The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
NDCL wins regional final, headed to state tourney THE SCORE
History shows when the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin volleyball team wins a regional championship, they proceed to win a state championship.
Based on today’s performance, the Lions look destined to continue that trend.
Led by the three key performances by captains sophomore Caroline Jurevicius and seniors Hanna Bissler and Missy Sterkel, Notre DameCathedral Latin defeated Akron Coventry, 3-1, (25-27, 2518, 25-16, 25-13) to win the Division II, Region 5 championship on Nov. 7 at StowMunroe Falls High School.
The win marks the third time in school histor y NDCL (13-5) claimed the regional title. The previous two times (2014 and 2015) the Lions advanced to the final four and brought back to Chardon state championships.
This year, NDCL will look to accomplish that feat first by beating the winner of Tipp City Tippecanoe or St. Bernard Roger Bacon.
NDCL DEF. AKRON COVENTRY
“I am very proud,” head coach Tom Ray said after the match. “Especially for them to take a big negative in the offseason to a big positive, it’s really exciting for them. They’ve been really disciplined … Today, it was mental strength that won the match.
“We were really engaged. We were able to do it as a team, which shows the mental strength for everyone to be on the same page.”
After losing its first set since Oct. 13, Notre DameCathedral Latin had to rely on its mental fortitude to win the next three games.
The Lions trailed by as much as eight points (15-7) in the opening set in which Akron Coventry claimed, 27-25. However, the Lions actually outscored the Comets, 18-12, until the conclusion of the first stanza. That momentum carried into the next two games.
“In the first set, every breakpoint went Coventry’s way,” Ray said. “Every swing we hit, was three inches out. When we came over after the match, I go ‘Guys, we had 9-10 points in that set that could’ve gone either way. We worry about us. We focus on our side, our fundamentals and our team, we’ll win.’ “
NDCL did just that in the next three sets.
The Lions relied on the senior leadership of Bissler and Sterkel to continue the momentum from the latter part of game one into Game 2. NDCL never trailed in the second set, as Bissler (seven kills) and Sterkel (five kills) accounted for half of the team’s points (25-18).
Sterkel led the way with 21 kills and two aces for the Lions in the match.
Bissler added 15 kills and a team-best 21 digs.
“We started off with way too many missed serves. A lot of hitting errors, especially from the outside,” Bissler said. “Once we cleaned that up, we showed a whole different side of our offense. That opened up the middle and the right, which was really beneficial for us.”
That’s when Jurevicius took over. Jurevicius spent the majority of the match on the left side but shifted to the right side occasionally in the third and fourth sets. Jurevicius, who finished 16 kills, five digs and a team-best four blocks, led the way with four kills in the third game.
“She had a real rough day the other day. She took it really personally. She’s used to being successful and she was not to her level that she wanted to be,” said Ray. “She came out today on a mission. She was going to prove to everyone in the country that she is the top kid that everyone thinks she is.”
Jurevicius added that she was laser-focused coming into the match.
“I think the mental preparation for this game started last night. Just sitting there, thinking about what I had to do,” Jurevicius said. “I just felt like I had to do my job and pull through.”
Akron Coventry made NDCL earn the fourth set. The Comets tied it at 7-7 early but the Lions responded by outsourcing their opponent 18-6 to secure the final game 25-13.