Girard bows out to Smithville

The Indians have made five-straight regional appearances.
By PAUL TRGOVAC
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BARBERTON -- A couple of traditions, good and bad are starting for the Girard High volleyball team.
For the fifth straight year, the Indians have advanced to the regional tournament in Barberton. That's good.
However, for the third straight year and fourth time, the Indians lost a regional semifinal match. That's bad.
This time, Girard lost three straight games to Smithville -- 25-17, 25-22, and 26-24.
The Smithies (19-8) will face Cleveland Villa Angela St. Joseph for the regional title on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Vikings (21-4) eliminated Chagrin Falls in three games -- 25-119, 25-18, 25-16.
"It is one of goals every year to get back to the regional, but I would like to win one again," Girard coach Phil Walters said. The Indians won the regional at Barberton in 2002.
"One of these years we are going to get over the hump," Walters said. "I thought we had it this year, but it just was not our turn."
Quick start
The Smithies opened a quick 6-1 lead in the first game and increased their advantage to 9-2 before Girard (18-9) rallied to cut deficit to 9-7.
The Indians were not able to get any closer as Smithville scored the last three points in the game for the 25-17 victory.
In the second game, there were seven ties and three lead changes.
With Girard leading 18-15, the Smithies scored the next four points for a 19-18 advantage.
After the Indians tied the game at 19, Smithville scored three straight for a 22-19 lead. The Indians closed the gap to 23-22, but a spike by Tara Hollenbaugh set up the win 25-22 for Smithville.
In the final game, the Smithies broke to a 5-0 lead. Girard rallied back and tied the game at 10 and 12 before taking their first lead at 13-12.
After a tie at 13, the Indians pushed back out in front and had a chance at game point 24-18.
Smithies rally
On the game point, Girard served the ball into the net and Smithville ran off the next seven points for the victory.
"We didn't have our best offensive night tonight," Walters said. "We had spurts but we didn't get all the gears running. Momentum shifts so fast in rally scoring.
"We had a great match last week against Crestview [district final] but just could not get things running tonight," Walters said.
Courtney Madden led the Indians with 11 kills and 3 blocks, while Lauren Chiec had 8 digs. Aysha Nichels had 10 service points with 3 aces and added 32 assists.
Hollenbaugh led Smithville with 14 service points and 2 aces, while Megan Rehm had 5 blocks. Heather Steiner had 18 assists.
The star of the match was 5-foot-7-inch junior Lori Ickes who had 19 digs and added 13 spikes
"She is a tremendous athlete," Walters said. "We did not have an answer for her tonight.
"We did all right in the middle, but Ickes had her way with us," Walters said. "If we keep coming back here year after year, maybe on of these years one of the younger girls will turn it around for us."