Local Sports
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Running down asports editor
BASCOM -- Setting an athletic goal is something like requesting a gift from Santa Claus.
Whether you get what you want largely depends on whether your performance is naughty or nice.
Hopewell-Loudon's volleyball team is going to the state tournament.
Nice.
"It's amazing," senior libero Alexis Creeger said. "I didn't know if we could get this far. But we did it."
And for the first time since 2001, when the Lady Chieftains collected the last of five consecutive Division IV state titles, the championship trophy could receive a resting place in Seneca County.
Hopewell-Loudon (25-1), the state's second-ranked team, will meet top-ranked Marion Local (26-0), the two-time defending state champion, in a 6 p.m. semifinal Thursday at the Nutter Center on the Wright State University campus in Fairborn. Thursday's other semifinal, scheduled for 4 p.m., will pit No. 5 Norwalk St. Paul (24-3) against No. 7 Tuscarawas Central Catholic (25-2).
The Lady Chieftains gained their trip to state by clubbing 14th-ranked Columbus Grove 25-20, 25-15, 25-13 in last Saturday's regional final in Elida.
"It still hasn't set in, I guess," third-year Hopewell-Loudon coach Erin Dircksen said. "It just feels like another game in another gym, just playing volleyball."
While watching her team routinely practice Monday, Dircksen said she hopes that feeling holds true the rest of the way for her team. The venue and the crowd will be bigger than usual, and so will the stakes. But the Lady Chieftains don't normally tense up, and Dircksen aims to do her part to keep it from happening at this juncture.
"I feel if I make a big deal out of it, I'm just going to make them more nervous than what they really need to be," she said. "If I stay calm, at least I feel like I'm going to keep them calm. To me, it's just another game that we're preparing for in another gym. Just to keep everyone level-headed, I feel like I have to stay that way."
Dircksen said her players have indeed reached a desired destination.
"My first year here, they set the goal: 'Coach, we want to go to state,'" she said. "If that's their goal, it's my job to help them accomplish their goal, so I will do everything I can to give them the tools and give them the advice to get them there. It's whether or not they want to do it, and I think with some of these (six) seniors, they were like, 'OK, we're going to accomplish it no matter what.'"
Now there's another matter at hand: Are you happy just to be there or do you want to win it all?
Dircksen thinks a transformation may be at hand for some of her players.
"I can see some of them saying, 'I made it,' and that would be enough for them, where I can see others saying, 'I want the gold trophy,'" Dircksen said. "Putting both types of people on the floor, it's going to be a balancing act. There are going to be those girls on the floor wanting it just a little more than some of the other ones. But I think once they get there, they're going to realize, 'I really do want this; I want this more than I thought.'"
The Lady Chieftains sport a first-team All-Ohio performer in 6-foot middle hitter Brittany Egbert, who leads the team with 361 kills and 172 solo blocks. Brianna Richey, a 5-8 outside hitter who received honorable mention on the All-Ohio team, has served for a team-high 55 aces and stands second on the squad in kills (207), digs (308) and serve receptions (231).
The 5-4 Creeger leads Hopewell-Loudon with 378 digs and 247 serve receptions, and 5-8 senior setter Mary Ellen McAllister is tops in assists with 462.
Something that assuredly won't change for the Lady Chieftains at state is Dircksen's emphasis on defense. That department is keyed by Creeger and Richey.
"You just have to hustle after every ball -- read it and follow it," Creeger said.
She likely will have to do just that quite often against Marion Local's 5-10 Alyssa Winner, a first-team All-Ohio outside hitter who has collected team-highs of 233 kills, 38 aces and 343 serve receptions.
"She's a very big driving force for that Marion Local team and I think the more times she gets the ball, the worse off we're going to be," Dircksen said with a laugh. "I'm not expecting to shut her down blocking, but up to now in the postseason, our defense has really stepped up. I'm more counting on our defense to frustrate Alyssa. If we can keep the ball from hitting the floor and just keep the defense going and going and going, I think we'll be OK."
Other key contributors for the Flyers include 5-1 senior setter Shelby Moeller, a second-team All-Ohio pick; junior libero Alyse Bergman, a third-team All-Ohioan; and 6-foot senior middle hitter Ashley Lochtefeld, who gained honorable mention All-Ohio.
St. Paul, which last won state in 2006, had honorable mention selections in 5-9 senior setter Kaylee Bundschuh, 5-7 senior outside hitter Hannah Livengood and 5-1 sophomore libero Corynne Smith.
Tuscarawas Central Catholic landed 5-8 senior middle hitter Molly Lawless and 5-9 junior middle hitter Millie Patchen on the All-Ohio second team.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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