Madonna outlasts Heartland to reach OVAC final
WEIRTON — The Madonna volleyball was looking to make quick of its opponent in an OVAC Class 1A Tournament Semifinal, however, Heartland Christian displayed the heart of the lion as the girls from Columbiana County battled back and improbably found themselves a mere three points from victory.
The Blue Dons, however, displayed the heart of a champion, as the girls from Hancock County collected the final three points of the match – the last of which came on a block by Lacy Quering – enabling No. 2 seed Madonna to survive a scare from third-seeded Heartland Christian, 25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 16-25, 15-12, in a five-game thriller Wednesday night on Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Court inside the Bill Barrett Gymnasium.
With the win, Madonna will take on No. 1 seed and defending champion Conotton Valley in the tournament final at 1 p.m. Saturday down at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. Conotton Valley advanced to the tournament final by sweeping No. 4 seed Wood County Christian in the other semifinal Wednesday night at home.
The Blue Dons did not qualify for the annual conference tournament last season as the Rockets swept the Lions to win the title.
It is a different story this season as Madonna improved to 19-8-1 after the victory against Heartland Christian. The loss dropped the Lions down to 12-9 on the year.
Individually for Madonna, Sophie Brady delivered five kills, 42 assists and nine digs, Rylee Birkhimer recorded 18 kills, two assists and 22 digs and Geena Birkhimer contributed 13 kills, four digs and one solo block. Also, Quering ended up with five kills, two digs and one solo block, Madi Owens added 12 kills and 28 digs and Breea Birkhimer collected two kills and 26 assists. Finally, Abigail Boyd chipped in with three kills and one dig, and Danyka DeCaria produced 18 digs.
The visitors scored the first point of the match in Game 1, but the hosts built a 12-3 lead on the strong serving of Owens. Heartland Christian head coach Shannon Liposky called a timeout with her team trailing, 8-3, but the Lions were unable to stem the tide. The victors were able to build a double digit advantage in the game at 15-5 before increasing their advantage to 17-6 on their way to winning the first game by nine to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Lions were hurt by multiple service errors in the opening game.
The Blue Dons struck first in Game 2, however, the Lions fought back and scored the next five points to take a 5-1 advantage. Keagan Pruitt produced a couple nice serves to help lead the turnaround. Heartland Christian continued to play well as caused Madonna head coach Jaedyn Hissam to call a timeout with her team trailing, 7-2. Madonna’s deficit grew to 8-2, but the Blue Dons began to turn the tide.
The Lions led 10-5, but some good serves from Geena Birkhimer helped turn the game around as the Blue Dons were able to regain the lead at 11-10. The two teams traded points before Heartland Christian was able to build a 16-12 advantage forcing Hissam to call her second timeout of the game.
The away team seemed to be in control of the game, however, thanks to some strong serving by Rylee Birkhimer, Madonna delivered 13 of the final 14 points of the game to win the game by eight points to take a 2-0 lead.
The Blue Dons were on the verge of a possible sweep, however, the Lions did not go to sleep. Instead, the Lions roared back to win the next two games before finding themselves three points away from victory before the girls in white were finally able to put them away.
Makenna Wilson got the comeback started as she served Heartland Christian out to a 7-0 advantage to start Game 3. Madonna ended up making a run behind the serving of Owens as the Blue Dons pulled to within 9-7 forcing Liposky to call a timeout in an effort to settle the troops.
The tactic proved effective as the Lions regrouped and pushed their advantage out to 12-7, however, the victors responded behind the serving of Rylee Birkhimer as Madonna came all the way back to knot the score at 12-all. The Lions scored the next point to regain the lead, and some nice serves by Maddie Neville and Pruitt gave the Black and Purple a 22-16 lead.
Though down by six points, the locals did not go away as they closed to within two points – 24-22 – on the strength of some strong serves by Owens. Lipsoky called another timeout with her team up by two. Her team’s lead got cutdown to 24-23 before the Lions were able to score the necessary point to win the game and stay alive in the match on a nice play by Claire Liposky.
Heartland Christian got off to another good start in Game 4, however, Owens once again served Madonna to the lead as the Blue Dons built an 8-4 advantage forcing Coach Liposky to call a timeout. The Lions were able to respond following the timeout, and they stormed their way back into the game behind the serving of Pruitt.
Ultimately, Heartland Christian was able to complete the comeback in the game as the Lions took a 15-12 advantage forcing Hissam to call a timeout. This time, the Blue Dons were unable to turn things around as their deficit continued to grow before the Lions sealed the deal in the game as they won it by nine to force and a fifth and final game.
Unlike the previous four games, the fifth game is only played to 15 points instead of the normal 25, so jumping out in front is crucial for teams.
In this one, the Lions scored the first point, but the Blue Dons answered and built a 6-3 advantage causing Coach Liposky to call a timeout. Madonna extended its advantage out to 9-5 before Heartland Christian stormed back and knotted the score at 10 forcing Hissam to call a timeout.
The two teams traded the next four points to even the score at 12 before the Blue Dons delivered the final three points of the night to win the game and the match to advance to the tournament final.
Serving played a key role in the victory for Madonna as the Blue Dons finished the night with 15 aces. Rylee Birkhimer led the way in that category for her team with six, Owens ended up with five and Geena Birkhimer recorded three. Also, Danyka DeCaria delivered two aces.
The match was originally scheduled to start at 5:30 before it was moved back to 6 p.m. Once started, the match took nearly two hours to complete.