Fenwick rallies from 2-set deficit for title

Falcons advance to state semifinals for first time in 29 years.

Fenwick High School junior Chelsea Farrell and Jessica Levy (in white) celebrate during a Division III regional final Saturday, Nov. 7, at Wilmington High School. After defeating Versailles, Fenwick will compete at state. Staff photo by Jim Noelker

Jim Noelker Fenwick High School junior Chelsea Farrell and Jessica Levy (in white) celebrate during a Division III regional final Saturday, Nov. 7, at Wilmington High School. After defeating Versailles, Fenwick will compete at state. Staff photo by Jim Noelker

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By Debbie Juniewicz, Contributing Writer 1:28 AM Sunday, November 8, 2009

WILMINGTON — For Fenwick volleyball coach Yoon Ha, it’s all about staying calm, cool and collected — or at least appearing that way.

“One thing I have found, especially coaching girls, is that if you show panic, they will panic,” Ha said. “And we don’t panic.”

Other teams might well have panicked, down two sets in the best-of-five Division III regional volleyball finals, especially against a tournament-tested team like Versailles.

But the Falcons didn’t panic; they prevailed. Fenwick fought back against a determined Tigers team, 20-25, 25-27, 25-17, 25-19, 18-16 at Wilmington High School on Saturday, Nov. 7. Fenwick claimed its first regional volleyball title since 1982, advancing to the state tournament for the first time in almost three decades.

“This team knows how to battle,” Ha said. “We played a really tough schedule this season and we had a stretch where we played 12 matches in 13 days so they know how to fight.”

The Tigers gave the Falcons a fight all afternoon. But down two sets, the Falcons didn’t back down. Fenwick jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the third set and never trailed. Ha’s squad carried that momentum into the fourth set as Fenwick rattled of the first four points and led 6-1 early.

“They (Fenwick) started working their middles a lot more and it was effective,” Versailles coach Karla Otte said.

The Tigers, down 24-12, didn’t quit either, fighting off seven set points before falling 25-19. First team to 15 would be crowned regional champion — or, in this case, the first team to 18.

“These girls take a lot of pride in themselves, their team and the school and they won’t go out without a fight,” Otte said.

But the same was true of the Falcons, who trailed 11-5 midway through the fifth set. Ha burned a timeout and his players came out firing, rattling off six straight points to tie the set, 11-11. In the meantime, Otte had spent both of the Tigers’ timeouts.

The teams battled point for point until the Falcons were able to capitalize on a pair of Tigers’ errors for the win.

“I’ve told the girls all along that they should play for each other and that’s what they’ve been doing,” Ha said. “I’ve got 15 players who will fight all the way to the end and they proved that today.”

It was a total team effort as Alyssa Beck led with 17 kills and four aces while Emily Pierce, Mallory Jeanmougin and Cayla Quallen each added three aces for the aggressive-serving Falcons. Jessica Levy scooped up 18 digs, Chelsea Byrge led with 25 assists and Kristin Thompson posted five blocks.

“For the past two and a half weeks we haven’t played good volleyball, but we did today,” Ha said.

Fenwick will face Huron at 2 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.

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