The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Gilmour sets up title game tilt vs. NDCL
VANDALIA » It wasn’t the prettiest game they’ve played all year, but for the Gilmour volleyball team it ended exactly the way it wanted.
The Lancers shook off a slow start to defeat Tippecanoe 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-15) to clinch a spot in the Division II state championship match Nov. 15 for an all-area matchup against Notre Dame Cathedral Latin.
“Our energy in the first set wasn’t great, we were very flat,” said Gilmour’s Brinn MacLellan. “It was very much a side-out game. But as the game went on we went on runs and got more comfortable with the way we were playing and it showed.”
It took some time for the
Lancers to find their groove against a motivated Red Devils team making its first state appearance in 13 years. After dropping the first set, 20-25, Gilmour started to wake up spreading the ball around on offense.
“Between the first and second sets we had made some adjustments to match the speed they were playing at,” said Gilmour libero Emmy Klika. “We changed up our defense based on what we saw from them.”
“It was just nice to get one set under our belts so we could see what to expect.”
Junior Kathryn Randorf, the 2019 News-Herald player of the year, poured in six kills, Sabrina Gremm had three as did Jocelyn Carter.
Gremm and MacLellan made major impacts in the game changing third set, attacking a spread out Tippecanoe defense trying to cover four different weapons. The duo combined for nine kills in the set while Randorf added four.
“We’re a very heavy middle hitting team, we love to get to the middle,” head coach Dan Coughlin said. “And by the time we got to that fourth set they were following Kathryn and Brinn all over the place, and that opened up Sabrina, Jocelyn stayed consistent and Anna (Rarick) started scoring.”
The fourth set saw Gilmour return to form with contributions from all of their offensive weapons.
Gremm finished with 15 kills, with 12 coming in the final two sets. The junior finished with the second most kills in the match, behind Randorf’s 19.
The Lancers’ next opponent is one many on the team are familiar with.
Klika went to NDCL schools from kindergarten through eighth grade. Randorf and Gremm play Junior Olympic volleyball with the the Lions’ Caroline Jurevicius. Not to mention the schools are a 12-minute drive from each other.
“It’s going to be a very