LCC survives St. Henry to return to state

FINDLAY - Bodies were flying, sometimes landing on elbows and knees - and even heads - and each time punctuated with a squeak. Each serve was momentus as one-handed digs kept hope alive and thunderous slams sent the crowd into frenzy.

"It was momentum and energy. When you get on the court and play your heart out, that's all it is," LCC senior hitter Rachel Illig said. "You just have to find something within yourself, and you have to let it all out on the court. You can't be passive about anything."

The Division III volleyball regional final between Lima Central Catholic and St. Henry was as close as it could get. Momentum swung from LCC in the first two games, to St. Henry in the next pair and back to the Thunderbirds in the fifth, where they sealed their 3-2 win - 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 15-11.

The defending state champion T-Birds face the winner of the Gates Mills Gilmour Academy-West Salem Northwestern match in a state semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday at the Nutter Center in Fairborn.

The bad news started early for the Redskins when 6-foot-2 middle hitter Brooke Mattingly was escorted to the lockerroom with an injury after the first serve of the match. She returned to the bench in the fourth game with a cast on her left hand.

While the loss of Mattingly certainly didn't help, the Redskins rotated more-than capable hitters into her place, notably 5-10 senior Shelby Buschur.

"You don't want to win a game that way," LCC coach Dave Franklin said. "It just shows you how much luck goes into winning a championship. Fortunately for us, and unfortunately for St. Henry, the break went our way."

JoJo Krieg had 16 kills and four aces for LCC. Illig had 13 kills and Danielle Taflinger had 12. Mary Fisher led the back line with eight digs while Alexis Diglio had 42 assists.

"Losing their big girl was obviously very hard on them, but you have to do it as a team," Taflinger said. "And that's the one good thing we have, we have a team that can do it."

LCC (25-1) won the first two games before St. Henry opened the third game with an 11-3 lead. However LCC made a comeback and briefly took a 17-16 lead. But Buschur and 5-10 junior Emily Post pounded LCC at the net for the 25-21 win.

LCC again came out flat in the fourth, as the Redskins (16-11) once more owned the net. Four kills from Post closed out the 25-18 win.

Neither team could afford a slow start or any lapse in the 15-point fifth game. And the T-Birds came out swinging, grabbing leads of 4-1 and 10-5 en route to the 15-11 victory.

With their first five-game match in two years under their belt, don't fault the T-Birds for feeling like they've seen the toughest opponent they'll face. Don't expect them to go easy into Fairborn, though.

There's still the matter of a second title.

"It's not over yet," Krieg said. "It's not over."