Newark Catholic responds to Northridge’s early challenge in district volleyball win
MOUNT VERNON — The Northridge volleyball team still was riding a high when it reached Thursday’s Division III district semifinal.
The Vikings used that momentum to push Newark Catholic to the limit in the first set. The Green Wave stood tall in the face of adversity and then took control in a sweep, 25-22, 25-15, 25-12, at Mount Vernon Nazarene’s Ariel Arena.
“We worked really hard in practice, doing games in where it was 24-21 with the starters down, so we were trying to battle back,” said NC senior Malena Shonebarger, who had two key kills in that first set and finished with five for the match. “That was our mindset toward the end of the game and got us to go a little bit more and push harder.”
No. 2 NC (21-4) plays No. 1 Fairbanks (23-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday at MVNU. The Panthers swept West Jefferson in the prior semifinal.
Neither team could gain the upper hand in the first set. The blocking of Northridge seniors Kenzie Giffin and Maddie VanScoy helped the No. 16 Vikings (10-15) to an 18-15 lead before the Green Wave rallied and eventually scored four of the final five points on the strength of a clutch block and kill from junior Fini Kaiser.
“They beat us pretty bad twice before this year,” said Northridge coach Duane Douglas, whose team beat higher seeds Cardington and Northmor on the road last week. “Our kids played hard. They left everything on the floor. I am proud of them.”
With Northridge aggressively sending blocks to the middle, NC adjusted and hit the Vikings from the outside. Shonebarger stepped up, as did Kaiser, who had 10 kills.
Junior Sophie Peloquin then put the match away from the middle in subsequent sets, hitting off sets from senior Kylie Gibson and junior Jillian Given and pounding over passes off NC’s aggressive serving to total a team-high 11 kills.
“We are good under pressure,” Shonebarger said. “We all work together really well, and we know how to connect. We all just trust each other, and we go with our gut.”
Northridge began to click late in the season when it had sophomore Ruby Cermak and freshman McKenna Ellis in the hitting rotation at the same time. The Vikings also will return a deep junior class led by setters Laney Higgins and Taryn Eblin and leading hitter Naia Moore.
The Vikings will need to replace their defense with the graduation of libero Tristan Orahood along with Giffin and VanScoy. Also departing will be Kylee Cramer, Brooke Smith and Madison Hoover, who served the final three points of the Northmor victory last Saturday.
“My seniors have been great all year,” Douglas said. "Even when we were struggling, they had positive attitudes and kept their heads up. Really, this is the first year in nine years of coaching I can honestly say very little attitude all season. They bought in early and stayed with it.”
Gibson and Given combined for 38 assists, and Harrington and senior Kami Diaz added 12 digs apiece for NC, which is attempting to win its fifth consecutive district championship. Those previous four were in Division IV as the Green Wave continued to the state tournament three of the past four seasons.
NC coach Brenden Pence doesn't mind meeting a less familiar opponent. Fairbanks, which has 19 sweeps and just a loss to London, is led by the senior trio of Grace Gorton and Aubrey Burns at the net and Reese Poling in the back row.
“If you play club with a girl or you play multiple times against each other, you take extra baggage into the game, if you will,” Pence said. “It’s kind of nice. It’s the 30-by-30 with the round ball, and it’s us vs. them. Whoever executes better on Saturday will be the one to go on.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark Catholic responds to Northridge’s challenge in OHSAA volleyball
