Edison tops St. Paul in tournament tune-up

NORWALK — The situation couldn't have been scripted much better. The Edison and St. Paul volleyball teams met Saturday afternoon in Norwalk in the regular season finale — a non-conference match between two solid programs looking for one final test before the tournament. Edison coach Sean Hoover saw his exhausted team rally from a 23-20 deficit for a 25-23 win in Game 4, clinching the match for the Chargers and avoiding a decisive fifth game against the state-ranked Lady Flyers inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium in Norwalk. Since losing at home to Huron (18-2) — the No. 2-ranked team in the Division III state coaches poll — on Oct. 1, the Chargers (15-6) have won six straight matches heading into Monday's 5:30 p.m. sectional semifinal vs. Lakota (9-12). St. Paul won Game 1, 25-21, then the Chargers won the second and third games with scores of 25-19 and 25-21. Down 23-21 in Game 4, the Chargers benefited from two unforced errors by St. Paul, then got a kill from Lilli Schuster to tie it up at 23. Lydia Woodyard and Deana Blatnik combined for a block to put Edison ahead, and St. Paul was unable to return a hit from Schuster to seal the match. "That was big. There was a timeout and we were ahead 14-12 and we talked about learning how to be closers," Hoover said. "We talked about wanting to close this out and not let it go to five. "We gave up the next four points and were behind, but never gave in," he added. "The girls stayed strong. It was a long match with a lot of long rallies. There were a lot of tired girls out there, and sometimes it's easy to get tired mentally as those matches go, but we did a good job at the end with good blocking, passing and hitting when we needed to." St. Paul coach Nancy Miller also spoke about the lengthy rallies by both teams, but felt her team didn't come away on top for most of those points. "We played tight at the end of Game 4 especially," she said. "I felt like we didn't win many long rallies and the scrambles today. Edison is extremely consistent and they find a way to get the ball back to you — and we were making too many unforced errors. Our hitting didn't do its job today and our serve receive was off." St. Paul — ranked No. 16 in the Div. IV state coaches poll — finished the regular season at 17-5 overall. The losses include twice to unbeaten and No. 7-ranked Monroeville (21-0), unbeaten No. 2 Tiffin Calvert (22-0), Div. II No. 20 Perkins (19-2) and Saturday against the Chargers. "I love this match," Miller said. "Sean and I talked about it ahead of time, we both came in playing really well recently, and this is the type of opponent and match you want to face right before the tournament. "But I was disappointed in our intensity," she added. "We weren't able to maintain it how we're capable of." Olivia Vitaz finished with 43 assists, 19 digs and four kills to lead the Chargers. Kira Appeman had 15 kills, 24 digs and 12 points, while Schuster had 13 kills, 19 digs and eight points. Also for Edison, Lindsay Roberts had nine kills and five blocks, Kayla Mancuso had 30 digs and eight points, and Danielle Blatnik had 17 digs and eight points. Woodyard added five kills, five points and six digs, and Deana Blatnik had four kills and three digs. The Chargers are the No. 4 seed in their district, and with a win on Monday, will face either No. 5 Bucyrus Wynford (17-5) or No. 7 Willard (8-13) in Wednesday's sectional championship match in Milan. "We've played very well the last two or three weeks after the last Huron match," Hoover said. "We felt like we could go undefeated the rest of the way going into the tournament, and that's what we've done. "We've done a great job as a team of taking care of the little things that good teams do — like today, playing each point at a time," he added. "The girls are in a nice hot stretch and I feel good about this team. We're playing very well at the right time of the year." For St. Paul, Sarah Matlack had 11 kills and seven points, Megan Leibold finished with 16 kills, and Dyllan Knoll had 39 assists. Josie Skinn had 32 digs, while Presley Stang had 30 digs along with eight points and three aces. St. Paul is off until Thursday when it faces the winner of Crestline and Mansfield Christian in a Div. IV sectional title match at 7:30 p.m. at Buckeye Central. The Lady Flyers are the No. 3 seed behind Monroeville and Buckeye Central. "We have to serve the ball better and serve receive better," Miller said. "And our hitters have got to be more aggressive."