2009 Division 1 State Semifinals
Dublin Coffman, Ursuline Academy advance to state final showdown of unbeaten teams
The 2009 state volleyball tournament kicked off with a David and Goliath contest, as 15-11 Stow-Munroe Falls with no player over 5’11”, took on second ranked 28-0 Dublin Coffman with its 5’10” setter and five hitters ranging from 6’0” to 6’2”.
Goliath won 25-12, 25-15, 25-5 as Stow could not get untracked, save for the start of game two.
“We just came out ready to play today”, is how Coffman Coach Mary Anne Souder described it. “Our three seniors have been talking all week long to our juniors and our younger players about how we’ve got to be ready for Stow. They were on a roll in the tournament and we didn’t know what to expect from them. We came here prepared and we were calm starting out which helped us”.
Souder said that serving and blocking are her team’s biggest strong points. She added “Our blocking looked really good today. It forced them into tipping a lot…it’s easier to pick up a tip than a hard driven hit…our blocks were there and they were closed”. As for serving, she said her team had “worked a lot on seeing a player and looking at their shoes across the net to set the distance”, because of the size of the Nutter Center.
Stow Coach Scott Carter saw things somewhat differently. While acknowledging “it was pretty lopsided”, he said the Bulldogs had prepared and knew they had to do some things well to be competitive, but added “we didn’t execute what we had practiced for the last couple days…that made it difficult to make it a more even match”.
“We knew we needed to pass the ball well, and we struggled with that early on”, Carter explained, noting that Dublin’s “first six points were on serve receive errors”. Carter continued “With a team like that you have to attack, you have to make them dig balls and get them out of system. You don’t want big 6’1” girls hitting high hard balls at you. Our defense, which we’ve lived on the past three weeks, broke down, but that was a result of poor passing…they got a lot of easy balls, they were in system and they attacked our seams.
That pretty well sums it up.
Coffman shot out to a 7-0 lead on four aces by setter Lindsey Zitzke a block from 6’0” jumper Isolde Hannan, a kill by 6’2” senior Alex Blair and a backcourt kill by Zitzke off a set from libero Julia Mindlina. Stow senior middle Charlotte Sykora broke the run, and the Bulldogs closed to 8-4 on Shamrock errors. But 6’1” Coffman middle Andrea Baylin tipped for a point and Hannan added three block kills to fuel a five-point run, and Blair added four kills as Coffman rolled ahead 23-10.
Baylin and Hannan teamed for a double block to end the game.
Stow scored first in game two, and led 4-3 after a double block by Lexi Stefanov and Sykora, and a kill by 5’11” junior Jackie Close.
But senior middle Meredith Stranges put Coffman back on top 5-4 with an ace, and after a service error, the Shamrocks blew the game open with a 9-1 run as defensive specialist Stacy Axner served an ace, and Blair and 6’1” outside Bailey Farthing combined for four kills.
5’11” Bulldog middle Colleen Bonacci spiked a Kelly Vitt short set, leaving Coffman ahead 15-8. Stow fought back from there, forcing some long volleys and narrowing the lead to 20-15, as Stefanov blocked Baylin and she and Jenna Chilinski spiked kills, .
But Farthing sparked a run to the finish with a kill, as Baylin made saving digs and served two aces, one for game point.
Coffman rolled to a 4-0 lead in game three on two kills by Hannan, and increased the lead to 7-1, 10-2, 12-3 and 17-4. After a kill by Bonacci, Baylin spiked a point from backcourt and Mindlina served out, with Blair spiking a shoot from Zitzke for match point.
Match notes:
1) Coffman’s strong start was a plus according to middle hitter Andrea Baylin. “I think when we start strong it gives us a lot of confidence to play later in the game. Against Mt. Notre Dame we started out a little timid because we’d never been there before. We’d never been here either, but there was this calmness. Coming out strong really helps our team and I think our height is definitely intimidating. Meredith Stranges added that coming out “loud and cheering” also helped. “We had a lot of excitement over every point, which was part of the intimidation factor along with our height”.
2) Coffman did not expect to win in three according to Baylin, who explained “From here on out we go into every match thinking we’re going to go five. They have done something right to get into the final four so we have to go into every game thinking its going to be point-for-point”. Stranges added “We expect any team that has made it this far will give us a challenge. That’s how we came into this match today”.
3) Coffman was “the most balanced team we’ve seen” according to Stow Coach Scott Carter. “Elyria and North Royalton were pretty tough, but only had a couple six-footers. With three hitters consistently coming at us across the net spreading our blockers wide, they (Coffman) had plenty of seams to hit.
