CJ, Tipp and Alter capture district volleyball championships

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By Debbie Juniewicz, Contributing Writer Updated 12:03 AM Sunday, November 1, 2009

KETTERING – There were few tricks and lots of treats as area Division II teams made quick work of their district opponents on Halloween.

Chaminade Julienne, Tippecanoe and Alter all captured district championships in three sets at Fairmont High School’s Trent Arena Saturday, Oct. 31, earning trips to the D-II regional tournament.

CJ took only 13 minutes to go up a set against Clinton-Massie as the Eagles went on to a 25-4, 25-17, 25-21 win over the Falcons.

“Sometimes winning like that (25-4) is the worst thing that can happen to a team because it’s human nature to relax after that, and you really need to push all the way to the end,” CJ coach Dennis Hale said.

The Eagles pushed through the second game and built a 13-11 lead midway through Game 3. Then the trick part of trick-or-treat happened as the fire alarm was accidentally set off in the arena, delaying play while sirens blared and lights flashed.

“It was a little stressful because we knew we needed to keep our heads in the game, but we also had no idea when we would get back on the court,” Eagles defensive specialist Lindsay Richard said.

The Eagles, 16-5, recovered from the unexpected break and earned their first regional trip since 2002.

“I think we surprised a lot of people this season, ourselves included,” Hale said. “If you would have bet me, at the beginning of the season, that this would happen, I would have probably lost money.”

• The Red Devils added one more color to their rainbows Saturday.

Tippecanoe sped to a 25-11, 25-18, 25-17 win over Cincinnati McNicholas. With the win, the Red Devils players added a green ribbon to their collection of red, orange and yellow hanging on their bags — one for each of their tournament wins thus far. Adding blue and violet would mean a trip to state but the 24-1 Red Devils aren’t looking that far ahead.

Serving came up big for the Red Devils as senior setter/outside hitter Chelsea Dowd pounded in four aces, on 14 serves, in the first set alone.

“They were very focused,” Carus said. “But we still missed more serves than we would have liked.”

Tippecanoe will play a familiar foe in the regional semifinals — Alter. The Knights are the only blemish on the otherwise spotless Red Devils’ record as Alter won the regular-season match 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-17 two months ago.

• Alter beat Urbana 25-21, 25-15, 25-14 to claim the district championship title for the eighth time in the past 10 years.

“It probably wasn’t our best performance as a team but, at this level, I’ll take it any way I can get it,” Knights coach Tina Jasinowski said.

Alter sophomore Megan Courtney led the Knights in assists (13), aces (6) and blocks (5) while senior outside hitter Kellie Joseph had a team-leading 11 kills and defensive specialist Kristin Ignozzi scooped up 12 digs.

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