×

Wanting more

Dragons aim to reach goal set last year with D-10 title match win over Conneaut

Warren battles Conneaut on Saturday in the D-10 Class 3A volleyball championship at Meadville High School.

It all comes down to this.

The last 364 days of preparation. The hours spent in the weight room, the long drives for summer leagues and tournaments, the hot August practices. All with a single purpose in mind.

Win the team’s first ever District 10 title.

It’s a lofty goal, but one the Warren volleyball team has been driven to achieve since they fell to General McLane in the 2017 championship. Though most team members pursue other sports and interests through the year, they all said winning this match was always in the back of their minds. Driving them to work harder and get better any way they could.

“It made us stronger,” senior Lydia Latimer said just before the playoffs began.

Stronger indeed. The Dragons returned nearly every player from a team that went 14-4 a season ago, and improved to an impressive 17-0 in dual match play this season. The unblemished record is just the second in school history. The 2010 team was also undefeated in dual match play, but those Dragons were knocked out in the round robin portion of the district playoffs.

“The 2010 team was undefeated too,” Warren coach Mike Dolan said. “But this team is different.”

This team certainly has a different feel to it than that 2010 team did. They’re relaxed, but confident, intense during play, but loose between the action. They’ve got a chemistry with each other on and off the court as Andy Close wrote in a Friday column.

That chemistry is a big reason why when the team juggled positions-moving Ellie Lobdell from setter to right side and inserting Lex Nyquist into the setter position-it worked so well.

“It would be difficult for most players (to make that switch),” Dolan said. “But Lex is so good at getting the ball over there that it’s worked well. They’ve made it a seamless transition, and it really shouldn’t be.”

With Lobdell on the right side, Latimer and Jordan Sitler in the middle and Celia Chase and Grace Wortman on the outside, the Dragons have hard swinging options all across the net. Latimer (354), Chase (268) and Lobdell (203) are all over 200 kills on the year. It’s not just that they’re swinging hard either, all five players are hitting above 30 percent, with Sitler (43.4), Chase (43.2) and Latimer (50) all over 40 percent. Nyquist runs the offense and has collected more than 900 assists so far this season. Julia Lobdell as the libero has brought solid defense and serve reception to the back row.

Warren will need all those positions to function as well as they have this season, if not better, to get their hands on district gold.

In the Dragons’ way stands Conneaut (13-3), the Region 4 champions who swept Harbor Creek in the semifinals to punch a ticket to the title game. The Eagles and Dragons previously shared a common region, but were split in the new region alignment this year. That is to say, the teams are not unfamiliar with each other. While they did not face each other during the regular season, Warren did take a set from Conneaut during the Cochranton Tournament. The Dragons won the set 25-12.

The Eagles offense runs almost exclusively through outside hitter Cassidy Snider. The 6-foot sophomore has 488 kills this season, on 1,292 attacks. Mya Storll is second on the team with 428 attacks. Taylor Kersnick is second with 167 kills while she has a team-leading 66 blocks.

Two of Conneaut’s three losses came to District 10 powerhouses. The Eagles dropped a 3-1 decision to Cochranton on Sept. 6, and lost a five-set battle with Maplewood Sept. 20. The third loss was at Cambridge Springs Oct. 11. Cochranton and Cambridge Springs are set to square off for the District 10 Class 1A title at 1 p.m. today, while Maplewood battles Corry for the 2A title at 3 p.m.

Last year, the Dragons entered the title game against the Lancers as decided underdogs. This year, Warren is certainly the favorite, and the Dragons are more confident this time around, though they know they can’t afford to take the Eagles lightly.

“We want it a lot more,” Julia Lobdell said. “We expect more of ourselves and we’re more confident.”

All three title matches will be held in the “House of Thrills” at Meadville High School today. The Dragons and Eagles are scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.

– – –

Unable to attend, or want to help send off the team? Fans are asked to line the sidewalks of Fifth Ave. today to cheer the team bus as it departs Warren Area High School. Fans and well-wishers should be in place by 1:15 p.m. as the bus is scheduled to depart WAHS at 1:20 p.m.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today