Published: October 20, 2009 07:04 am      

Prince of Peace opens volleyball postseason with win

By Shannon Heaton

For the Herald

CLINTON — East Central volleyball coach Brenda McKone had a simple explanation for the difference.

“They attacked more this time,” McKone said of Prince of Peace’s strategy in putting away her Raiders in straight sets, 25-12, 25-15 and 25-21, in a Class 1A Region 7 first-round contest Monday night at Central Catholic Auditorium, as compared to the five-set match the two teams had during the regular season.

“Last time, they waited and expected us to make a mistake, and tonight they took at it us. They didn’t hit like that before.”

That amped-up level of aggressive play has pushed the Irish in October. Where, even earlier in the month, tournaments were not Prince of Peace’s venue of choice, last week’s fourth-place finish at the Big East Conference meet and Monday night’s effort indicated a change of heart.

“What helped us was instead of waiting for them, we just put the ball down on our side,” Irish coach Shanon Nelson said. “It’s just the hard work they put in during the off-season. I have lots of girls that are very versatile and it’s nice that they’re getting the job done wherever they’re at on the floor.”

Each game had a very different feel, though they all eventually went the way of the Irish (11-15). Prince of Peace jumped to a huge early lead in the first set, stringing together an eight-point run that later became 13-3 and 19-7 leads. East Central (11-23) established a bit of resurgence in the second set, going out to an 11-7 lead midway through, but the Irish answered a short time later with an 11-1 run to largely close out that set. In the third, the Raiders finally seemed to get their sea legs, jumping to a 12-3 lead early, but again Prince of Peace answered, this time with a 13-3 run that tied the match.

“We couldn’t be happier,” Irish middle hitter Erica Ugarph (12 kills, three blocks, four aces) said. “We finished it in three. Usually, we lose the second game and we get down, but, this time, even though we started slowly, we finished it off.”

No matter what the Raiders seemed to throw, Prince of Peace had the answer for it, taking advantage of several East Central overpasses for easy kills, and even — by match’s end — putting together several key blocks on the Raiders outside attack. Compounding the problem, the Irish seemed to be swinging in the general direction of East Central setter Cassie Aldis, forcing her to defend rather than set, although Nelson said afterward that wasn’t by design.

What also seemed to be a significant difference in the game was serve-receive. The Raiders struggled with that throughout the match, and Prince of Peace took advantage, with 10 aces.

The win means that the Lady Irish will again play at CCA on Wednesday night, this time facing Morning Star Academy. Game time for that match is 7 p.m.

“Having home court and being at CCA is amazing,” Carie Kuehn (six kills, nine digs) said. “Our fans are great, and it’s a great atmosphere.”

Seven different Irish players had at least two kills, compared with four for East Central, which was led by Sam Lippens’ nine. Defensively, Aldis and Lippens were the busiest Raiders, with 17 and 10 digs, respectively. Brittany Horst paced the Irish with 12.



PRINCE OF PEACE 25-25-25,

EAST CENTRAL 12-15-21

Kills — Prince of Peace 33 (Erica Ugarph 12, Carie Kuehn 6, Brittany Horst 5, Megan Lehmkuhl 3, Kirsten Heeren 3, Julia Isenhour 2, Ari Aquilani 2), East Central 23 (Sam Lippens 9, Sydney Gray 5, Mareah Adolphs 4, Tessa Daniels 4, Cassie Aldis 1). Blocks — Prince of Peace 9 (Isenhour 3, Ugarph 3, Kuehn 2, Heeren 1), East Central 5 (Lippens 2, Ryleigh Keeney 2, Gray 1). Aces — Prince of Peace 10 (Ugarph 4, Kuehn 2, Horst 2, Aquilani 1, Heeren 1), East Central 2 (Daniels 1, Kelsey McCloy 1). Assists — Prince of Peace 24 (Lehmkuhl 12, Aquilani 7, Isenhour 2, Horst 2, Kuehn 1), East Central 19 (Aldis 12, McCloy 2, Keeney 2, Gray 2, Lippens 1). Digs — Prince of Peace 41 (Horst 12, Kuehn 9, Heeren 5, Lehmkuhl 4, Aquilani 4, Brittany Williams 4, Ugarph 3), East Central 37 (Aldis 17, Lippens 10, Jamie Frahm 4, Adolphs 2, Gray 2, McCloy 1, Keeney 1). Records — Prince of Peace 11-15, East Central 11-23.

Next — Prince of Peace hosts Morning Star Academy, Wednesday, 7 p.m.