John Taylor
The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA — The way they got there nearly had their coach searching for the nearest available porcelain outlet, but, for the Elyria Catholic Panthers and their vocal faithful, the result of their District III district semifinal volleyball tilt soothed even the most upset of stomachs. The Panthers, led by senior captain Erin Kretovics, survived a ferocious challenge from Independence and advanced to the district finals with a heart-stopping 25-23, 27-25, 18-25, 25-22 win in front of a raucous packed house Tuesday night at Elyria High. The victory left EC coach Kim Watson seemingly exhausted and nearly out of breath.
“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” the relieved coach said.  “This was a tremendous match.”
After taking the first two games and standing on the precipice of advancement, the Panthers dropped the only non-competitive game of the night to allow the Blue Devils right back in the match.  It was then and there Watson challenged her girls to step up.
“I sat them on the bench (following the third game) and told them to be quiet for a minute,” Watson said. “I told them to think about something they could do as individuals to help the team.
“Whatever it may have been. Something, anything, to help us avoid a fifth game.”
And that’s exactly what the EC squad did, although, like most of the night, it didn’t come easily. Especially at the start of the crucial fourth game.
Independence jumped out to a 6-2 advantage early in the game, but three consecutive blocks by Kretovics sparked a 7-2 run that tied the score at 9.
The Blue Devils stretched their lead to 15-10 but, once again, the Panthers roared right back with five straight points of their own to knot the game at 15.
The lead went back and forth for a stretch after that point before the Blue Devils built the lead back up to two at 20-18, thanks in part to three kills (14 on the night) by Sarah Budzowski.
As they had done all evening, however, the Panthers came right back and put together a minispurt to pull into the lead. Back-to-back kills by senior Megan Hanson keyed a 4-0 run and put the Panthers on top 22-20.
Two consecutive unforced errors tied the game at 22 and brought the dreaded fifth-game closer to becoming an unwanted reality. An unforced error by Independence put the Panthers up 23-22, and an emphatic kill by junior Theresa Krosse ended the match and pushed EC into Thursday’s district final.
“I told the girls after the third game we did not want to go five with Independence,” Watson said. “We needed to end it in the fourth. “(The Blue Devils) know how to win and they know how to come back. We didn’t want to give them the chance to do that by letting this thing get to a fifth game.”
In the nightcap of the district doubleheader, it was a big scoring run in each of the three games that decided the outcome of the match between Columbia and Villa Angela-St. Joseph. Unfortunately for the Raiders, they were on the wrong end of each as they were eliminated from tournament play, 23-25, 14-25, 13-25.
The Lady Vikings had scoring bursts of 12-0, 11-1 and 12-2 in Games 1, 2 and 3, respectively. It created a Grand Canyon-sized hole from which Columbia simply could not dig and claw itself out of.
“We just didn’t play well. We just didn’t play well together,” lamented Columbia coach Wendy Owens. “We were never able to pull momentum to our side. We had a great practice yesterday, but our game as a whole was off for some reason.”
Contact John Taylor at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.