Notre Dame tops Country Day in five sets, wins district title
PONTIAC » Playoff composure can take a volleyball team a long way in November.
Fourth-ranked Notre Dame Prep has seen its fair share of playoff runs over the past few years and the Irish aren’t easily rattled in a tough match.
Using a complete team effort, Notre Dame Prep overcame a 2-1 set deficit to No. 6 Detroit Country Day in Friday’s Division 2 district final at ND Prep.
The Irish fought their way to a 2512, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-7 victory.
“We have been in the pressure a lot. This year I think we played our most challenging schedule yet. We have played a lot of big programs on purpose to get ready to play the big arms that (Country Day) has. The girls took those lessons in those tough matches,” Notre Dame Prep coach Betty Wroubel said.
“(Country Day) is an excellent team. They have a lot of Division 1 athletes there and we knew it was going to be a battle. We knew they would win the net game, and they did. Our defense kept some balls in play and kept some points alive. I don’t know how we did it, but we did.”
The Irish (34-9) couldn’t have asked for a better start, taking the first set 25-12 thanks to a 9-1 rally during the set.
However, Country Day would show some grit, taking the next two sets behind its collection of powerful hitters.
Recent Michigan commit, junior Serena Nyambio, along with Morgan Lockhart, Nyla Muskovin and Ryann Tolbert provided the Irish with a lot of challenges offensive and defensively. Their blocking kept the Irish from finishing points, while their powerful swings were hard for Notre Dame to dig.
Those power arms would push Country Day to a 2-to-1 advantage in sets and have the Irish with their backs against the wall.
As championship teams do, Notre Dame responded.
The Irish grinded out the fourth set 25-21 and then established a 5-1 advantage in the fifth set that would eventually propel it to the 15-7 victory.
“The girls played with an awful lot of heart today, and courage, and I’m just very proud of how they played and overcame an outstanding team,” Wroubel said.
The balanced Notre Dame offense was led by Aly Borellis, who had 21 kills with 24 assists and nine digs. Bianca Giglio added 23 kills and eight digs while Sophia Sudzina had 18 kills.
Defensively, Olivia Kowalkowski had 29 digs and three aces, while Josie Bloom had 11 digs and two aces.
“We are a very balanced team. Our offense is designed to be balanced and our defense has a lot of contributors,” Wroubel said. “We are very interchangeable, so if someone has an off day, we can throw someone else in there and not miss a beat. It’s a total team effort this year. Even the bench, they bring a lot of energy for the girls on the court and are really inspiring.”
The Irish, who have had to juggle the season like many teams due to COVID-19, advance to next week’s regional tournament at North Branch. Notre Dame will face Macomb Lutheran North in Tuesday’s regional semifinal.
“Midway in the season I lost half my team, almost all of my starters to quarantine. It took us a little bit to get our rhythm back, but I think in the last couple of days we have been playing better,” Wroubel added. “It was fun to see them playing together at a high level.”