VIKINGS GO SPIKING
Dieringer-to-Ozoh combination works wonders as H-F heats up to overpower Richards
Junior setter Emma Dieringer has a truckload of excellent Homewood-Flossmoor hitters to work with, and she uses them all.
“It’s just part of a team effort,” Dieringer said. “It’s fun to trick up the block sometimes, when they’re running one way and you throw it back the other way.”
But she does allow that it’s double the fun setting to junior Chidera Ozoh.
And why not? Watching her reach for the sky is pretty amazing.
“I mean, yeah, Chidera’s good,” Dieringer said. “She’s got like a 10-foot vertical. It’s always fun to set her because, no matter what, she can slam it down.”
The Dieringer-to-Ozoh connection resulted in several grand slams Monday during a 25-20, 21-25, 25-8 victory over visiting Richards.
Ozoh, a 5-foot-11 middle hitter, led the Vikings (13-9) with eight kills. Bianca Anderson added five kills, while Dieringer contributed 23 assists and four digs.
Tara Glynn had eight kills for Richards (8-11). Key’Tyzsa Snipes added six kills, while Meghan Mallo managed 17 assists.
H-F was clinging to a 22-20 lead in Game 1 when Dieringer went back-to-back with quick sets to Ozoh.
Slam and slam.
“I’ve been playing with Emma since eighth grade,” Ozoh said. “I’m kind of used to how she sets, and we just connect pretty well.”
Even when the set is a bit high. Then again, according to H-F coach Bob St. Leger, with Ozoh there is no such thing as too high.
“She is a monster at the net,” St. Leger said. “I’ve never seen a girl jump as high as she does. Emma does a pretty good job getting her the ball for the most part.
“It’s kind of a running joke that you can’t set her high enough. She’s going to be fighting colleges off with a stick after her club season this summer, I guarantee.”
Dieringer, meanwhile, is settling in on a two-year reign as H-F’s table-setter.
As a freshman, she played on the freshman team. As a sophomore, she played on the sophomore team. She had no complaints.
“I liked doing it that way,” Dieringer said. “I like staying level, and it was fun because you get to play with your friends. It’s not all about the competition and winning — it’s all about having fun. And I had fun with my friends.
“Last year at the end, I played up on the varsity a little bit, so I got a
feeling for it. We’ve always had good hitters at H-F. So, it’s fun playing the better competition.”
Ozoh is the leading hitter for H-F with 120 kills. But two others have 90 or more kills.
Call it Dieringer’s spreadit-around effect.
“She has always played and worked hard,” St.
Leger said. “She’s just a super-coachable kid who has a knack for the game. She’s the one who kind of gets it all going for us, there’s no doubt about it.”
Richards gave the Vikings all they could handle in the first two games.
The Bulldogs led 11-5 in Game 1 before H-F rallied. In Game 2, Glynn and Abigail Buchanan-Kenzinger went on a hitting tear, allowing the Bulldogs to build a 20-11 lead.
“We’re very good in spurts,” Richards coach Nick Costa said. “We just have to string those spurts into all three games. It comes with confidence.
“We have all the confidence in the world in our girls. They just have to start jelling. That’s a good H-F team and we played them well. It just kind of fell apart at the end. We just have to keep pushing.”