Hoban Downs Upstart Meyers

By MICHAEL LELLO [email protected]
Thursday, November 01, 2001 Page: 1B

WILKES-BARRE – With district gold at stake Wednesday night, the Bishop
Hoban girls volleyball team made sure a hot, upset-minded Meyers squad
wouldn’t have its way. And in the process, the Lady Argents kept a few
impressive streaks of their own intact.

Hoban knocked off Meyers – which had already upset Wyoming Valley
Conference power Nanticoke Area in a semifinal earlier in the night – 15-7,

Argents (19-0) won their 30th consecutive match and haven’t let a match go
three games all year.
Both the Argents and Mohawks advance to the PIAA Tournament. Hoban will
play the No. 3 District 3 team Tuesday on the road at a time and place to be
announced. Also on Tuesday, Meyers will play the District 3 champ at Hazleton
Area High School at a time to be announced.

Hoban, which ripped off 15 consecutive points in impressive fashion to
finish off the Mohawks, did not take Meyers (14-5) lightly.

“We watched them just keep coming back (against Nanticoke),” said junior
hitter/setter Therese Price, who had four kills, eight assists and 11 service
points in the final. “We knew we’d have to keep going at them. I think that
if we didn’t watch that match, we would have forgotten how good Meyers was.

“We had hoped to see Nanticoke in the championship, but sometimes things
don’t work out,” she added. “But this victory is just as sweet.”

Meyers kept it close early in the first game, but after tying it at 5-5,
Hoban took over.

“We knew we played maybe to 70 percent of our potential (in the first
game), and that may be a stretch,” said Hoban coach John Kablick. “When we
huddled up for the second game the girls said, `We’re not even close.’ Meyers
is a well-coached team. They have some great athletes. I just felt we had too
much power for them.”

Meredith Alexis had 11 kills, Traci Kazmerski had four kills, seven assists
and three points, Jill Michalek had six assists, a kill and three points and
Aimee Harenza had five kills and two points for Hoban in the title game. For
Meyers, Jill Fountain had five kills and three blocks, Mary Mushock had four
points and five digs, and Mia Iseman, Erica Mirigliani and Jannette Foy were
key contributors as well.

The shocker of the evening was Meyers’ upset of Nanticoke (13-3), the
defending district champ, in the semifinals. The Mohawks, who have no seniors
on the team, took the Trojanettes to three games, where they eventually
prevailed, 5-15, 15-12, 15-7.

“We’re a really young team,” Meyers coach Brian Costello said. “Our goal
this year was just to get to districts, and anything else that happened was a
bonus.”

After dropping the first game, Meyers won the second game and stormed out
to a 10-4 lead against Nanticoke in the third. Impressive front-line play by
Lisa Dierolf and Fountain – who tallied an ace to clinch the match – was key
down the stretch.

Dierolf had two key kills down the stretch in the second game and three at
opportune moments in the third.

“I knew we had to win it, but at the same time there was no pressure
really,” Fountain said. “We had it in our heads that we could win.”

Hoban knocked off Crestwood (13-5) in its semifinal, 15-6, 15-3.