Having six players who are 6-foot or taller, Dublin Coffman High School girls volleyball coach Mary Anne Souder wanted her team to utilize its size advantage against Watterson in a Division I district final last Saturday at Licking Heights.

The top-seeded Shamrocks executed Souder's strategy to perfection. They dominated the net both offensively and defensively en route to a 25-11, 25-17, 25-18 win over the 10th-seeded Eagles.

Coffman won its third consecutive district championship and was 26-0 before playing second-seeded Pickerington North in a regional semifinal last Wednesday.

"Our size made a big difference in this match," Souder said. "We have tall, athletic girls who can get up there, and we were able to hit above their block and put up a good block. Andrea Baylin (6-1) came with some heat with her hitting, and Isolde Hannan (6-0) and Alex Blair (6-2) dominated the net with their blocking, especially Isolde."

The Shamrocks jumped out to big leads en route to winning the first two games.

"We came out strong and blocked their outside hitters right away, and that gave us a lot of confidence," Blair said. "(Hannan) stepped up big with her blocking and when Watterson did get in position to block us, we tipped around their defense."

Watterson took an 8-5 lead in the third game, prompting Souder to call a timeout. After the Eagles extended their advantage to 10-6, the Shamrocks rallied and outscored Watterson 19-8 the rest of the set. In the third game, Baylin had six kills and an ace, Blair had four kills and Hannan and (6-1) Meredith Stranges each had three kills.

The victory avenged a 25-18, 25-23, 25-16 loss to Watterson in a regional semifinal two years ago. Coffman lost to Olentangy 25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 15-25, 15-4 in a regional semifinal last year.

"This is the best match I've played all year," Hannan said. "I just used the energy of the excitement that was around me to play well. We were aggressive. We acted instead of reacting."

The Shamrocks pounded Teays Valley 25-3, 25-9, 25-13 in a district semifinal Oct. 27 at Licking Heights.

"We did a good job of playing at our level and not theirs in that match," Souder said.

If Coffman advanced to the regional final, it would play Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame or Thomas Worthington at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hilliard Davidson, with the winner advancing to the state tournament Nov. 12 and 14 at Wright State University.

The Shamrocks defeated Thomas 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 on Sept. 8 and 25-15, 25-8, 25-15 on Oct. 1, but didn't play Mount Notre Dame this season.

A team from the Columbus area hasn't won a Division I regional title since Westerville North in 1997 and hasn't won a Division I state title since Reynoldsburg in 1989.

But the Shamrocks have a lot of confidence after going 4-0 to win the Gold Division of the Cincinnati Mother of Mercy Fall Classic held Sept. 26 and 27, becoming the first Columbus team to win the event since Reynoldsburg in 1989.

Coffman, which has lost only one set all season, was ranked second in the final Division I state poll behind Cincinnati Ursuline Academy and was ranked sixth in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national poll last week.

"We're the first Columbus team to win the Mercy tournament in a long time, and that's given us a boost of confidence that we can win regional, because we've already proven that we're better than a typical Columbus team and that we can beat Cincinnati teams," Blair said.

Through the regular season, Baylin had 233 kills, 61 aces, 200 digs and 304 serve receptions, Lindsey Zitzke had 689 assists and 32 aces, Hannan had 68 blocks and 112 kills, Blair had 183 kills, 31 aces, 44 blocks and 104 serve receptions, Stranges had 126 kills and 142 digs, Bailey Farthing had 55 blocks, and Julia Mindlina had 94 digs and 105 serve receptions.

"To win regional, we need to use all of the athletes on our team, because we have a lot of different girls who do different things really well," Blair said.

Members of the Coffman volleyball team celebrate their 25-11, 25-17, 25-18 victory over Watterson last Saturday in a Division I district final.

Andrea Baylin returns a shot last Saturday in front of teammate Stacy Axner.