Semi-finals: The road to championships
Wiping sweat from her forehead, beaming with an accomplished smile, senior setter for the varsity women’s volleyball team Sam Stewart rushed into the center of the court for a group hug after the team won their semifinals game against Maryvale, sending them to the championship game.
The Patriots beat Maryvale 3-0, a “rarity” for the team, according to Stewart.
Two key contributors to the team’s success were junior outside hitters Taylor Schafer and Nicole Wagner. Schafer had 11 kills and Wagner had seven.
After completing a season with a record of 14-4, the team gained an advantageous position going into the playoffs. Because of their record, they received a bye in the quarter finals.
Coach Greg Cullison said that his team’s semifinals win felt “fantastic.” He said, “It was definitely one of our best games this year.”
Cullison feels confident about his team going into the championship game, “We’ve peaked at exactly the right time in the season.”
Erin Hanratty can be reached for comment at [email protected].
The Championship Game
The women’s volleyball team won their first “B” conference MIAA championship in five years on Saturday versus the Mercy Magic, winning three games to one.
Assistant coach Bill Murray called the win “a resurgence” of the volleyball program. “From the get go, we knew we were championship contenders. We went 11-1 in conference games during the regular season; it was our title to defend.”
“The girls worked hard all year and improved as we went on. We knew if they played well and didn’t make mental mistakes, we’d be in pretty good shape,” said head coach Greg Cullison.
“Everyone is so excited to see 2009 on the volleyball banner in the gym. This win just proved to us that we truly were the best in our conference. We were all glad it was Mercy we had to play because we knew they would be the most challenging team to beat,” said senior libero Alex Jeddry.
The major battle facing the team this season was “lack of experience in title games,” said Murray. In this particular game, it was “nerves. I work more with individual players during the game, while Coach Cullison focuses on the flow (of the game). There were a lot of nerves this match and people getting overheated, but we tried to balance with that.”
Senior captain setter Sam Stewart said, “Nerves played a huge factor. I don’t think anyone slept really well last night.”
The game, which took place at Roland Park Country School, was met with a deafening crowd on both sides.
“The crowd was a huge factor because they cheered every point, even if we won or lost. It felt so great to look in the stands and see it filled with family members, classmates, and teachers that wanted to support us. They really kept our spirits up throughout the match,” said Jeddry.
Junior outside hitters Nicole Wagner and Taylor Schafer led the team with ten and nine kills, respectively. Wagner also led the team in series aces.
During the pregame warm-ups, Mercy senior Johanna Laue suffered from a sprained ankle and was unable to play in the game.
For the first game, Mercy took the early lead, but JC quickly regained it and never looked back, with a block by senior opposite Chelsea Clarke tying the game 1-1. The Patriots scored the next five straight points, and Mercy never came within five of the Patriots.
The Patriots secured a 25-18 win after Mercy senior Ava Trageser missed the game point serve.
The Patriots scored first to start out the second game and jumped to an early lead.
They won the game 25-15 after Schafer set the ball up for Stewart, whose kill went between junior Julia Sanders and Trageser.
To start game three, Stewart’s serve resulted in a 1-0 Patriots lead. Mercy took their second lead of the match after Jeddry tried to save a spike that fell short.
The game ended 24-17, Magic, after Jeddry’s serve hit the net.
“At the end of the third game I was a little disappointed because we didn’t play as well as the first two games,” said Jeddry. “But I knew we still had two more chances to win, and I knew we could do it because we all wanted it so bad.”
JC scored first during the fourth game, with a kill by Schafer after Mercy junior Taylor Carter served.
The game didn’t improve for Mercy. Schafer’s serve was returned by Carter, who hit it into the rafters. Later in the game, Sanders then tried to hit the ball, but it wound up on the sidelines, knocking into the bench and the injured Laue, making the score 14–11.
During the play for match point, junior middle blocker Jenny Hottle had two key blocks in what Stewart called the “biggest play of the game.” However, in a hotly contested call, the referees believed Hottle hit the net while going for the second block.
In the next play, the Patriots scored after a botched serve by Carter, with a final score 25–17.
After the final game, Wagner said, “We had a rough patch [during the third game] but picked it right back up.”
“We summed up our year and went out with a bang. We had the perfect season,” said Stewart.
To her team, Clarke said, “All of our hard work really paid off. After all of our long practices and even a few discouragements, we pushed our way to the top. I know I’m going to miss all of you and the team next year, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Even though Mercy lost, senior Erica Kochaviek was “so proud” of the team.
Senior Lindsey Scheve said, “Second place is one heck of an accomplishment. We came in as a third seed and fought really hard.”
The Magic faced an uphill battle this season. “We had a new coach [Kelli McKee-Hurley], which was a big adjustment. There was a lot more running and conditioning, which really paid off, especially earlier in the season, when we went to five games frequently,” said Scheve.
According to Murray, the volleyball win was a result of a season of hard work. He said, “I’m so proud of this team for everything, from working on such hard drills during the year to coming in for Saturday practices, and it paid off in the end.”
Volleyball Positions
1. Outside hitter – Her job is to spike the ball and get a kill.
2. Middle Blocker – Her job is to block, spike and kill the ball. She usually only plays the front row.
3. Opposite – She is like the back-up setter, so if the setter can’t get to the ball, the opposite is supposed to be the first one there to help her out. She also helps by blocking and killing where needed.
4. Setter – She sets the ball up so that the hitter can smash the ball.
5. Libero – She is usually the best passer on the team. She can only play in the back row and usually goes in for the middle blockers when they rotate to the back row.
6. Defensive Specialist – She plays the back row for either an opposite or outside hitter, depending on who needs to be taken out because their passing is lousy. She is another good passer.
Kate Froehlich can be reached for comment at [email protected]
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