NORWALK - With the drive for five now complete, the St. Ursula Academy volleyball team turns its attention to finally nailing down the ultimate No. 1 to go with it.
Coach John Buck's Arrows (27-0), ranked No. 1 in the Division I state poll, earned a chance to prove it yesterday by taking a 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 victory over Elyria (24-3) in the regional championship.
It was the fifth consecutive regional title for the five-time defending City League-champion Arrows, who have posted an impressive 133-8 record since 2000.
"It's an awesome accomplishment to have a program win five regionals in a row," Buck said. "That would not have been in my wildest dreams, but it's been a great run. Hopefully we can continue it the rest of the way."
St. Ursula will face Cincinnati Seton (21-6) in a state semifinal at 11 a.m. Friday at Wright State University's Nutter Center in Dayton.
Seton, a five-time state champion, is this year's winner from the state's top volleyball hotbed, the Girls Greater Cincinnati League. The GGCL has produced Ohio's last six D-I champions and eight of the last nine.
SUA's fifth state berth was earned in impressive style late in the third game when the match momentum appeared to be heading in Elyria's favor.
The Arrows had used a solid mix of defense and consistent passing to forge a 2-0 lead in games. With junior defensive specialist Tighe Westrick serving five straight winning points, SUA took a 7-1 lead in game three.
But Elyria rallied, attempting a repeat of Thursday's regional semfinals when the Pioneers emerged from a similar 2-0 deficit to beat Rocky River Magnificat.
Elyria chipped away at the lead, getting within 15-13 before finally gaining an 18-18 tie on a Kate Verhoff kill, and then taking a 23-21 lead when Arrows senior outside hitter Hayley Wiemer's attack went wide.
But Wiemer, who has earned the reputation of being a big-game player in both softball and volleyball, took her game to a higher level down the stretch with three straight impressive kills from the left side for a 24-23 lead.
With junior Allison Florian serving, SUA secured consecutive state berth No. 5 when Elyria botched a service return that landed wide on the Arrows' side.
The Arrows got an apparent emotional lift with Florian serving and SUA trailing 23-22. That's when the St. Ursula soccer team arrived in the gym fresh off their own 2-1 victory in a regional soccer final played in Huron.
"We saw their regional semifinal Thursday and we knew that they came back on Magnificat," Wiemer said. "We knew after two games went in our favor, they were going to come back strong. We had to step it up even more.
"As soon as the soccer team came in, you could just hear the gym going crazy. That adrenaline always helps."
Wiemer, who pitched SUA to a D-I state softball title last spring, topped the Arrows with 16 kills in the match. Seniors Brittany Fox and Alison Mugler added 10 and 8 kills, respectively.
The win was a true team effort for the Arrows, who used 10 of their 12 players in Buck's rotation.
Fox led with three blocks; senior libero Laura Fender and Mugler contributed five digs apiece, and junior twins Emily and Allison Florian had 4 and 3 service aces, respectively. Senior Jess Dominiak had 23 assists, and Emily Florian added 21.
First Published November 7, 2004, 4:12 p.m.
