Lady Cats Win 4th Straight D-9 Class A Volleyball Title (11/04/13)

St. Marys High School was host to the District Nine Class A Volleyball Semi-Finals and Finals on Saturday. And when the dust cleared the Clarion High Lady Cats claimed their fourth straight Championship.

The first Semi pitted Elk County Catholic against Oswayo Valley, with ECC winning in 3 sets, 25-18, 25-11 and 25-13.

Then Clarion faced next door neighbor, North Clarion, in the second Semi-Final match. The Lady Cats downed the Lady Wolves, in straight sets.

In the first game, the Cats jumped out to a 13-3 lead, when Olivia Burns scored 6 straight service points, en route to a 25-15 win.  The second game saw The Cats win 25-13, with Anna Reed closing the game out with four straight service points.

The last game in the Semi-Final match was much closer than the other two. North Clarion jumped out to a 9-3 lead, with Jenny Bauer getting 6 straight service points. The Cats came back to take a one point lead at 16-15. Bekah had 4 service points to close out the run. A 9-5 run set the final score at 25-20.

The Championship match was another straight set win by the Lady Cats, as they downed the Lady Elkers.

In the first game, the score was knotted at fourteen before the Cats finished with an 11-8 advantage, to win 25-22. Kyla Miles had a 4 point service run during the game.

Eight service points from Jenn Ochs and five service points from Katie Eustice were keys in the Cats’ 25-16 win, in the second game of the Finals match.

With the Elkers holding a slim 9-7 lead, in game three, Jenn Ochs scored six straight service points to move the Cats out to a 13-9 lead. Clarion would not trail again in the game, as they would outscore ECC 12-11, including 5 service points by Katie to win the third game 25-20, to secure the Championship.

Semi-Final Game stats for Clarion: Olivia Burns had 17 points, 3 aces, 2 kills and a dig. Katie Eustice had 15 points, 4aces, 3 kills, 34 assists and 5 digs.

Kyla Miles had 9 points, 2 aces, 14 kills and seven digs. Anna Reed had 8 points, with an ace, 3 kills and five digs. Jenn Ochs scored 7 points and had 7 kills and eleven digs. Johnna Rapp scored three points and Gloria Kroh had 3 kills and a dig.

Championship Match stats for Clarion: Jenn Ochs had 22 points, 4 aces, 6 kills and ten digs. Katie Eustice had 17 points, 2 aces, 3 kills, 4 digs and 34 assists. Kyla Miles scored 9 points, including an ace. She also had 10 kills and eleven digs. Bekah Nesbitt had 8 points, an ace, 18 kills and nineteen digs.

Anna Reed scored 8 points, with an ace, while getting nineteen digs. Anna McNamara scored 4 points and had a dig, Olivia Burns had 2 points and a dig and Gloria Kroh had two kills. Bekah Nesbitt scored fifteen points. She also had 3 aces, 12 kills and nine digs.

Seniors, Bekah and Kyla display trophy with Coach Campbell

Coach Shari Campbell shared these thoughts on the Championship victory and on several of the players responsible: “I just want to say that our seniors have really worked hard to bring this team this far. To win a District title with two freshmen and a sophomore libero is really outstanding and it is a testament to the leadership of Bekah and Kyla.

“Bekah had 18 kills, in that last match and Kyla had ten. They’re just solid for us and we rely on them. And everyone has just bought in to what we can build around them. So that’s pretty exciting.

“But I think Jen Ochs just had a fabulous game. Her serving was key, in the finals there. She served for 17 points on five turns. She had four aces in that finals match. That was the key turning point, because they were tipping against us and that was something that we were having a hard time adjusting to.

“They were trying to change our pace and take us out of our rhythm. But that helped bring us back.

“I just can’t say enough about the work that Katie Eustice has done to become the setter that runs this offense. She’s setting some amazing balls to spread the antenna. And Anna Reed has become a great little libero for us. And Johnna Rapp comes in and just makes serves and scores points.

“So lots of great things happening and we’re excited to see what happens on Tuesday.”

The Lady Cats will face Greensburg Central Catholic, at 6:00pm Tuesday at Dubois High School, in a rematch of last year’s State Semi-Final Match.

(Note: After the Championship Match, North Clarion and Elk County Catholic met in a best two of three games, True Second Match. The Lady Wolves fought hard, but lost in two straight 25-23 and 25-15. In a nice show of sportsmanship, folks from both neighboring schools, cheered the other on in the matches against their non-KSAC opponents.)

Congratulations to the Lady Cats on the District Championship and Best Wishes as you continue your quest for another State Championship!!!