Hubbard's season ends

Mentor Lake Catholic beat the Eagles in three games in the Division II semifinal.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STOW -- The best volleyball player in Hubbard High history wiped a few tears off her cheek Wednesday night, composed herself and reflected on her career.
"I'm very proud to have played at Hubbard," senior Katy Jo Mroski said. "I'd have rather lost tonight with Hubbard than have played anywhere else and won."
The problem was, she wasn't supposed to lose. Not this year. Not to this team -- again.
But for the third straight year, the Eagles lost a regional match to Mentor Lake Catholic, 15-5, 12-15, 15-10, in the Division II regional semifinal at Stow High School.
"Three years in a row -- it's a tough thing to handle," Hubbard coach Chuck Montgomery said. "But it's been a great season.
"We almost had them."
Serves missed
Hubbard missed 24 serves on the night and gave Lake Catholic far too many second chances.
"That is a killer," Lake Catholic coach Rich Servino said of the missed serves. "Our defense wasn't that great and we didn't really stop their offense."
Added Montgomery, "It was like having five or six fumbles in football and still trying to win it."
But the Eagles also knew they had to serve better than they had all season -- which translated into trying riskier serves.
"You can't serve easy serves," Montgomery said. "You have to serve well or it's just curtains."
Hubbard -- which had not lost a set all season -- struggled early, falling behind 6-0 in the first game before cutting the deficit to 7-5. The Eagles got no closer, as Cougar standout senior Jessica Sabath served the final eight points.
Sabath -- Lake Catholic's only senior -- finished with 17 points and 15 kills.
"She's an outstanding player," Mroski said of Sabath. "She took the game from us."
The teams battled back and forth for most of the second set, with Hubbard falling behind 11-7 at one point, but used a 6-0 run to take the lead and, eventually, the set.
The Eagles again fell behind in the third set, 11-6, but scored four straight points to cut the deficit to 11-10. They would get no closer.
"I think it helps that we beat them [the past two years]," Servino said.
"It was important for us to win the first game because they hadn't lost a game all year.
"For some reason they just can't beat us."
Player summary
Mroski finished with 26 kills and 13 digs, senior Monika Rajkovicova had 15 kills, nine digs and six blocks for Hubbard (26-1). Traci Hassell added 19 assists and seven digs and Nicole Pringle had 18 assists and five digs.
"I've never been worried about stats," Mroski, who played one of the best games of her career, said. "I always feel like I could have done more."
Junior Vaiva Laniauskas had 12 kills, Christina Mahovlic had eight kills and Jamie Matthies added six aces and six blocks for Lake Catholic (25-1), which will play Rocky River in Saturday's regional final.
Before the game, the Cougars wore T-shirts with the words, "We're back and we're better."
Unfortunately, for Hubbard, they were right.
But just barely.
scalzo@vindy.com