leary tied setter Meghan Cugliari defensively with 11 digs and Jaklyn Veres had 10.

Madison was for the most part unable to stop Leary who scored big points when needed.

The Rams’ top hitter was 6’0” junior Lauren Townley with nine kills. Seniors Holly Siwek and Lauren Schwamberger, and freshman Ashley Galbraith, totaled another 14. Libero Kellie Orewiler paced Madison in back court with 18 digs, while sophomore Nikki Holmes contributed 13.

Both squads had five team blocks.

Madison took a 2-0 game one lead when Townley block killed against Morris to start, and Siwek spiked through the block. Padua tied on a kill by Veres and an ace from Kornowski. The Rams went back in front 4-2 thanks to two Padua miscues.

But after a long serve Padua added points on a run-up termination by Leary, a cross-court service ace from Veres and a kill by Morris. After a kill by Holmes, Leary sparked a three point run to 11-6 with two more blasts.

Madison cut the lead to 13-11 on an ace by Schwamberger, and again to 16-14 when Orewiler dug an attempted dump by Cugliari, and Townley followed with a block.

Padua separated again as Leary blasted three kills, and teamed with 5’11” sophomore Becky Jay to reject spikes from the Rams. After a block kill by Jay their lead was 21-15.

But Padua was then called for a double hit, and Siwek ended a long volley kept alive by Orewiler, Holmes and Padua libero Lauren Goebel with a smash down the line. She added a block and a kill to cut the edge to 21-20.

A serving error ended the run, and Madison dug a Padua smash into the pole. But Padua returned that favor and Schwamberger crunched an overpass to leave the margin at 23-22. Fritsche came up big with a spike that was dug under the net, and after a kill by Siwek, she ended it with a kill to back middle.

Madison again scored first in game two. Padua went up 2-1 on a kill by Veres and Madison retook the lead at 3-2 on a spike by freshman outside Emilee Muzechuk.

The Bruins went back atop 7-4, helped by errors, and upped the lead to 10-6. But kills by Siwek and Galbraith and an ace from Schwamberger fueled a five point burst by the Rams, who took leads of 11-10 and 13-11.

Padua retied at 14 on a Rams’ attack error and Leary blasted a go-ahead point off a block by Townley. Veres served an ace, and after a Rams’ timeout she served another for a 17-14 lead. Townley ended the run with a kill, but Leary sent three blasts over on the next volley with the last one resulting in a Rams double hit. An ace by Morris left the Bruins up 19-15.

The Bruins could not fully separate, however, as Muzechuk spiked a kill and defensive specialist Kaley Remy served an ace. And after a couple of Padua errors their lead was again down to one at 20-19 and the teams traded points to 22-21. Fritsche again came up with a late game kill, and an attack error put Padua at game point. After one more kill by Galbraith, Morris ended the game with a kill off the block.

Townley killed an overpass to put Madison on the board first in the third set, but Padua scored three straight, with Kornowski contributing an ace. The Bruins went up 6-3, but the Rams retied at nine on a kill by Galbraith. Padua broke again from 14-all when Morris spiked a cross-court kill, Veres added a point and Cugliari dumped into a hole. And when Jay and Cugliari teamed up on a block, Padua’s lead was 19-14.

The Rams called timeout and Townley responded with a kill. But Leary terminated the next volley, and added another demolition to fuel a four point run to 23-15. Leary ended another long volley to push the score to 24-16. Madison got two more points, and might have scored another on a spike by Galbraith. The Bruins’ first two bumps went awry, but Goebel dove to the floor, and her dig hit the net and rolled over the top into a hole for match point.

That brought the entire Padua team to the floor with Messina in the middle yelling “One more time”.

While the goals and separation strategy certainly helped, Padua’s blocking was also a factor in slowing Madison’s powerful hitting game, and stellar passing fueled the Bruins’ quick offense.

Cugliari said afterward, “This season we worked a lot on blocking, and we’ve got the chemistry going where we help each other out at the net, and the back row will read off the block. We’ve never been the best blocking team but we worked real hard to get a block on their hitters and it worked, and we had Lauren in the back row picking up some things.”

As for the offense she said “We’ve been working on tempo and speeding up our offense”. She added “I couldn’t ask for better passers”.

The loss to Padua prevented Madison Coach Jen Lauber from reaching a milestone and now she’ll have to wait until next season. Her career record is 499-78.

Padua will face Kettering Archbishop Alter for the state championship. The Knights (20-8) defeated Columbus Bishop Hartley (22-6) 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 26-24 in their semifinal.

The loss was especially heartbreaking for the Hawks who led 18-17 in game three and 24-20 in game four.

The match featured long volleys with great digging. Alter libero Kelsey Buehrle registered 30 digs, which prompted Coach Tina Jasinowski to remark “She’a a four-year varsity player and she played the best match of her career today”. Middle hitter Annalyse Schmitt had 14 digs, 6-1 freshman setter added 13 and senior defensive specialist Jess Hart 10.

Hartley’s defense was stellar too, with 90 team digs, led by libero Abby Weisenberger and sophomore Lauren Hughes with 23 and 20, respectively. Lindsay Gaughan added 15 and defensive specialist Katie Ludwig had 12.

The teams were pretty even hitting with Alter enjoying a 51-49 advantage, but blocking was a different story. There the Knights enjoyed a 12-2 edge, and blocking was key to Alter’s run which ended game three.

