OHSAA State Tournament Top Performer 2023 Division III

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was a battle at the Nutter Center, on campus of Wright State University, as 2022 state champions, Lake Catholic came in hungry for another Division III state title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas defeated Byesville Meadowbrook, a returner to the final four; in the semi-final, and Mentor Lake Catholic defeated St. Henry, a talented team from Western Ohio.&nbsp; This lead to a final that consisted of Lake Catholic defeating Archbishop McNicholas 25-17, 25-22, 25-13 for back-to-back state titles in dominating fashion.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Standouts from Archbishop; 3 attackers from a well-spread offense include; Cassidy Rivas ( 11 kills 1 error on 35 attempts hitting a .286) a University of Pikeville commit, &nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='152345' first='Lucy' last='Perkins'] ( 11 kills on 20 attempts, 2 errors hitting a .450), and [player_tooltip player_id='480801' first='Savanna' last='Stacey'] ( 11 kills on 37 attempts with 6 errors. Hitting .135)&nbsp; in the final Perkins hit .389 versus a tough Lake catholic team.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Setter [player_tooltip player_id='239201' first='Maria' last='Billies'] finished the semi-final with 33 assists 13 digs and 4 service aces, and in the final, she finished with 22 assists, 1 ace, and 15 digs.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mentor Lake Catholic stand out attackers; [player_tooltip player_id='169125' first='Katie' last='Sowko'] a Wright State commit, and [program_tooltip program_id='431573' first='RockCity' last=''] Volleyball athlete ( 11 kills on 28 attempts with 2 errors) and [player_tooltip player_id='289172' first='Natalya' last='Bergant'] ( 9 kills on 20 attempts with 2 errors.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Offense was commanded solely by [player_tooltip player_id='169128' first='Hannah' last='Pattie'], an AVC volleyball athlete and commit to Colgate, finished with 35 assists, and Libero Julie Oster another AVC athlete, also commited to Colgate, tallied 14 digs.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the Final, Sowko hit .400 with 21 kills,&nbsp; and Pattie added up 40 assists. Sowko also matched Oster with a&nbsp; respectable 17 digs, helping lead their team defensively.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players from Meadowbrook include; Karly Launder finishing with 11 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='772259' first='Journey' last='Nicola'] with 19 digs. The offense was led by Addy Sichina with 25 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Players from St. Henry were [player_tooltip player_id='169129' first='Chloe' last='Gels'] with 11 kills, Rya Buschur with 9 digs, and [player_tooltip player_id='196345' first='Lydia' last='Werling'] with 22 assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Division III final four was full of talent, and Lake Catholic claims its second straight State title. We look forward to seeing these teams next fall and their talent after a much anticipated club season!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->