4) Stow is a long way from the Nutter Center, but nevertheless brought four busloads of students, some 200 in all.
5) This was Stow’s first trip to state since 1997 when it finished state runner-up. The Bulldogs won four titles under Coach Bob McFarland, who ranks third in all-time wins with 568.
6) College recruits playing in the match: Stow - Colleen Bonacci (Baldwin Wallace); Coffman - Alex Blair (Xavier University), Andrea Baylin (Southeast Missouri State University)
7) “Bittersweet was how senior Bulldog hitter Colleen Bonacci described the loss. “It’s awesome to come to state, but to come here and lose like that is disappointing”. Asked what she’ll remember most about the season, she said “Coming to state”. She concluded with “I’ll never forget that, the team, we all really close and we had a good coach. It’s all right”.
Stats:
Coffman: Kills – Alex Blair 11, Bailey Farthing, Andrea Baylin 9, Isolde Hannan 8; Kill Percent – Hannan .700, Farthing .667, Blair .500; Assists – Lindsey Zitzke 28, Digs – Baylin 9, Meredith Stranges 8; Blocks Hannah – 2 solo, 3 assists; Service Aces – Zitzke 4, Baylin 3
Stow: Kills – Jenna Chilinski 5; Assists: Kelly Vitt 11; Digs – Lizzy McDade 8
*******************************************************************
“Hats off to Ursuline. You could tell they are on a mission I think they were very composed today.” That was what Magnificat Coach Mike Cannon had to say after top ranked 28-0 Cincinnati Ursuline Academy defeated his fourth rated Blue Streaks for the second time this season in the other Division I semifinal 25-14, 25-21, 25-13. The Lions also won the teams’ previous encounter in the championship of the Northeast Ohio Power Tournament (hosted by Mentor) 25-22, 25-17, 25-17.
Ursuline Coach Jeni Case said she was “really pleased with the way our girls came out and played. I thought we played pretty consistent. Our passing was good which made us stay in system, and when we’re in system we have enough hitters that we’re hard to stop. I’m really proud of the girls.”
Asked if they were on a mission, Case responded “Yeah, they remember what it was like last year (when Ursuline was also top ranked and unbeaten, but fell to Olmsted Falls in the state final). All we talked about was taking one game, one match at a time. We have not talked about Saturday. I don’t even have practice set up for Friday. We wanted to focus on Magnificat. They are a great team, with great players and a great coach.”
Setter Dani Reinert did a great job moving ball around and she served great. She probably wants this one more than anyone in the whole world. Jade Henderson (18 kills) was on fire. They had a hard time stopping her. Our back row was really good…our passing really helped us out a lot”. Kori Moster led the defense with 18 digs, and Anna made some “awesome” plays at the end.
Ursuline took advantage of big runs to win the first two games, and a series of smaller runs to win game three going away.
Sophomore 6’1” middle Noelle Langenkamp scored first with a tip, Reinert added a dump and Henderson got her first termination, but Magnificat forced four ties to 6-6 as 6’1” senior outside Danielle McQuade and junior Brittany Flynn scored kills.
Lion 6’0” junior outside Christina Beer pounded a Reinert quickset and Langenkamp added a point. Blue Streak 5’11” senior middle Michelle Chakirelis responded with a cross-court blast, but Langenkamp tipped to end the next volley and start an eight-point run, served by Reinert, to which Olivia Johnson, Lauren Marlatt and Henderson contributed points.
From there the teams traded points to the end.
Game two was fiercely contested with nine ties and four lead changes. Henderson opened the scoring, but Magnificat 6’2” junior outside answered with two kills to which Micaela Castele and McQuade contributed great passes. After ties to four, Magnificat moved ahead 8-6.
At that juncture #15 went on a rampage with eight straight kills. Blue Streak #15 Brittney Balser scored the first two to give Magnificat its biggest lead at 10-6. Then #15 Henderson answered with two, and those two continued spiking points until the score was 12-10 Magnificat.
Ursuline tied at 13, and the teams traded leads. Ursuline moved in front a second time to 18-16, and Magnificat retied at 18.
Langenkamp block killed an overpass of a prior blast by Henderson, and that brought libero Kori Moster to the line where she served five points, as Henderson spiked two kills and Johnson added one while helping Beer on a block. Balser finally ended the run with a kill and after two more Blue Streak points, Ursuline called time out. An ensuing net serve ended the game.
