District Volleyball: Elyria Catholic rolls into regional

COPLEY TWP. — Elyria Catholic knew what was at stake Wednesday, but the Panthers weren't about to let the moment faze them. Fourth-seeded Elyria Catholic rolled past second-seeded Canfield 25-12, 25-9, 25-15 to win the Division IV, Northeast 1 district championship at Copley. With an energetic student section behind them, the Panthers (22-3) won their 12th straight and won without dropping a game for the sixth match in a row, including three in the postseason. "It's a lot about practice and how hard we practice," sophomore setter Emilia Hirsch said of the team's confidence. "We work really well together as a team. We know everyone has each other's backs and it's OK to make a mistake. That really helps." Hirsch led the team with 20 assists and 11 digs. Elyria Catholic advances to face either third-seeded Norton or No. 15 Beaumont in a Region 13 semifinal at Alliance on Wednesday. The match between Norton and Beaumont followed the Panthers' win. Despite being ranked third in D-IV by MaxPreps, compared to 11th for Canfield (22-3), Elyria Catholic was the lower seed in the district. That extra motivation helped propel Elyria Catholic, which never trailed after McKenna Mulgrew made a block to tie the first game at 3 and the Cardinals' Ava Mazzella hit the ball long on the next point for a 4-3 Panthers lead. "We came in being the lower seed and it gave us that underdog feeling," senior Ella Feskanich said. "We really wanted to prove to ourselves that we're the better team here. We were willing to stay the course to get that 'W.'" Feskanich led the way with 14 kills. She was backed by Ari Dimacchia (11) and Mollie Mulgrew (seven). Mollie Mulgrew also tied libero Ava Notarberardino with a team-high three aces. Notarberardino added 10 digs, while Jessica Conner had 12 assists and Claire Petrus had three blocks. "I'm feeling really good and the team is feeling really good," Notarberardino said. "We're pleased with what we were able to do and what we're hopefully able to do in the future. We all work really well together and this is a really good team." After falling behind 3-1 to begin the match, the Panthers ran off six straight points, ended by a kill by Dimacchia. When Canfield, which had won eight in a row and also hadn't lost a game in the postseason, inched back to an 8-7 deficit, Feskanich came up with a kill that sparked a 7-1 run. With a 15-8 lead, Elyria Catholic was in firm control. The Panthers took the momentum from winning the first game and jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second game and never led by fewer than five points after that start. Elyria Catholic closed the game by scoring seven of the final eight points. The third game was closer, with the Cardinals trimming the deficit to 16-13 on a block by Ashtyn Hanousek, but the Panthers responded with a streak of seven of eight points to take a commanding 23-14 advantage. "When we move the ball around, have all of our options and all of our hitters to choose from, we're unstoppable," Feskanich said. "There's just so many of us and so many different places we can hit." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.