Cougars sweep past Hubbard

Lake Catholic coach Rich Severino experienced a regular season unique to his 28-year tenure with the Cougars. Yet, after Lake Catholic graduated four Division I college players, Severino’s expectations didn’t change.

Such was the case for Lake Catholic, ranked No. 12 in the state, when the Cougars met No. 8 Hubbard in a Division II Jefferson District semifinal on Oct. 25. Lake Catholic dispatched the Eagles, who entered the match with a 22-1 record, in three games to advance to a District final against NDCL on Oct. 25.

“I did expect to win it in three,” Severino said. “I really did. I knew they had the one hitter, I didn’t know they were going to play that good of defense. Their defense kept them in the match.”

Hubbard’s premier hitter was Adria Powell, a 6-foot-2 junior who holds Big Ten interest.

Powell opened the match with two kills that echoed through Jefferson’s gym, and the Eagles took a 8-4 lead in the first set. Lake Catholic tied the score at 9-9 and the set remained tied to at 24-24. Then, Ila Angermeier put down a kill and blocked a shot for a 2725 Cougars victory.

Each team committed errors in the first set, but Hubbard coach Jeremy Porter thought the Eagles’ came at the most inopportune moment.

“We missed a couple key serves late in those first two games,” Porter said. “A mistake here and there in a 2725 game, one or two missed serves either way. If they do that, we probably take that game.”

Hubbard again built a 8-4 lead in the second set. Behind Angermeier’s hitting, Lake Catholic also made up that deficit and went on to win the second set, 25-22, to assert control of the match.

Severino saw the Cougars play their cleanest in the third set, when they built a 11-6 lead early and closed out the match win, 25-17.

Lake Catholic never fully slowed Powell, and Severino was impressed with her ability to read the Cougars’ defensive adjustments.

“She did a really nice job of that,” Severino said. “If we blocked the line, she hit it hard cross-court. If we just tried to block the ball, she went around the block. You don’t see many hitters who see the block as well as she did.”

Lake Catholic’s best defense against Powell was sophomore middle Ainslie McLaughlin. Severino inserted McLaughlin into his lineup at last month’s NEO Power Tournament. McLaughlin’s blocking at least altered some of Powell’s shots, which is paramount to the Cougars’ defense.

“She’s got to do that,” Severino said. “If Ainslie plays well, we’re really hard to beat.”

Angermeier provided the most significant boost to Lake Catholic’s play. Angermeier, a senior outside hitter, is the Cougars’ most powerful hitter and finally healthy after a month-long bout with pneumonia.

Angermeier, in tandem with junior outside hitter Ashley Browske and senior setter Annie Cvelbar, constitute the majority of Lake Catholic’s experience from last year’s state semifinalist team.

“She’s our best hitter and gets us most of the points,” Cvelbar said. “When she’s off, we all play bad. We need her to play good, both of our outsides.”