FAIRBORN — It was a day Lauren Whyte, Brittany Snider, Dayna Roberts and their Olmsted Falls teammates will cherish and savor for a lifetime.
Why? The Bulldogs became the first team from Greater Cleveland to win a Division I girls state volleyball crown in the 34-year history of the tournament.
And what a classic Saturday’s match was.
The state’s No. 2-ranked team, Olmsted Falls, defeated top-rated Cincinnati Ursuline Academy, 39-37, 16-25, 25-21, 25-12 at Wright State’s Ervin J. Nutter Center.
A senior, Whyte led the way with a career-record 36 kills and 22 digs. Fittingly, it was her final kill of the afternoon that ended the match.
Also a senior, Snider had 19 kills and 17 digs. Roberts, a sophomore setter, had 63 assists, while senior libero Brooke Purvis had 19 digs. Senior Christine Peffer contributed with 11 kills and three blocks.
“We worked so hard for it and wanted it so bad,” said Whyte, a George Washington recruit and first-team All-Ohio selection. “I believe that passion does win over talent. I played this through my head so many times. We’ve gone through so much together. To finally see our dreams become reality is the best feeling in the world. It’s much better than I ever imagined.”
The state championship was the first by an Olmsted Falls girls team since the 1980s when the cross country team won Class AA titles in 1980, ’81 and ’87.
Previously, Olmsted Falls was a state volleyball semifinalist in Class AA in 1977 and in Division II in 2000.
“It’s better being the underdog because no one expects you to win, except yourself,” Snider said. “We believed in ourselves more than I think Ursuline did. We were ready for this game.”
Things didn’t start out so well for Whyte, who had five hitting errors as Falls fell behind 14-6 in the first game. But Whyte finally managed to snap out her funk and the Bulldogs turned things around to take a 24-21 lead.
The Lions came back to tie it at 24 and then fended off 12 Olmsted Falls game points — the Lions had four game points of their own — before Snider’s kill finally sealed the deal in game.
The firepower by Whyte and Snider was critical in the first game. Following the 24-all tie, Whyte and Snider combined for 11 kills. They teamed up for 23 kills in the first game alone.
“The first game took some air out of our tire,” Ursuline coach Jeni Case said. “Having lost a game that close and that long really did a number on our girls.”
Game 1 tied a state tournament record for points (76), first set in 2004 by Toledo St. Ursula against Cincinnati Seton. The first game lasted 37 minutes, in contrast to the last three which averaged 20 minutes each.
“We read from the Cincinnati paper that Ursuline felt that the semifinal over Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame was the state championship match,” Roberts said. “They didn’t expect us to give it all we had. I don’t think they saw us coming really.”
Olmsted Falls dropped Game 2, 25-16, but rebounded nicely in the third game. The Bulldogs led just 21-20 in Game 3, but two kills by Whyte and two Lions attack errors clinched it.
Ursuline never seriously threatened or led in the fourth and deciding game.
“This has been our goal all year. It’s our dream,” Whyte said. “Once we got up 8-2 in the fourth game, everything just found a place. It’s my last high school match ever. Might as well go out with a boom.”
The last Northeast Ohio team to win Division I was Stow in 1992.
“We talked to them a lot about how we needed to come out and play defense today,” Olmsted Falls coach Dawn Moses said. “Offensively, we felt we were OK, but we knew we needed to match them defensively. I don’t think we matched them. I think we played better than them defensively.”
Olmsted Falls had 97 digs to Ursuline’s 90. Both teams were nearly flawless serving as Falls had just one error and Ursuline two.
“That team was awesome,” Case said of the Bulldogs. “They knew where we were going. They were there on the block. Their offense was much faster than ours. They just outplayed us. I don’t think we were ready for a team to come out like that.”
Three first-team All-Ohioans led Ursuline as junior Jade Henderson and senior Katie Schings had 14 and 12 kills, respectively, and junior setter Dani Reinert had 47 assists. Sophomore Kori Moster added 39 digs.
Before Saturday, Cincinnati-area teams ruled the state tournament, winning 12 state titles in Division I and Division II the past 15 years.
Olmsted Falls, following in the footsteps of Padua, which won the Division II title game over Kettering Alter just before Falls’ win, broke the Queen City’s monopoly.
“Brooke played a phenomenal game,” Moses said. “She’s a great libero. We’ve known that all year. Brittany played her best defensive game of the year as well. Ultimately, you hear all along that defense wins championships. That’s what we were out to do today.”
Case gave Falls all the credit.
“I usually don’t say teams play better defense than we do,” Case said. “They were scrappy and were all over. Whenever we set, our hitter had two blockers to hit against. When they didn’t, they were there for our tips. I think our girls started to get a bit timid. We’re not use to people picking us apart that much. I think the girls kind of shut down a little bit.
“We knew that they would go to Nos. 13 (Whyte) and 22 (Snider). We tried. We just couldn’t stop them.”
Contact Paul Heyse ar 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

FALLS FACTS

• Falls is the only team in the state to go undefeated this season.
• Falls is the first team from Cuyahoga County to win a Division I or Class AAA state title.

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