Monday, October 27, 2003
The Blue Devils' season ended with a 13-13 record.
By JOHN BUTERA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LISBON -- Top-seeded Windham High proved why it deserved that honor, defeating Western Reserve, 15-2, 15-2, to win the Division IV district volleyball championship Thursday at Lisbon High School.
Windham (24-1) advanced to a regional semifinal at Hudson High School next Thursday.
By scoring on each of its first three possessions, Windham jumped ahead 8-0 in the first game, using fine net play from Ali Roach and Jodie Stanley and a good serve from Erika Cline. Moments later, the Bombers scored six straight for a 14-0 lead.
Not enough
Behind serving points from Lindsey Wentzel and Andrea Martin, the Blue Devils (13-13) avoided a shutout, but could get no closer.
The second game was more of the same as Jenny Eckman and Tabitha Pennington helped the Bombers score the game's final five points to pull away.
"We came together and played well as a team," said Pennington, a member of last year's team which lost in the district semifinal. "Now we're definitely more confident about going farther.
"I didn't think it would be this easy tonight but we've been practicing really hard and that early big lead was really important."
Pennington finished with 11 points, four kills and an ace, while Roach had six points, 11 kills and two aces.
Western Reserve was in the district final for the first time since 1996.
"Windham always has a good team but tonight I don't think we played like we were capable," said Western Reserve's first-year coach Julie Rousell. "We have a lot better team than what we showed.
"The girls played hard and tried hard and during the timeouts I tried to motivate them to get the momentum to swing our way. We just needed to be more consistent."
Shooting for state
Windham is making its second straight trip to the regional and eighth overall. The Bombers, who won the Portage County League and the district title for the first time in school history, have never advanced to the state tournament.
"Between our serving and our hitting we were really on top of our game and that didn't give them much of a chance to get into the match," said Windham coach Michael Chaffee. "We've got good athletes on this team and they really have an understanding of the game."