Published: October 28, 2009 05:06 am      

Springville ousts Prince of Peace in volleyball regional

By Shannon Heaton

For the Herald

WHEATLAND — Momentum tends to snowball in volleyball matches, and it snowballed out of Prince of Peace's control Tuesday night.

Ineffective passing led to tentative swings, which forced the Irish out of their attacking style that had served them so well over the past two weeks. That allowed an experienced Springville side to press the point offensively throughout the match. Even though Prince of Peace fought through as much as it could, the Orioles proved to be too strong in a Class 1A Region 7 quarterfinal match, winning in straight sets, 25-17, 25-19 and 25-20 at Calamus-Wheatland High School.

"Springville plays a different style of ball, a lot quicker style, lower sets, and our girls were not used to it," Prince of Peace coach Shanon Nelson said of the match, which ended the Irish's season at 11-16. "Did we compete with them? I think yes. They're a good team, but I also think we're a good team. They were just better tonight."

The Orioles (22-12), Class 1A state semifinalists in 2008, allowed only single Irish points while piling up multiple runs in building a 14-5 first-set lead. Prince of Peace had trouble getting its passing and setting in order against Springville's attack, which saw four different hitters collect at least six kills on the night. The trouble setting up attacks meant players were out of position in defensive coverage.

Still, though, the Irish hung around, fighting back to 21-17 before the Orioles closed out the set with four straight points. That would set the tone for the remainder of the match — Springville early lead, Prince of Peace battling to fight its way back into the set and the Orioles putting on a close at the finish.

"That's one of the nice things about this team. They never give up. We may get down, but we're not going to roll over and die," Nelson said. "We definitely didn't have a lot of attacks; we didn't control our side of the floor, and that put us on the defensive. That got us."

Springville got out to a 9-5 lead in the second set, but the Irish battled back, with Brittany Horst's service ace giving Prince of Peace a 13-12 lead — its first since 2-1 in the first set. A bit later, though, the Orioles erased a 15-14 deficit with a 9-2 run to finally seize control. Springville rode the hitting of junior middle hitter Hannah Loehr (13 kills, two blocks) to earn that control. Loehr had an easy, perhaps too easy, time with a few Irish overpasses, simply tipping them straight down for Oriole points.

The Irish brought a renewed sense of purpose into the third game, using two Carie Kuehn kills, a block from Horst and an ace from Kirsten Heeren to lead 7-6, but then the Orioles put together a 7-0 run. Prince of Peace got it back to 16-15, behind two aces and a kill from Horst, but the Orioles were able to re-extend the lead to five points late, doing enough down the stretch to secure the victory.

"It comes down to experience. They (Springville) had a great team to learn from last year, they've been to this stage many times, they've been to the state tournament, and I think that helps," Nelson said. "Our girls are new to this regional thing, but I think they learned they can compete with teams like this."

Aggressive serving helped the Irish rack up eight aces, with Horst serving four. Attacks proved to be tough to find, with Kuehn contributing six kills and Erica Ugarph and Horst each adding four. Defensively, Horst had 11 digs and Ari Aquilani added nine. For Horst, Ugarph, setter Megan Lehmkuhl (nine assists, three kills, five digs) and Haley Chapman, who did not see action Tuesday night, it was the end of their high school careers.

"I don't know if anyone thought we'd make it this far. I was proud to be a part of it," Nelson said. "I'm just really proud of the girls. Last year, we were the last-place team in the (Big East) conference and this year we got to the quarterfinal game in the regional tournament (winning two matches, in straight sets over East Central and four sets over Morning Star Academy).

"It's just a great group of girls. I'm really sad that it's over; they worked so hard. The seniors are going to go places — two will go into basketball — and I wish them a lot of luck. For the returners, we have a solid team coming back. If we work hard, we could be at this point again, maybe go even further. We've got a lot of young blood (coming back)."



CLASS 1A REGION 7 QUARTERFINALS

Springville 25-25-25,

Prince of Peace, 17-19-20

Kills — Springville 36 (Hannah Loehr 13, Katie Wyman 9, Alyssa Dirks 6, Maggie Ray 6, Karlee Markley 2), Prince of Peace 18 (Carie Kuehn 6, Erica Ugarph 4, Brittany Horst 4, Megan Lehmkuhl 3, Ari Aquilani 1). Blocks — Springville 2 (Loehr 2), Prince of Peace 4 (Kuehn 1, Isenhour 1, Horst 1, Lehmkuhl 1). Aces — Springville 4 (Markley 2, CJ Fitzgerald 1, Aleasea Bednarz 1), Prince of Peace 8 (Horst 4, Aquilani 2, Kirsten Heeren 1, Lehmkuhl 1). Assists — Springville 29 (Markley 23, Fitzgerald 6), Prince of Peace 16 (Lehmkuhl 9, Aquilani 6, Isenhour 1). Digs — Springville 38 (Fitzgerald 11, Bednarz 10, Markley 7, Mackenzie Nulle 6, Loehr 1, Dirks 1, Ray 1, Wyman 1), Prince of Peace 40 (Horst 11, Aquilani 9, Kuehn 6, Heeren 5, Lehmkuhl 5, Isenhour 2, Brittany Williams 2). Records — Springville 22-12, Prince of Peace 11-16.