SPORTSINK.COM PHOTO
The Walsh Jesuit volleyball team edged Kent Roosevelt to advance to the Stow Div. I District finals, where it will meet Stow. Pictured are Mary Grace Kelly, Kyra Coundourides, coach Missy Sturm and Annie Osterfeld.
STOW, Ohio – Slow down Walsh Jesuit and setter Kyra Coundourides. That’s the mission of the Stow-Munroe Falls volleyball team Thursday when it faces the Warriors in the Stow Div. I District championship match at 6 p.m.
“Slow down their speed,” said Stow coach Miguel Ramirez, looking ahead to the challenge after his team’s 3-0 win over Hudson in the semifinal. “I know a lot of their kids from JO (Junior Olympics), a lot of them play JO at my club, so I’ve seen them a lot, I’ve been around them.
“Slowing down Kyra (Walsh’s setter) is going to be a deal,” he said. “She runs such a quick offense. She gets to so many balls. We have to really work on capitalizing on our opportunities.”
Despite three close games to start the district semifinal on Tuesday night, Kent Roosevelt was unable to keep Coundourides or the Warriors’ deadly serving game in check.
Playing in its first Div. I tournament after making it to the Mayfield Div. II District semifinal last year, Walsh (17-7) allowed the Rough Riders (19-5) to gain a 2-1 advantage in the match by scores of 25-21, 18-25 and 25-20. Then, they tightened the screws, winning Game 4 with just six servers in a 25-7 rout. They didn’t let up in Game 5, beating Kent 15-5 in the final game.
Three players: junior Annie Osterfeld, senior Michelle Simpson and junior Mary Grace Kelly together accounted for 17 of those serves in the fourth game.
“They served us really well,” said Kent coach Kasey Adelman. “They’re a tough serving team. We don’t have that type of jump servers in our conference. It’s not something we see every day.”
Ironically, the Warriors weren’t anywhere near the top of their game serving-wise, at least through the first three games, according to Walsh coach Missy Sturm.
“Our serving wasn’t quite on today. We made a lot of errors,” she said of their 19 service errors, 15 committed in the first three games. “Our serving has been really good all season long, very aggressive. I tell the girls I can take a couple of errors but we need aces to even it out. They were not evening it out tonight. That’s probably the most we’ve missed this year in a match.”
Keeping things close through those first three games was the Warrior attack, led by sophomore Coundourides, who had 54 assists, three aces, nine kills and eight digs, and Kelly, who had 18 kills and 14 digs. In Game 2 at the 13-10 mark, Walsh leading, Coundourides set up Kelly for a high-impact kill that set the stage for a four-point run, putting the game out of reach. Another dominating Kelly kill in Game 5, with Walsh leading 4-3, deflated Kent as they allowed Walsh to score 11 of the next 13 points.
Coundourides didn’t just set up Kelly, she showed her athleticism in being able to maneuver to the ball to set up her middles and to keep Kent off balance with her back sets. She also inflicted some damage of her own with six direct sets that left the Rough Riders scrambling.
“I’ve never seen a setter like that before,” Kent’s Adelman said. “And, to know she’s a sophomore, that is super exciting for them. She’s pretty awesome.
“You just don’t know what to expect,” she said of Coundourides. “We had a blocker right there for her, but she knows where the blockers are. We got some of them, but not many of them.”
“She’s like our quarterback,” Sturm said. “She made some phenomenal saves today when our passing wasn’t quite on, to keep the ball live and get a good set up so the hitters could get a hit. She does that all the time.”
Also contributing to the Warrior win was senior Emma Klein, who had nine kills and one dig; Osterfeld, with nine kills, four aces, one block, three digs; senior Brittany Zmyslinski, with 10 kills, three aces, 12 digs; senior Courtney Grdina, with two aces, 12 digs; senior Michelle Simpson, with seven digs; and sophomore Carla Kaminski, with four kills, one block, two digs.
Leading Kent Roosevelt was junior Alli Cudworth, with 15 kills, five aces, seven digs, three blocks; sophomore Cortnee Bowser, with six kills, nine blocks, senior Taylor Pensyl, with 14 digs, two kills, five blocks; and sophomore Mylane Bella-Smuts with 21 assists.
In the second semifinal matchup, the Bulldogs dispatched NOC rival Hudson for the third time this season with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-22) win.
After a close Game 1 that featured several lead changes, the Bulldogs put the hammer down in Game 2 with a double block by seniors Lexi Stefanov and Kristen Misbrener that tied that game at 13 and left the Explorers searching for answers and points. Stow scored 12 of the next 14 points to close out the game and came back to finish the job in Game 3.
The Bulldog attack was led by Stefanov with 16 kills and junior Megan Garrison 15 kills. Senior setter Kelly Vitt had 37 assists and 11 digs.
Hudson was led by junior Amanda Bedell and Allison Zullo, each of whom had 11 kills, junior Erin Dunlap, who had 26 assists and Emma Bock, the team’s only senior, with 18 digs.
In other district volleyball matches:
Grafton Division I District
AMHERST STEELE DEF. BRUNSWICK 3-2. Brunswick watched its season end Tuesday against Amherst Steele in a 25-16, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11 defeat in the Grafton Division I District semifinal.
With the win, the Comets move on to face top-seeded Avon Lake (20-2) on Thursday, a team they’ve lost to twice this season.
Brunswick (11-13) took the Comets (16-8) the distance in what felt more like a heavyweight prize fight than a high school volleyball game.
Gabbie Bulic (22 kills, 6 blocks), Morgan Ritchie (21 kills, 28 assists, 9 digs), Allison Evans (14 digs) and Julianne Laughlin (32 digs) led the way for Brunswick.
Tallmadge Division II District
FIELD DEF. ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY 3-1. Emily Mortimer led the way for the Falcons with 21 kills, five blocks and four service points.
Field will face Manchester, a 3-2 winner over Hoban, on Thursday for the district championship.
Aubrey Polasky had 13 kills and a pair of blocks for Field. Kayla Renicker added seven kills, 25 digs and 10 service points, while Courtney Brake contributed seven kills, 23, digs and 10 points. Alyssa Coleman led the team in digs with 43, while adding four points. Sammy Perez led in assist with 15. Jayme Mosley had 11 assists and 17 service points.