Henderson spiked the first point of game three, and she answered points by Magnificat with more kills as Ursuline went up 5-2. From 5-4, Ursuline built leads of 8-4, 12-5, 16-9 and 19-10.
With the score 21-13, Prickel passed two Blue Streak blasts and Beer finally terminated play. Reinert ended the ensuing hard fought volley with a tip. Junior defender Elena Lohr saved the next volley, which ended in an attack error by Magnificat, and she set Reinert for the match winning kill.
Match Notes:
1) Magnificat Coach Mike Cannon felt his team could have played better, but was pleased with their overall success. “We knew we had to play our best, and I think we were a little suspect on our serve receive. Our kids hung together and it was a successful season for us, a very successful season”. Cannon noted the team’s versatility and depth, with younger kids helping while the flu went through the roster. He said the “experience of the juniors backing up seven seniors was really important”. Asked about his thoughts on Ursuline, he responded “They are coached very well, they play solid defense, they are free swingers. You’ve got to serve and keep them on their heels. I think we could have done a little better job of that today”
2) Ursuline’s late rally in game two was in part due to three or four free balls courtesy of Magnificat according to Coach Cannon (two Lions points came directly on overpasses). Magnificat libero Catie Lambert said that had Magnificat prevailed in that game it would have been a big confidence booster.
Lambert also noted that it is “difficult to prepare for Ursuline...you expect the best or more from them”. She explained that “Ursuline doesn’t make mistakes and if they do, they get right back up”.
3) College recruits playing in the match: Ursuline Academy - Lauren Marlatt (Winthrop University), Dani Reinert (University of Buffalo), Kori Moster (Michigan State); Magnificat - Brittney Balser (Duke University), Danielle McQuade (Tiffin University)
4) Stats:
Ursuline Academy: Kills – Jade Henderson 18, Noelle Langenkamp 8, Christina Beer 6; Kill Percent: Langenkamp .500, Henderson .350; Assists – Dani Reinert 36; Digs: Kori Moster 18, Anna Prickel 13, Henderson 11; Block Assists: Olivia Johnson 4, Beer 3
Magnificat: Kills – Brittney Balser 11, Danielle McQuade 9; Assists – Meg Pier 27; Digs - Catie Lambert 15, Brittany Flynn 14, McQuade 10
The 2009 state volleyball tournament kicked off with a David and Goliath contest, as 15-11 Stow-Munroe Falls with no player over 5’11”, took on second ranked 28-0 Dublin Coffman with its 5’10” setter and five hitters ranging from 6’0” to 6’2”.
Goliath won 25-12, 25-15, 25-5 as Stow could not get untracked, save for the start of game two.
“We just came out ready to play today”, is how Coffman Coach Mary Anne Souder described it. “Our three seniors have been talking all week long to our juniors and our younger players about how we’ve got to be ready for Stow. They were on a roll in the tournament and we didn’t know what to expect from them. We came here prepared and we were calm starting out which helped us”.
Souder said that serving and blocking are her team’s biggest strong points. She added “Our blocking looked really good today. It forced them into tipping a lot…it’s easier to pick up a tip than a hard driven hit…our blocks were there and they were closed”. As for serving, she said her team had “worked a lot on seeing a player and looking at their shoes across the net to set the distance”, because of the size of the Nutter Center.
Stow Coach Scott Carter saw things somewhat differently. While acknowledging “it was pretty lopsided”, he said the Bulldogs had prepared and knew they had to do some things well to be competitive, but added “we didn’t execute what we had practiced for the last couple days…that made it difficult to make it a more even match”.
“We knew we needed to pass the ball well, and we struggled with that early on”, Carter explained, noting that Dublin’s “first six points were on serve receive errors”. Carter continued “With a team like that you have to attack, you have to make them dig balls and get them out of system. You don’t want big 6’1” girls hitting high hard balls at you. Our defense, which we’ve lived on the past three weeks, broke down, but that was a result of poor passing…they got a lot of easy balls, they were in system and they attacked our seams.
That pretty well sums it up.
Coffman shot out to a 7-0 lead on four aces by setter Lindsey Zitzke a block from 6’0” jumper Isolde Hannan, a kill by 6’2” senior Alex Blair and a backcourt kill by Zitzke off a set from libero Julia Mindlina. Stow senior middle Charlotte Sykora broke the run, and the Bulldogs closed to 8-4 on Shamrock errors. But 6’1” Coffman middle Andrea Baylin tipped for a point and Hannan added three block kills to fuel a five-point run, and Blair added four kills as Coffman rolled ahead 23-10.
