St. Edward has shot at regional title
OREGON -- Things were getting a little uncomfortable for St. Edward girls volleyball coach Jamie Dovichi Thursday night.
In more ways than one.
As Dovichi was in the hospital awaiting the birth of her first child, she was also on the phone getting a play-by-play update of the Green Wave's 25-22, 25-20 upset victory over No. 1 seeded Genoa-Kingston in the Class 2A Oregon regional semifinal.
St. Edward advances to Saturday's regional championship against host Oregon, which the Green Wave knocked off in a sectional semifinal game 2 seasons ago, at 6 p.m. in Oregon.
The coach had to take delight in the effort of her team Katie Ayello in particular.
The junior libero had 5 aces in against the Cogs (20-14).
“Katie said she didn't want to serve short, she wanted to be aggressive,” Green Wave assistant coach Kyle Due said. “I told her to serve short and she said she wanted to be aggressive, so I gave her a deep zone. Katie did a fantastic job leading the team to victory.”
Although Ayello's leadership was key, so was the offense.
Enza Ranallo had 10 kills, Callie Johnson had 7 and Rena Ranallo finished with 8. Margie Haggenjos and Anne Kelly each had 10 assists.
Genoa-Kingston was up as much as 20-15 before the Green Wave (12-20) stormed back in Game 1. Kristina Kolodyczk (8 digs) got an ace to bring St. Edward back to 20-18. The teams exchanged points before back-to-back aces from Ayello tied the game at 21. The junior then got a service point and another ace to put the Green Wave up 23-21. A hitting error allowed G-K to come back to 23-22 before Sarah Norman and Ranallo recorded kills to end the game.
“Against Westminster Christian we played like we just came off the bus after an hour and a half ride,” Ayello said. “ (Against G-K) we were just ready. We wanted to show that we deserve to go on.”
After dropping Game 1 25-20, St. Edward got to work. The Green Wave bounced back with 25-22 and 25-13 victories to take the regional opener from Westminster.
After a pair of close games, the Green Wave exploded in the decisive Game 3, closing the match out with a 10-3 run. Haggenjos notched an ace and a pair of service points in the run.
“We were executing at a very high level in Game 1,” Warriors' coach Guy Lum said. “In Game 2, I felt we played really well, they just happened to get a lead on us a little quicker than I would have liked.”
St. Edward jumped out to a 15-7 lead off a Katie Swanson kill. Swanson then extended the lead to 18-11 with another kill. Haggenjos put the Green Wave ahead 20-11 with an ace. She then got a service point on 2 of the next 3 serves, with a Johnson kill sandwiched in the middle.
Westminster senior Hannah Graves led the Warriors with 6 kills, 7 assists and 4 digs. Katie Moeller led the defense with 12 digs and also finished with 4 kills. Westminster finished its season 21-11-1.
“We played strong and finished our season strong,” Lum said.