GRAFTON — It’s hard to believe the Middies forgot they won the West Shore Conference championship, but Katy Zapolnik felt she needed to remind them.
“We were conference champs and we needed to play like that,” Zapolnik told her Midview team after dropping the first two games of Monday’s Division I sectional match.
The Middies responded, and won the last three games to eliminate Westlake. The Demons took the first two, 25-19, 25-23, before fifth-seeded Midview won 25-20, 25-19 and 15-5.
“I told them, ‘We’re not done,’” Zapolnik said. “We’re not ready for this to end. We deserve to be here (the tournament) longer.”
Midview (18-5) plays Medina — which upset No. 4 Brunswick 25-19, 25-21, 26-28 and 25-12 in Monday’s third match — on Saturday at 6 p.m. Westlake finished its year 11-10.
Probably the biggest reason the Middies didn’t stub their toes Monday was Hannah Duran. The senior setter served the final nine points of Game 5 after Midview broke a 5-5 tie. Four of those points were aces.
“She was the difference,” Zapolnik said. “She plays with such heart and such a passion for the game. She’s just fun to watch.”
Duran finished with a team-high 15 service points and seven aces. In addition to setting up the Middies’ outstanding trio of hitters — Jacki Street (20 kills), Adrianna Cumberledge (19), and Danielle Szpak (eight kills) — Duran had seven kills of her own, including the one that snapped the tie in Game 5 and started the 10-point run that finished the match.
Street was especially dominant in the third game, coming up with nine kills as Midview staved off elimination.
“She was what turned it around for us in the third game,” Zapolnik said. “It just looked like she was coming up with one kill after another,”
Cumberledge, a freshman, had 10 kills in the third and fourth games and four in Game 5.
Street and Brittany Leininger picked up their blocking in Game 3. Leininger had 19 blocks and five kill blocks. Street added 17 blocks and four kill blocks.
Leininger had back-to-back kills blocks to give Midview an 8-5 lead in the final game. That was followed by a kill by Cumberledge, two aces by Duran, another kill by Cumberledge, Duran’s final ace and a hitting error that completed the comeback.
Lindsay Payne added 14 blocks for the Middies. Stephanie Bayus led Midview’s defense with 22 digs.
The victory spoiled a fine effort by Westlake’s two big hitters, Hanna Dixon and Emily Dvorak. Dixon had 20 kills, 11 of them in the first two games. Dvorak had 14 kills, nine in Games 1-2. Jenny Wolf added eight kills for the Demons.
“We out-attacked them in the first two games,” Westlake coach Dan Berkheimer said. “Then we got into this tipping mode, and that set the stage for disaster. Midview started tipping the ball, and we couldn’t handle their tips. That was the difference.”
Westlake broke a 14-14 tie in Game 1 to go ahead 19-14, a lead Midview could not overcome. Midview overcame a 9-4 deficit to lead 19-16. The score was tied at 23 on a kill by Szpak before a bad serve and a kill by Dixon put Westlake on the verge of an upset.
Midview opened a 15-8 advantage in Game 3. Westlake managed a few small runs at the lead but couldn’t get closer than three points. The fourth game was similar, with Midview going ahead 10-4 and maintaining a lead of 3-6 points the rest of the way.
Berea defeated North Ridgeville 25-22, 25-13, 25-20 in Monday’s opening match. The loss completed a winless season for North Ridgeville (0-21).
Berea (6-15) advances to take on No. 1 seed Olmsted Falls, ranked second in Ohio, on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Braves have lost twice to Falls this season.
Dierdre Lanigan led North Ridgeville with six kills. Eryan Bangs served three aces for the Rangers.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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