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Ozenghar helps Mooney win first volleyball district title
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Mooney’s Makenna Ozenghar, left, embraces Lauren Lottier after the Cardinals downed the Mineral Ridge Rams, 3-1, in a Division III volleyball district final Wednesday at Salem High School. Ozenghar not only stepped in for injured teammate Gina Patella, but she also provided the turning point for the Cardinals.
Ozenghar steps up for Mooney to deliver title
SALEM
Cardinal Mooney senior Makenna Ozenghar knew she would play a role in Wednesday’s Division III volleyball district final at Salem High School.
How critical of a role she needed to play, nobody could have anticipated.
In the opening game of the match, the top-seeded Cardinals lost their senior captain and setter Gina Patella, who fell to the floor holding her right knee after making a play at the net.
With the quarterback of the team unable to return, in stepped Ozenghar to not only fill Patella’s role, but also provide the turning point for the Cardinals.
Cardinal Mooney finished off the Rams in four games, 25-10, 20-25, 25-14, 25-22, to win the first district volleyball title in school history.
“I knew I had to step it up for my team,” said Ozenghar, who finished with 41 assists and 29 digs in relief.
“We just needed to play as a team. When we play as a team, that’s when we play well.”
The turning point in the match came right after Mineral Ridge had tied it one game apiece.
Ozenghar was serving for Mooney to lead off the third game and by the time the Rams got their first chance to serve, the Cardinals had a 14-1 lead in the game.
“I don’t even know,” Ozenghar said. “I was just trying to focus on my serve and everyone pulled it together.
“Again, I don’t even know,” she added with a sigh of relief.
While the Cardinals needed Ozenghar to step up most, Mooney coach Tony Gorvet pointed to his team’s multitude of options as the difference maker.
“This was a great team victory for us,” Gorvet said. “All the other girls picked their game up and played so well without Gina out there.
“We won this as a team.”
Mckenzie Reese led Mooney with 16 kills and added 14 digs. As a senior, and another one of the team’s captains, the need for her leadership was magnified.
“It kind of scared me a little bit, not gonna lie,” Reese said. “But we wanted it so much that I knew it wouldn’t affect us.”
Reese applauded Ozenghar for her ability to step in and run the offense as smoothly as she did.
“It’s not an easy job at all,” she said. “Then it messes up the whole flow of the game and everyone’s confused where to go.
“But as seniors, I think we pulled it together and didn’t let it faze us.”
Mooney’s Lauren Lottier had 36 digs in the match, while Nichole Webber added 14 kills, four digs and four blocks up front.
Gorvet credited Mineral Ridge after the match and admitted he got worried and felt like the Rams saw an opportunity after Patella went down.
The Rams won the second game, but could not overcome the Cardinals’ 14 straight points against them to start the third.
“Hot and cold — that was the issue,” Mineral Ridge coach Claire Ferrando said. “We didn’t have the momentum and volleyball is such a momentum sport.
“It’s all about who can go and grab the momentum and we just couldn’t get it.”
The Rams lose all but one starter to graduation, making the loss all that more difficult to swallow.
Peyton Allen had 12 kills and 21 digs, Alyssa Harkins had 10 kills and 24 digs and Breanna Miner had 18 assists and 24 digs for Mineral Ridge.
“I mean it’s tough — it’s so tough,” Ferrando said. “In a situation like this, it’s so hard to find the words to say, but they had a phenomenal senior year.”