STOW: It was a shame that the final point of a district championship volleyball game was decided on a net violation.
It was Walsh Jesuit that had the call go in its favor to win the Stow Division I district championship 21-25, 25-18, 13-25, 26-24, 15-13 over host Stow.
With the win, the Warriors (18-7) advance to the Division I regional semifinal and will play Mentor at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hudson High School.
The match had spectacular digs, bodies diving on the floor and twisting in the air to keep the ball alive and many nasty spikes that excited the fans on both sides.
The Warriors had to literally dig themselves out of trouble as they were on the verge of going home in the fourth set, trailing 2-1 and facing a game point at 24-21.
But three of 11 kills in the game by Mary Grace Kelly and one each by Brittany Zmyslinski and Carla Kanieski were the final five points of the game to propel the Warriors to a 26-24 win and set up the dramatic fifth set. Kelly, a junior, ended up with 26 kills.
“At 24-21 you tell the girls it is not over ‘til it is over. We found that out when we went five games with Kent Roosevelt and were down 2-1,” Walsh coach Missy Sturm said. “All season long Mary Grace has been phenomenal for us.”
Kelly said the Warriors’ mental toughness pulled them through the match.
“All of us just came together and we were just like our season is on the line. We worked so hard not to let our season end,” Kelly said. “We know the teams are going to play are going to get harder and harder, but we can do anything. We showed a lot of heart and that won it for us.”
Sturm credited sophomore setter Kyra Coundourides, who finished with a match-high 59 assists, for not giving in to the Bulldogs’ attempt to neutralize her effective passing.
“Give Stow credit. They had a game plan to hit the ball right at Kyra,” Sturm said.
“We had to stay positive; play the next point. Stay positive and play the next point,” Coundourides said. “Our feeling was like, ‘Oh my gosh we just won the toughest match of our lives’ and best of all we played together. We are so happy that our effort paid off in the end.”
The Warriors, ranked 13th in the final coaches poll, also had 27 digs from Zmyslinski.
Kelly Vitt led the Bulldogs with 48 assists. Allyson Iwanski had 17 digs and Megan Garrison 14. Lexi Stefanov finished with 27 kills and Garrison had 17 kills.
Trailing 14-13, the Bulldogs appeared to tie the score, only to see the officials rule a net violation that ended one of the best volleyball matches fans could possibly ask for.
Stow coach Miguel Ramirez and the Bulldogs (20-5), ranked 16th in the coaches poll, were stunned by the call. No one could blame the players for either the tears that flowed or the coach who had a hard time trying to talk after the defeat.
“It was a tough match between two great teams. Lexi played an awesome game; my seniors laid it all on the floor, my players laid it all out on the floor,” Ramirez said. “It was a great season, winning our division, getting ranked in the coaches poll. I cannot be disappointed in any aspect of my team.”
Read the high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Varsity. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
