In their opening night of conference play, it was the Cougars who came out on top Sept. 7, sweeping the Lions, 3-0 — a true test, as both teams were coming off of state championships a season ago.
Match photos click here.
In their opening night of conference play, it was the Cougars who came out on top Sept. 7, sweeping the Lions, 3-0 — a true test, as both teams were coming off of state championships a season ago.
The Lions began the match with first serve, and immediately jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Junior Ava Hills directly made her presence known in the middle blocker position, where she recorded two blocks before the first time-out was taken in the game by Lions Head Coach Tom Ray. Out of the time out, senior Sophia Purgar notched her first kill in the evening, when she muscled it through the block of the Cougars.
With the second ace of the set, senior setter and captain Hannah Pattie tied the contest at nine apiece. The Cougars were able to keep their opponent guessing at the service line much of the evening. Kara Oster’s group recorded a season-high 12 aces, junior libero Julia Oster and Pattie leading the way with four each.
The opening set would be tied again at 11 after senior outside hitter Reilly Parent found a hole in the Cougar defense, putting a tip down above the block. Natalya Bergant recorded two aces and forced the Lions to call another time-out after trailing, 19-14, late in the first set. A kill down the line from senior outside hitter Katie Sowko closed a dominant opening set from the Cougars at 25-15.
“Our energy, and having the right mindset, is a big part of our team,” junior Marissa Brock said. “Some girls get down, but we have to pick them right back up.”
Lake Catholic recorded the first point in the second set with a kill out of the middle from freshman Ahnna Bergant. Brock quieted the Cougars’ student section that traveled well with the team when she recorded a much-needed kill for her team and evened the set at two.
Hills recorded another block, this time a joust won at the net between her and Pattie. Then the two-headed monster of Ava Budrys Rini and Claire Duricky forced the Lions to call their first time-out of the second set, trailing 11-7.
Right out of the time-out, Parent recorded a kill, followed up by another block from Hills.
“The first 15 points were really good for us,” Brock said. “We were able to set our block and have good defense. We just have to have good energy that really brings our team together, and if we can have that the whole entire game, we’re going to be on fire.”
An ace from Mia Schaefer ended the second set at 25-19, and the Cougars went up 2-0 in the match.
The third set started much like the other two. Back-and-forth they would go with the first 15 points, and once Pattie and her dominant offense got started, the Cougars were hard to slow down.
Taking set three 25-15, the Lions did have moments of success with Hills at the net, leading her team in blocks. Parent and Purgar each recorded kills in a timely fashion when the Lions needed them most. Parent added 12 kills and four blocks in the front row for her team; Hills added six kills, and Brock recorded five.
Leading the offense was Brock and sophomore Grace Daniels. Anchoring the back row was sophomore libero Abby Tolin, while junior defensive specialist Sophia Jurcevic added pressure at the service line, recording a couple of aces.
NDCL would next travel to Cuyahoga Falls to take on Walsh Jesuit, then host Beaumont, looking to pick up its first conference win and build momentum.
