Central’s season ends in district semis

GOING UP FOR IT — Catholic Central’s Reagan Meek attempts to hit the ball over the net during Monday’s district semifinal against Strasburg at Harrison Central. – Andrew Grimm

CADIZ — Sometimes, how a team starts can set the tone for the whole match the wrong way.

Unfortunately for Catholic Central, that’s what happened to them on Monday evening.

The Crusaders got off to a slow start in their Division VII, East 1 District semifinal against a very good Strasburg team and were never really able to get going as the Tigers swept their way to the district final, 25-10, 25-12, 25-13.

“We knew coming in they were a good team,” Central head coach Sherri Barber said. “We watched film on them. We knew they had a good player (Riley Thomas) that really hits the ball, she was the player of the year last year. It’s disappointing for the girls.

“We just came out flat. The girls were out of their routine and we were missing a starter, that might have thrown them off a little bit. We had a couple nice blocks early but after that we couldn’t slow them down.”

Strasburg, the No. 3 seed in the district, opened a 13-4 lead in the first set, a 5-1 lead in the second set and a 12-4 advantage in the third set to be in control most of the way. The Tigers are now 17-6.

Central, the No. 6 seed, drops the curtain with a 14-9 mark.

“Overall it was a good season,” Barber said. “We came up short in the tournament, but these girls played hard and wanted to win. They wanted to keep going.”

After the slow start in the first set, the Crusaders did pull within 16-8, but the Tigers scored nine of the last 11 to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.

Likewise, in the second set, Central rallied to within two at 8-6 and 11-9. and looked like it might have something going after falling behind early, but the Tigers scored the next seven points to pull back away on the way to a 2-0 match lead.

Central hung with the Tigers early in the third set at 5-3, but the Tigers scored seven of the next eight points to take command and did not look back on the way to the sweep.

Statistically for Central, Natalie Cherepko tallied 12 kills, four digs, an ace and eight points, Ava Marcino had seven kills, three digs, an ace and six points, Lilly Balzano tallied an ace and six points, Emily Walker tallied five kills, three digs and five points and Gianna Lemal recorded three kills.

The match was the final one for four Crusader seniors – Cherepko, Balzano, Walker and Marcino.

“These seniors were awesome,” Barber said. “They were great leaders. We didn’t have any problems this season and that’s because they were great leaders. We’re going to miss them.”

Strasburg will meet top seed Tuscarawas Central in the district championship match on Wednesday at Tuscarawas Valley. The Saints defeated No. 10 seed Toronto in the other semifinal on Monday.