Columbian holds off St. Paul in four

NORWALK — The first test came, and brought mixed results. Facing its first true test of the schedule, the St. Paul volleyball team pushed visiting Tiffin Columbian just short of five sets in Tuesday's non-league loss inside Harvey Keller Gymnasium. The defending SBC Lake and Division III district champion Tornadoes (4-3) won with scores of 25-23, 25-22, 21-25 and 25-19 to drop the Flyers to 3-1 on the season. "I thought we did well," St. Paul head coach Angie Kalizewski said. "There were moments of frustration I'd like to see us move on from and flip out of a little bit quicker. Some of that is still youth and learning how to let that go and move on. "That comes with age and experience and being put to the test against teams like that. Columbian is a big school and a great team. For us to compete, we have to learn how to capitalize on the weak part of our rotation right away." After coming up just short in each of the first two sets, St. Paul grabbed the lead midway through the third set and never let go. Led by balanced hitting from Ella Kalizewski, Brooklyn Cassidy and Kegney Stoll, the Flyers were able to get out to a 23-14 lead before Columbian coach Hope Boes was forced into a timeout. Shealyn Deeter tipped the ball over at the net for a 24-17 lead, but the Tornadoes responded in a big way. They scored the next four points to pull within 24-21, but a kill by Ella Kalizewski extended the match. In the fourth set, Columbian took a 7-3 lead and played from in front at that margin throughout the set. A kill from Cassidy cut the deficit to 10-7, and she again brought her team within three at 18-15 with another strong kill. But Columbian scored the next four points, which included three unforced errors by the Flyers. St. Paul trailed 24-19 when standout Kaela Jenkins ended the set and match for the Tornadoes. "I thought we did a good job, and I'm proud of how hard they fought and worked until the end," Coach Kalizewski said. "And it showed us some things we have to work on. I thought it was a good match. "Both teams played very well, and it felt like we did a good job of slowing Kaela down a little bit," she added. "But ultimately we have to get to where we are putting up a stronger block, getting more touches and slowing the ball down." Ella Kalizewski finished 60-of-66 hitting with 19 kills, 13 digs and served 15-for-17 to pace St. Paul. Stoll finished 29-of-31 hitting with 11 kills, nine digs and served 15-for-16, while Cassidy had 10 kills and Deeter had five to go with nine digs. Also for the Flyers, Lily Cuturic had 33 digs and Bella Guerra had 14. Cuturic was 13-for-16 serving and Guerra was 11-for-12. Annie Friend was 13-for-15 serving to go with 40 assists and 10 digs. Kate Stieber also had 19 digs and was 10-for-10 serving. The Flyers host Plymouth on Thursday in Firelands Conference play.