Baylin and Hannan teamed for a double block to end the game.
Stow scored first in game two, and led 4-3 after a double block by Lexi Stefanov and Sykora, and a kill by 5’11” junior Jackie Close.
But senior middle Meredith Stranges put Coffman back on top 5-4 with an ace, and after a service error, the Shamrocks blew the game open with a 9-1 run as defensive specialist Stacy Axner served an ace, and Blair and 6’1” outside Bailey Farthing combined for four kills.
5’11” Bulldog middle Colleen Bonacci spiked a Kelly Vitt short set, leaving Coffman ahead 15-8. Stow fought back from there, forcing some long volleys and narrowing the lead to 20-15, as Stefanov blocked Baylin and she and Jenna Chilinski spiked kills, .
But Farthing sparked a run to the finish with a kill, as Baylin made saving digs and served two aces, one for game point.
Coffman rolled to a 4-0 lead in game three on two kills by Hannan, and increased the lead to 7-1, 10-2, 12-3 and 17-4. After a kill by Bonacci, Baylin spiked a point from backcourt and Mindlina served out, with Blair spiking a shoot from Zitzke for match point.
Match notes:
1) Coffman’s strong start was a plus according to middle hitter Andrea Baylin. “I think when we start strong it gives us a lot of confidence to play later in the game. Against Mt. Notre Dame we started out a little timid because we’d never been there before. We’d never been here either, but there was this calmness. Coming out strong really helps our team and I think our height is definitely intimidating. Meredith Stranges added that coming out “loud and cheering” also helped. “We had a lot of excitement over every point, which was part of the intimidation factor along with our height”.
2) Coffman did not expect to win in three according to Baylin, who explained “From here on out we go into every match thinking we’re going to go five. They have done something right to get into the final four so we have to go into every game thinking its going to be point-for-point”. Stranges added “We expect any team that has made it this far will give us a challenge. That’s how we came into this match today”.
3) Coffman was “the most balanced team we’ve seen” according to Stow Coach Scott Carter. “Elyria and North Royalton were pretty tough, but only had a couple six-footers. With three hitters consistently coming at us across the net spreading our blockers wide, they (Coffman) had plenty of seams to hit.
4) Stow is a long way from the Nutter Center, but nevertheless brought four busloads of students, some 200 in all.
5) This was Stow’s first trip to state since 1997 when it finished state runner-up. The Bulldogs won four titles under Coach Bob McFarland, who ranks third in all-time wins with 568.
6) College recruits playing in the match: Stow - Colleen Bonacci (Baldwin Wallace); Coffman - Alex Blair (Xavier University), Andrea Baylin (Southeast Missouri State University)
7) “Bittersweet was how senior Bulldog hitter Colleen Bonacci described the loss. “It’s awesome to come to state, but to come here and lose like that is disappointing”. Asked what she’ll remember most about the season, she said “Coming to state”. She concluded with “I’ll never forget that, the team, we all really close and we had a good coach. It’s all right”.
Stats:
Coffman: Kills – Alex Blair 11, Bailey Farthing, Andrea Baylin 9, Isolde Hannan 8; Kill Percent – Hannan .700, Farthing .667, Blair .500; Assists – Lindsey Zitzke 28, Digs – Baylin 9, Meredith Stranges 8; Blocks Hannah – 2 solo, 3 assists; Service Aces – Zitzke 4, Baylin 3
Stow: Kills – Jenna Chilinski 5; Assists: Kelly Vitt 11; Digs – Lizzy McDade 8
*******************************************************************
“Hats off to Ursuline. You could tell they are on a mission I think they were very composed today.” That was what Magnificat Coach Mike Cannon had to say after top ranked 28-0 Cincinnati Ursuline Academy defeated his fourth rated Blue Streaks for the second time this season in the other Division I semifinal 25-14, 25-21, 25-13. The Lions also won the teams’ previous encounter in the championship of the Northeast Ohio Power Tournament (hosted by Mentor) 25-22, 25-17, 25-17.
Ursuline Coach Jeni Case said she was “really pleased with the way our girls came out and played. I thought we played pretty consistent. Our passing was good which made us stay in system, and when we’re in system we have enough hitters that we’re hard to stop. I’m really proud of the girls.”
