Tuesday, October 22, 2002
The Tigers needed three sets to end the Golden Eagles' season.
By RYAN JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SALEM -- The pregame enthusiasm could be heard in the parking lot. Inside, John A. Cabas Gymnasium was buzzing with tournament intensity.
Springfield High earned its second trip to a district final for coach Bill Knight, by defeating second-seeded United, 15-12, 11-15, 15-9, Monday in a Division III semifinal at Salem High School.
"We've never won a district title; this will be our second chance to do so," Knight said. "This team has beat a bunch of good teams to get this opportunity. They just really, really work hard."
The Tigers jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first match as Jessica Huda served five consecutive points.
United evened the score at 12 before Carrie Davis put the game away by serving three straight points.
Davis finished with 10 points, six kills and three blocks.
"I thought we really did a nice job of keeping them [United] off balance," Knight said. "I think we play our best when we hit the ball at people every chance we get, rather than passing the ball back and forth. Tonight, we really attacked the ball."
United rally
In the second game, Springfield led 6-0 before United relied on strong serving to capture the game and even the match.
"My girls were upset with themselves following the second game," Knight said. "They had built up the lead and then lost it. They really wanted to win the match in two games."
Springfield responded in the third game, in which sophomore Lindsay Johnson had three key blocks along with the final two points to secure the match. She finished with five kills and six blocks.
The performance was ironic for Johnson, Knight said. "She came off after struggling a little in the front row. I told her to keep her head in the game and that she was going to be a factor before this match ended.
"The girls understand that both teams will go through spurts during a match, they have developed the calmness to stop the other team when it starts to go on a run," Knight said.
Megan Louttit added six points and 15 assists, and Heather and Jessica Snyder each contributed six points for the Tigers.
Thursday at 7:30 p.m., third-seeded Springfield will play unseeded Streetsboro for the district championship.
Streetsboro defeated South Range 15-5, 15-6 in the other semifinal match. Details of that match were not reported.