High school volleyball: Lake Catholic reigns atop the third state poll
Sep. 26—Three weeks into the state coaches' poll, and Lake Catholic continues to be the cream of the crop in Division III. The Cougars maintained their top ranking in Ohio and gathered 36 of the 51 first-place votes.
They earned 453 total points to lead second-place Versailles by 111 total points. The Cougars are on a 10-match winning streak, recently adding victories over other state-ranked teams Padua, NDCL and Kirtland.
With Katie Sowko and Natalya Bergant leading the attack and Emma Briganti and Julia Oster running the back row along with help from Sowko, Lake Catholic has a multifaceted style of play. The success has led to a 14-1 record with only seven sets lost and only one match going the distance, a 3-2 victory over state-ranked St. Joseph Academy.
Their second round of Crown Conference play begins with Walsh Jesuit on Sept. 29 and is interrupted with a match on Oct. 1 against Independence, which came in 13th in the poll with 79 points and a first-place vote.
Kirtland (10-1) continued its ascent up the poll as they rose from 13th to ninth in the latest iteration. The Hornets garnered 125 points, 72 more points than last week's poll.
While they suffered their first loss of the season, a 3-0 defeat to Lake Catholic, Kirtland swept three of its other four opponents during the week and a 3-1 win over Hathaway Brown. They now sit at 12-1 on the year.
While a lot of attention has been on seniors Ava Golem and Natalie Glowe, Kirtland has also seen strong performances from Tessa Gordon and Nina Loncar to aid their quest for a third district title. But the Hornets still have challenges ahead of them with Berkshire (Oct. 4), Lutheran West (Oct. 6), Chardon (Oct. 8) and Lakeview (Oct. 13).
In the D-II poll, Gilmour (8-7) moved up two spots to eighth place and a total of 121 points, a 42-point increase. The Lancers are 3-2 in their past five games, with all three being against teams in the D-I state poll.
They defeated Hudson (3-1), Olentangy Liberty (2-1) and St. Joseph Academy (2-0). The latter two came during the Columbus Invitational, and the victory over the Jaguars avenged a loss from earlier in the season.
But the win streak ended with losses to Mount Notre Dame (3-0) and St. Ursula (3-1) to end the Columbus Invitational. It's still a loaded remainder of the schedule for the Lancers. They host Tuscarawas Central Catholic before a three-game road trip against St. Joseph, Seton and Springboro.
NDCL (8-6) dropped five spots to ninth with 101 points. The Lions are on a four-match losing streak.
All four defeats have come to state-ranked teams, three of which were five-set losses. Hudson, St. Joseph and Padua earned those victories over NDCL before Lake Catholic defeated them in a sweep.
Lake Catholic, Gilmour and NDCL are also the highest teams in the state polls for their district pools. Kirtland sits in third behind the Cougars and Lakeview.
