Volleyball team ready for Hartley challenge

Inconsistent play plagued the Watterson High School girls volleyball team early in the season. It lost four of its first seven matches.

That was the case during a 23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-13 loss to Hartley on Sept. 8. The Eagles won the first two games and raced out to a nine-point lead in the third game, only to let a key CCL victory escape their grasp.

The Eagles have a chance to redeem themselves when they play today at Hartley. But assistant coach Liz Rundio said they must put together a more complete effort to topple the Hawks, who were first in the Division II state poll last week.

Last Saturday, Watterson defeated Warsaw River View 25-16, 25-20 and Newark Catholic 19-25, 25-14, 25-18 and lost to Logan Elm 22-25, 25-16, 25-20. The Eagles were 8-5 overall and 3-1 in the CCL before playing Worthington Christian last Tuesday.

Hartley was 10-2 overall and 4-0 in the CCL before playing Ready last Tuesday.

"We were too up-and-down the last time we played Hartley, and give them credit, because they fought back to beat us," Rundio said. "We had our problems with consistency early in the season, but we've done a much better job of stepping up to the challenge of playing great teams since that match.

"Our girls definitely want a little bit of revenge, so I'm confident they will be pumped and ready to play hard the entire match. We understand that this match is crucial for us, because a second loss to Hartley would dampen our hopes of winning the CCL."

Rundio said the Eagles need to put up a stronger block against Hartley outside hitter Lauren Hughes, given that Hughes had several kills in the previous match.

"Lauren's a really strong outside hitter, so we have to watch out for her," Rundio said. "Hartley's a really scrappy defensive team, so we've got to be ready to play good defense ourselves."

The Eagles should be bolstered by the return of middle hitter Michelle Sunderman and defensive specialist Marissah Burt. both missed the first match against Hartley because of illness.

"Hartley has a good defense, so we'll run a quicker offense to stir them up a little bit," Sunderman said. "We've got some taller players like (Christine) Sumner (6-foot-2) and (Toni) Frustaglio (5-10) who can jump high and hit it over their block, too."

Watterson plays host to DeSales on Tuesday in another CCL match. Watterson beat the Stallions 25-14, 25-14, 25-14 on Sept. 10.

In other recent league matches, the Eagles defeated Ready 27-25, 25-22, 25-21 on Sept. 15 and beat Columbus School for Girls 25-7, 25-8, 25-5 on Sept. 17.

The Ready match was dedicated to 15th-year coach Chuck Gleich, who missed Watterson's first 13 matches undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments for colon cancer. The proceeds from the match were donated to OhioHealth Foundation Oncology Services.

"Before the match, I told the girls that it's time to dedicate themselves to play their very best, and I'm really proud of them that they beat a really good Ready team that night," Gleich said. "Being an emotional coach, I cried a little bit when I talked to them."

The Eagles were inspired by Gleich's presence.

"That absolutely drove us to play harder and win," Sunderman said. "We came out fired up, because we wanted to win this one for coach and we knew we needed to beat Ready to come out on top of the CCL."

Through 13 matches, Frustaglio led the team in kills with 79, followed by Sumner (59), Sunderman (53) and Taylor Ely (45). Jillian Harmon (125) led the Eagles in digs with 125, followed by Ely (109).

•The cross country teams competed in the Arrowhead Invitational last Wednesday at Whetstone.

The boys team competes Saturday in the All-Ohio Catholic Championships at Kettering Alter, and both teams compete in the Panther Invitational Oct. 3 at Pickerington North.

At a glance

Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Watterson boys golf, girls golf, girls tennis, boys soccer, girls soccer and field hockey teams:

BOYS GOLF

Sept. 15 -- Finished second (152) behind Olentangy Liberty (151) and Dublin Coffman (155)

*Sept. 17 -- Defeated Hartley 162-171. Collin Buchanon (39) was medalist.

Saturday -- At Cincinnati St. Xavier Invitational at Maketewah

GIRLS GOLF

Sept. 14 -- Lost to Dublin Coffman 155-161

Sept. 15 -- Finished first (163) in third round of MOGGL tournament ahead of runner-up DeSales (174). Lauren Grogran (36) was medalist.

Sept. 16 -- Def. Gahanna 171-173

Last Tuesday -- Played Dublin Jerome and Pickerington

Last Wednesday -- Played DeSales

Today -- At fourth round of MOGGL tournament at Bent Tree

Monday -- At Champions vs. New Albany

Wednesday -- At Champions vs. Jerome and Upper Arlington

GIRLS TENNIS

*Sept. 15 -- Def. Columbus School for Girls 5-0

*Last Tuesday -- Played DeSales

Last Wednesday -- Played Olentangy Liberty

*Today -- Home vs. Hartley

*Tuesday -- At Ready

Of note: The Eagles were 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the CCL before last Tuesday.

BOYS SOCCER

*Sept. 15 -- Lost to St. Charles 3-2. Max Rohda and Brennan Clegg scored. Brian Raderstorf had two saves.

Sept. 17 -- Lost to Pickerington North 2-0. Raderstorf had three saves.

*Today -- At DeSales

Saturday -- At Beavercreek

*Tuesday -- Home vs. Worthington Christian

Of note: The Eagles are 2-2-2 overall and 1-1-1 in the CCL.

GIRLS SOCCER

Sept. 14 -- Def. Dublin Scioto 8-0

*Sept. 15 -- Def. Worthington Christian 7-1. Isa Hollern, Kelly DeNiro, Andrea Regrut, Meghan Caldwell, Bridget Lynch, Rachel Callahan and Sarah Hetterscheidt scored. Mary Kate Campbell had three saves.

Last Saturday -- Def. Anthony Wayne 2-1. DeNiro and Lindsey Schons scored. Campbell had six saves.

*Last Tuesday -- Played Columbus School for Girls

Today -- Home vs. New Albany

Of note: The Eagles were 7-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the CCL before last Tuesday.

FIELD HOCKEY

Sept. 16 -- Def. Dublin Jerome 3-1. Maria Swartz scored twice, Nina Passen scored once and Domini Paradiso had five saves.

Last Tuesday -- Played Bexley

Today -- At Olentangy Orange

Monday -- Home vs. Olentangy

Wednesday -- Home vs. Upper Arlington

Of note: The Eagles were 6-0-1 before last Tuesday.

*CCL contests