Girls regional volleyball: Elyria Catholic sweeps, returns to finals

MEDINA — Every time Berkshire closed the gap, Elyria Catholic had an answer. The Panthers fought off a furious third-set rally by the Badgers and held on for a 25-18, 25-14, 26-24 win in the Division V, Region 17 semifinals hosted by Medina high school on Thursday evening. "It feels amazing because we did the same thing last year," said EC junior Ella Feskanich, who finished with nine kills, including four in the third set. "We just want to keep going and make it better. It feels great with the school and all of our friends supporting us. We have so much energy for each other and this is just a really great experience." Elyria Catholic (23-2) will face Lake Catholic (16-10) in the regional final for the second straight year while Berkshire's season ends at 23-3. The Cougars defeated Crestview (22-4) in straight sets earlier on Thursday. The two North Coast Conference mates will face off for a third time in Streetsboro on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cougars have won three straight state championships and defeated the Panthers in their regional final last season. However, Elyria Catholic won both regular season meetings against Lake Catholic, but the Panthers know that the postseason is a different animal. "That is something that's very difficult to do, to get to the Elite Eight," Elyria Catholic coach Laurie Cogan said. "Yes, it is a common opponent, however the circumstances are so different. In-season play verses postseason play, you can't compare them because in season there's always tomorrow. Postseason it just takes one loss and you're done for the season, so emotionally you have to approach the game a little bit different. You don't have as much margin of error when you're playing and we all know how good Lake Catholic is. They are a seasoned team that has won the state title the last three years." The Panthers took control of the first set with eight unanswered points to make it 15-8 fueled by three straight points from Ari Dimacchia during that span. However, Berkshire responded with an 8-2 run to cut the lead to one point. The Panthers responded with three unanswered, including back-to-back kills from freshman Molly Mulgrew. From there, Berkshire never got the lead below four as the Panthers capped the set with an ace. Dimacchia had another outstanding game for the Panthers, finishing with 14 kills and three blocks, including five more in helping Elyria Catholic cruise to a 25-14 win in the second set. "I think it was just keeping my energy up and staying out of my head," Dimacchia said of her big night. "I had a few errors, but I just shook it off, went to the next one and tried to stay aggressive the whole game." It looked as if the Panthers were going to pull away in the third set when Dimacchia recorded four straight kills to cap five unanswered points at 5-2, but Berkshire tied the game at six. Elyria Catholic pulled away at 13-9 only for Berkshire to tie things up at 16. The Panthers capitalized on a service error out of a time out, then went on a 4-1 run to take a 21-17 lead. But Berkshire again tied the set at 23. However, the Badgers never led down the stretch and Elyria Catholic ultimately closed out the match on its second set point. "These kids all year, when we have played strong competition, have been in tight matches," Cogan said. "That doesn't seem to rattle them because they know that there are so many ways to score points and we're very good at all of those different ways. They just believe in themselves. The score does not dictate how we play." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.