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Division I and IV state semifinal highlights

November 9, 2007

By Jim Jicha

Division I
Mount Notre Dame defeated Magnificat 25-23, 25-12, 25-19 in the first match. In game one there were eight ties and five lead changes. Magnificat scored the first three points, two on kills by 6’1” middle Michelle Matia, and went up 5-1 on kills by Kristen Kidd. The Blue Streaks continued their lead up to 9-6, when the Cougars scored four, three on Magnificat miscues.

The scoring and the lead went back and forth until Cougar sophomore Marissa Otto tied the game at 17. With libero Abbie Rees digging everything in sight, Mount Notre Dame moved ahead 23-17. 6’0” junior Amanda Wilken scored points 22 and 23. Michelle Chakirelis scored a kill and a block for Magnificat, but 6’1” junior Jen Meyer spiked the Cougars to a 24-19 lead. Things got dicey as Blue Streak junior Kara Stilphen spiked a point, the Cougars committed two errors and Rachel Gulasey served an ace. But a Magnificat spike that was blocked out of bounds was ruled to have not been touched by MND, but been in the net, thus ending the game.

Mount Notre Dame led all the way in games two and three. Rachael Adams scored five kills, two aces and a block in game two. Rachel Rohlfs and Kristen DuBroy handled the setting for Mount Notre Dame and Magnificat, respectively.

Mother of Mercy downed Mentor 25-10, 20-25, 25-16, 25-11, led by outside hitter and University of Cincinnati recruit Missy Harpenau who had 23 kills, seven jump serve aces and ten digs. Libero Kayla McWilliams led the Cougars digging corps with 20.
Mentor’s top hitters were Sara Kosec with 12 and Alexa Rand with 10. Lindsey Deitman had 19 digs, and Jenna Golic added 15. Mentor out dug Mercy as a team 11.5 to 5.

The Cardinals really came alive in game two and kept a lot of balls in play with some great defense. Deitman served six points to put them on top 16-9, and they continued to grow their lead to 20-11. Kosec scored four kills and was in on two blocks and Deitman dug a Harpenau blast. Mercy made it interesting at the end until Rand scored on a hesitation spike after Golic dug a Mercy termination shot.
Mercy led all the way in games one and four and never trailed in three.

Division IV

Third ranked Norwalk St. Paul upended second ranked Jackson Center 25-19, 28-26, 25-22. Game one was close with eight ties and six lead changes. St. Paul scored first, Jackson Center went up 2-1, 2-2 and 6-4. St. Paul retook the lead and held it to 16-12, at which point Jackson Center scored five straight to lead 17-16. But St. Paul rallied with four points and won going away.

Game two featured a phenomenal rally, and more on that later. St. Paul scored first, after which Jackson Center took a 4-1 lead. The Flyers tied it up at five. Jackson Center then began to build a lead. The Tigers held St. Paul to single points while they often got two and moved ahead 17-11. The Flyers scored three , but Jackson Center responded with three and got to game point serve with a 24-16 lead.

At that point, St. Paul rallied! Amber Welfle started it with a cross court kill. Emma Badovick blocked for a point. Victoria Spaar scored three kills and she and setter Andrea Fritz blocked Tiger hitting ace Alissa Ware. Hannah Livengood served the run which ended on a hitting error after St. Paul went ahead 25-24.

Spaar blocked a tip to put St. Paul back on top, and Ware retied it with a cross court spike. St. Paul hitting star Christine Dow pounded a kill down the left side and Spaar and Kaylee Bundschuh blocked for game point.
Game three had 9 ties and six lead changes. The Tigers rallied for three to go up 15-14. St. Paul regained the lead at 18-16, but Jackson Center scored four straight, led by sophomore Casey Gates and Ware. St. Paul, however, ran off five straight and hung on from there.

Top ranked Marion Local downed Newark Catholic 25-19, 25-13, 25-14. There were four ties and three lead changes in game one. Marion never trailed in games two and three.
The teams battled on even terms for over half of the first game. But Marion scored six straight to take a 21-14 lead and traded points with the Green Wave from there.

Marion went ahead 12-5 in game two. Newark scored five straight, but following a time out the Flyers ran off five straight, and after a kill by Green Wave hitter Alyssa Frick, scored seven more. In a contrast of heights, 6’4” Megan Barhorst served the Flyers’ first rally and 5’0” sophomore setter Shelby Moeller served the second.

In game three, Marion ran off to a 6-0 lead. The Green Wave closed to 10-7, but the Flyers scored another six straight and coasted to the finish.