ST. MARYS — The top ranked Elk County Catholic Lady Crusaders volleyball team continued its undefeated run Tuesday night in the District 9 Class A semifinals against No. 5 Johnsonburg. But it wasn’t without a fight from the Ramettes, as they took the first set before ECC took the next three and the overall win, 25-27, 25-8, 25-22, 25-17. The win guarantees the Lady Crusaders its first trip to the PIAA Class A tournament since 2019 as they’ll play No. 2 seed Oswayo Valley, who defeated No. 6 Clarion on Tuesday night to end its run of four consecutive district titles.
“They left their hearts out on that floor,” ECC head coach Tricia Bauer said. “They were not walking out of this gym with a loss. They wanted it and they wanted to get back to the D-9 championship game and I am so proud of these girls. They played so well.”
“They were like, ‘Ok, we’re not letting back up.’ Even in that fourth game when we were down a little bit, I said, ‘We didn’t get this far just to get this far. We’re not losing on our home court so get out there and (play well).’ That’s what I love about these girls — they never stop from the beginning to end. They don’t want to lose. We’re super excited to win tonight.”
Tori Newton led ECC with 18 kills while Reagan Bauer had 16 and Madison Marzullo racked up 10.
“This whole season we’ve been pushing that we’re a ‘we’ team,” coach Bauer said. “We have five incredible hitters. Everyone plays great defense. Everyone is a great servers. Kiri (Emmert), our setter, we said that our goal for tonight was to mix up the sets and don’t let them know where we’re going. I think our setters, blockers, passers, everybody, we all did a great job. We don’t win by ourselves. Kudos to them all. Those seven girls did fantastic.
“These girls, I can’t explain it, they have a desire in them where they don’t like to lose. They don’t like to lose at anything. They have this deep down fire in them that they’re not going to lose — they’re not going to let up and they take everything to heart. I think that’s the big difference — I feel like they’re mentally tough. There were moments out there where they were teetering but they (came back). We play one point at a time and we chip away one point at a time. We’ve been working really hard this season on if someone’s making mistakes, we need as a team to pull them back up. So far it’s working. I’m just so proud of these girls.”
Johnsonburg senior Alaina Sherry was an absolute force for the Ramettes, notching 22 kills on the night — 10 alone in the first set — as the Ramettes pulled off the upset in the first set, 27-25, after ECC had match-point at 24-20 as the Ramettes rallied. Sherry’s 10th and final kill of the set gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. But ECC would bounce back with a vengeance in the second set, dominating it for a 25-8 win to even things up.
“Volleyball’s that game of momentum and I’ll tell you want, those girls really, really had to fight for that first win,” Johnsonburg head coach Matt Shuey said. “Alaina, she’s a player and an athlete. (In years prior), she went out there and she got kills no matter what. This year she said, ‘I’m going to be a player and I’m going to take over and lead this team.’ And I could not be more proud of what she did this year.”
The third set went the way of the Lady Crusaders, 25-22, after taking away Johnsonburg’s 19-18 lead down the stretch.
“ECC’s a really great team,” Shuey said. “They have all-around good players, they don’t let the ball drop and to fight back and win that first one, I think they got a little too excited and then we let down on that second one and then they had to build that momentum back up. I thought we had them in the third and came up a little short — lost it in the end there. Then the fourth, after getting that momentum back and falling short in the third, I think it took a little out of us.”
In the fourth and final set, ECC would pull away after being tied up at 15-15 on a 8-0 run before taking the final set, 25-17, to advance to Thursday’s title game. That contest will take place at Kane High School at 6:30 p.m.
“We get to play for a title,” coach Bauer said. “It’s exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.”
Johnsonburg finished at 13-5 and the loss marked the end of the careers for its five seniors in Sherry, Ella Lindberg, Julia Jones, Annasophia Stauffer and Abby King.
“I was their junior high coach in seventh and eighth and then I moved up to JV,” Shuey said. “I literally had the blessing and privilege to coach them from seventh through 12th grade. You know, I was a college football player, why am I coaching volleyball? It’s because my dad (longtime head coach Bill Shuey) brought me in to help because he needed someone and I fell in love with coaching these girls. If I wouldn’t have had such a great group of girls, I wouldn’t be a volleyball coach right now. They have all the credit for why I’m coaching and that’s what it’s been like to build a program with them. I don’t like that it’s ending so soon but D-9 has some great volleyball teams. To make it to the top four in single A, it’s a feat in itself.”
