Shawnee’s Kelly Cooper hits a spike past Millbury Lake’sMylah Vorst (10) and Maura Deutschman during a Thursday night Division II regional semifinal at Lexington.
Don Speck | The Lima News
LEXINGTON — Good ball control and solid defense.
That’s what the Shawnee volleyball team has prided itself on all season long.
However, in Thursday’s Division II regional semifinal at Lexington High School, Milbury Lake managed to get Shawnee out of sync, as Milbury Lake defeated Shawnee in straight sets — 25-14, 25-21, 25-21.
With the victory, Milbury Lake (21-6) will face Gilmour Academy at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lexington for the regional championship.
Shawnee ends its season 24-2.
In Thursday’s first regional semifinal, Gilmour Academy defeated Norwalk in straight sets – 25-7, 25-23, 25-14.
“I think, ultimately, when you’re playing really good competition – they are at the same skill level and maybe then some – it comes down to those fine details,” Shawnee head coach Brooke Hutchins said. “Lake is a very, very good team. They had us somewhat scrambling in the backcourt on serve/reception.
“We’ve always had quite a bit of ball control and great defense. So, when that happens (forced to scramble), it’s forcing us to settle at the net – which we’re not seeing as many clean looks as we ordinarily would have had. I think those are the little details, that it came down to.”
In the first set, it was tied 3-3. However, Lake got it going, as it never trailed the rest of the set.
Senior Taryn DeWese recorded five kills in the first set. Teammate Maura Deutsschman had four kills.
DeWese, a Vanderbilt University commit, ended the night with 20 kills. Deutsschman had 9 kills.
In the second set, the score was knotted four times before Lake managed to pull away.
Senior Kelly Cooper and sophomore Karleigh Hutchins led Shawnee in the second set with five kills apiece. Cooper ended the contest with 14 kills. Hutchins, the coach’s daughter, recorded nine kills.
In the third set, Lake led by as many as eight points. DeWese hammered nine kills in that decisive set.
“They have great players,” Coach Hutchins said about Milbury Lake. “I think they did a good job of isolating our strong players in the frontcourt. And there were times where maybe we didn’t take the ball elsewhere, and we could have. But other than that, I think we fought. I think it came down to the fact that they made more plays than we did. They’re a great team for sure.”
Despite losing six seniors off this squad, Hutchins feels like the future is bright for her program.
“We have a strong senior class. But we also have some ‘hearts of lions’ that are coming up. So, I feel like we will just reload. I feel like the young ones didn’t back down in this match. So, that was something very enlightening. Just thinking about the future – those will be huge pieces for next year,” Hutchins said.
Shawnee senior Grace Freiberger, a University of Toledo commit, ended the night with 23 digs. Freiberger also served up two aces.
Match Summary
Millbury Lake 3, Shawnee 0
Set Scores: 25-14, 25-21, 25-21
Kills – Milbury Lake: Taryn Dewese 19, Maura Deutsschman 8; Shawnee – Kelly Cooper 14, Karleigh Hutchins 8
Digs – Milbury Lake: Sydney Marchetto 14; Shawnee – Freiberger 23
Aces – Milbury Lake: Taryn Dewese 2; Shawnee: Grace Freiberger 2