As for hitting, Schmitt led both teams with 21 and sophomore Kelly Westerkamp added 12 more for Alter. Senior middle Allison Hagans paced Hartley with 14, junior Shelby Sagle had 12 and Hughes added 11.

Jasinowski credited her players for not quitting in game four and added “we play a tough schedule, we’re used to that situation and that helped us climb out”. She told her team that Hartley would not quit.

Games one and two saw no ties and no lead changes. Perhaps to foreshadow the performance that would follow, Buehrle started Alter off with a well placed hit from back court. Alter went from 2-0 to 4-1 after a dump by Courtney.

The Knights increased the lead to 10-4 on a spike through a double block in the middle by Monica Lachey, a kill while falling down backwards by Westerkamp and an ace from Courtney. Hartley closed to 12-10 but Schmitt helped re-up the lead to 16-11 and 5’11” senior Kelly Wolff spiked a quick hit as the Knights moved out 18-12.

Hartley narrowed the lead on kills by junior CharAnna Dixon (who won state last spring in the 100 meter run) and Hagans, but Alter kept pace with an ace by Kristin Ignozzi leaving them atop 22-17. A kill by Knight 6’1” junior Kellie Joseph made it 23-18, and two Hartley errors sealed the win. The second miscue was abetted by Alter blockers Joseph, Wolff and Schmitt who rejected three Hawks’ spikes.

Hartley took leads of 2-0 and 5-1 in game two, helped by four Alter miscues. Trailing 9-4, Alter rallied with three, but Sagle, Hughes and Hagans combined for five kills as the Hawks flew ahead 17-11. Players on both teams made some incredible digs, particularly Weisenberger. Alter scored three with Courtney quick setting Lachey, but Hartley kept pace as both teams continued their defensive intensity.

Alter scored three straight to get within 23-20. But Hughes dug a partial block and Hagans moved the Hawks to game point with a spike. On the next volley, Gaughan, Hughes and Weisenberger for Hartley, and Buehrle for Alter, made saving digs until Schmitt finally blasted a cross-court kill. That left Hartley atop 24-21, and Gaughan scored the game winner by lining a kill from back court down the right.

Hartley moved ahead 4-1 in game three, led by Hagans and Hughes, but the Knights rebounded to an 8-6 lead helped by a block and kill by Westerkamp. Alter was up 14-9 after Wolff and Courtney teamed on a block, but Hartley rallied with three, as Hagans clobbered two Gaughan short sets. Hughes contributed a kill and an ace and Gaughan two more kills as the Hawks went ahead 17-16. Lachey and Sagle traded kills.

But Westerkamp and Lachey teamed up on a block, and this started a run to the finish for Alter. Schmitt scored a kill, Lachey blocked a tip. Hartley called time out to no avail as Schmitt blocked a spike, and Lachey blocked a hit from back court. The Knights committed a couple hitting errors but Schmitt followed each with a kill, and Courtney stuff-block killed for Alter’s winning point.

Game four became even more contested with 12 ties and six lead changes. Schmitt opened the scoring for Alter, but kills by Sagle and Dixon tied matters at 2 and Hartley went up 4-3 on a kill by Sagle. Alter regained the lead at 6-5, Hartley went up 10-8, and Alter 11-10. The teams traded points to 13-12, at which time Hartley rallied ahead 16-13 led by Hughes and 5’11” outside Loren Fallert.

Alter closed to 17-16 on a block from Joseph, but Hartley scored three straight, on kills by Hagans and Hughes, and an intervening ace by Fallert. But Schmitt spiked a kill that was blocked to the media table, and Wolff blocked Hagans. However, Hagans retorted with a slide right smash to left corner, and the Knight’s next hit was in the net. That left Hartley atop 22-18. Schmitt and Sagle traded points, and after Schmitt scored again, the Knights committed an error, putting Hartley on the verge.

But Hartley returned the favor, and after a kill by Westerkamp, Hartley called two time outs. Those were to no avail as Ignozzi hit into a hole and Westerkamp spiked a cross-court off a Hawks touch to knot the score. The Hwaks were then called for a double hit. On the next volley, Ignozzi and Beuhrle made saving digs for Alter, another Hartley spike bounded back off the next and the match was over.

Afterward, someone asked Jasinowski how scary 24-20 was. She responded “How scary is it to be a freshman looking at that scoreboard?” Jasinowski added “She’d really missed a couple of earlier serves”.

Actually, the score was 24-21 when 6’1” freshman Megan Courtney when back to serve. And she didn’t look scared.

Kelsey Buehrle’s take on the comeback was “you have to be mentally tough, it’s not your physical abilities”. Then she laughed and said “although those help too”.

Hartley Coach Max Miller was also asked about losing the 24-20 lead, and he said “I thought it happened in the third game when we shot ourselves in the foot”.

Two factors Miller felt worked in Alter’s favor were their floating serves, and their being “tall and athletic”. He said “tall we can handle, but athletic is a problem because we’re not tall”.
At any rate, on Saturday Alter will go for its fourth state championship in four appearances. The Knights won in 2002 and 2003 when they were what Jasinowski said was a “freight train”. In 2006 they had to develop with a team of seniors. This year they have a lot of first year players.

Buehrle was a member of the 2006 team. She said making state this time “means a lot more…back then I was the cheering benchwarmer”. On Saturday she’ll be running the back court.