Asked if they were on a mission, Case responded “Yeah, they remember what it was like last year (when Ursuline was also top ranked and unbeaten, but fell to Olmsted Falls in the state final). All we talked about was taking one game, one match at a time. We have not talked about Saturday. I don’t even have practice set up for Friday. We wanted to focus on Magnificat. They are a great team, with great players and a great coach.”
Setter Dani Reinert did a great job moving ball around and she served great. She probably wants this one more than anyone in the whole world. Jade Henderson (18 kills) was on fire. They had a hard time stopping her. Our back row was really good…our passing really helped us out a lot”. Kori Moster led the defense with 18 digs, and Anna made some “awesome” plays at the end.
Ursuline took advantage of big runs to win the first two games, and a series of smaller runs to win game three going away.
Sophomore 6’1” middle Noelle Langenkamp scored first with a tip, Reinert added a dump and Henderson got her first termination, but Magnificat forced four ties to 6-6 as 6’1” senior outside Danielle McQuade and junior Brittany Flynn scored kills.
Lion 6’0” junior outside Christina Beer pounded a Reinert quickset and Langenkamp added a point. Blue Streak 5’11” senior middle Michelle Chakirelis responded with a cross-court blast, but Langenkamp tipped to end the next volley and start an eight-point run, served by Reinert, to which Olivia Johnson, Lauren Marlatt and Henderson contributed points.
From there the teams traded points to the end.
Game two was fiercely contested with nine ties and four lead changes. Henderson opened the scoring, but Magnificat 6’2” junior outside answered with two kills to which Micaela Castele and McQuade contributed great passes. After ties to four, Magnificat moved ahead 8-6.
At that juncture #15 went on a rampage with eight straight kills. Blue Streak #15 Brittney Balser scored the first two to give Magnificat its biggest lead at 10-6. Then #15 Henderson answered with two, and those two continued spiking points until the score was 12-10 Magnificat.
Ursuline tied at 13, and the teams traded leads. Ursuline moved in front a second time to 18-16, and Magnificat retied at 18.
Langenkamp block killed an overpass of a prior blast by Henderson, and that brought libero Kori Moster to the line where she served five points, as Henderson spiked two kills and Johnson added one while helping Beer on a block. Balser finally ended the run with a kill and after two more Blue Streak points, Ursuline called time out. An ensuing net serve ended the game.
Henderson spiked the first point of game three, and she answered points by Magnificat with more kills as Ursuline went up 5-2. From 5-4, Ursuline built leads of 8-4, 12-5, 16-9 and 19-10.
With the score 21-13, Prickel passed two Blue Streak blasts and Beer finally terminated play. Reinert ended the ensuing hard fought volley with a tip. Junior defender Elena Lohr saved the next volley, which ended in an attack error by Magnificat, and she set Reinert for the match winning kill.
Match Notes:
1) Magnificat Coach Mike Cannon felt his team could have played better, but was pleased with their overall success. “We knew we had to play our best, and I think we were a little suspect on our serve receive. Our kids hung together and it was a successful season for us, a very successful season”. Cannon noted the team’s versatility and depth, with younger kids helping while the flu went through the roster. He said the “experience of the juniors backing up seven seniors was really important”. Asked about his thoughts on Ursuline, he responded “They are coached very well, they play solid defense, they are free swingers. You’ve got to serve and keep them on their heels. I think we could have done a little better job of that today”
2) Ursuline’s late rally in game two was in part due to three or four free balls courtesy of Magnificat according to Coach Cannon (two Lions points came directly on overpasses). Magnificat libero Catie Lambert said that had Magnificat prevailed in that game it would have been a big confidence booster.
Lambert also noted that it is “difficult to prepare for Ursuline...you expect the best or more from them”. She explained that “Ursuline doesn’t make mistakes and if they do, they get right back up”.
3) College recruits playing in the match: Ursuline Academy - Lauren Marlatt (Winthrop University), Dani Reinert (University of Buffalo), Kori Moster (Michigan State); Magnificat - Brittney Balser (Duke University), Danielle McQuade (Tiffin University)
4) Stats:
Ursuline Academy: Kills – Jade Henderson 18, Noelle Langenkamp 8, Christina Beer 6; Kill Percent: Langenkamp .500, Henderson .350; Assists – Dani Reinert 36; Digs: Kori Moster 18, Anna Prickel 13, Henderson 11; Block Assists: Olivia Johnson 4, Beer 3
Magnificat: Kills – Brittney Balser 11, Danielle McQuade 9; Assists – Meg Pier 27; Digs - Catie Lambert 15, Brittany Flynn 14, McQuade 10
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