The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake sweeps Mentor amid whirlwind week
Victory serves as bounce-back after COVID pause, loss to Gilmour
After suffering its first defeat of the season on Aug. 31, Lake Catholic looked to bounce back as they traveled to crosstown rival Mentor on Sept. 1 in a nonconference matchup. The Cougars downed the Cardinals in straight sets.
With the win, Lake Catholic is now 3-1 on the season, as Mentor fell to 3-3.
Lake Catholic came into the match off of the heels of a 3-1 defeat to Gilmour on Aug. 31. While any week with matches on back-to-back days would be taxing on a team, it has been a rather hectic week for the Cougars, as head coach Kara Oster explained.
“We’ve been through a whirlwind the past week or so,” said Oster. “We had a COVID situation so we couldn’t practice for a while. Friday was our last practice and we were thrown into the ringer with that match (against Gilmour). The girls showed up so I was happy with that. We wanted to come in and make a statement tonight. We feel underrated and came out tonight wanting to show our best and show who we are. There were a few more errors than I would like but there were a lot of good things as well.”
While the Cougars make their living on defense, their offense is led by a trio of talented outside hitters. The group is led by senior Jessica Wilson, who is committed to Eastern Michigan, and also features talented sophomores Mia Shaefer and Katie Sowko.
Wilson and Shaefer took control of the game in different sets, as Wilson shined in the first two with her 10 kills, and Shaefer controlled the third with her nine kills. While only two outside hitters can be in the front line during a set, Oster has handled the situation well at the start of the season.
“It’s a good problem with not knowing how to use all three of them in every set,” said Oster. Jess is going to put the ball away where it needs to be put away. Mia has a really good brain and knows what to do in a variety of situations.”
The duo have been able to work together for over a year and their chemistry on the floor is just as important between them as it is to help the rest of their teammates to create it as well.
“A team needs chemistry and we have been able to create that,” said Wilson. “To know that if I have a bad game, Mia will come up to me and reassure me to play my game and do what I need to do.”
Schaefer added: “We kept up our pace and made sure to learn from the loss last night. It was a learning experience for all of us, just like tonight was as we created that chemistry.”
Even though they came up short against Lake Catholic, Mentor is using every game as a learning experience, as coach Sam Weaver explained. And despite the rocky start for the Cardinals, the players are seeing where they need to improve to compete with teams that are better than them in certain aspects of the game.
“Lake Catholic is a really good defensive team and we wanted to slow them down a little bit,” said Weaver. “We were able to do that at times, but not as consistently as we would have liked to. Despite the ups and downs, this is the best start for us in the past handful of years, and with a tough conference schedule, going 3-3 so far is a pretty good thing.”
Mentor is next on the floor on Sept. 4, as it takes a trip to Canton to compete in a quad-match at GlenOak that also features Massillon and Louisville. Lake Catholic has a tall order the next time it takes the floor, as they host St. Joseph Academy on Sept. 7.
“A team needs chemistry and we have been able to create that. To know that if I have a bad game, Mia will come up to me and reassure me to play my game and do what I need to do.” — Lake Catholic volleyball player Jessica Wilson