FAIRBORN — The Mount Notre Dame volleyball team has made it a three-peat at the state tournament.

MND WALLPAPER

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        After losing the first game, the Cougars rallied for a 12-15, 15-5, 15-11 victory over Toledo St. Ursula Saturday at Wright State University to win a third consecutive Division I championship.

        In five appearances in the state final four, Mount Notre Dame has won four state titles (1995, 98, 99, 2000) and finished in the runner-up spot in 1990.

        Donna Mechley has coached the Cougars to their three straight state titles.

        “It would be tough saying this is the best of the three but it's the most sentimental,” Mechley said.

        “Four years ago when the varsity was 4-20, this group was freshmen and won the McAuley freshman tourna ment. I told them to get to know the feeling. I asked them if they understood and they knew I meant winning a state championship.”

        Most of the players watched St. Ursula defeat Solon in Friday's semifinals and weren't impressed, which might have led to overconfidence and lackluster play in the first game.

        “We probably took them too lightly,” senior middle hitter Liz Engel said. “They were a much better team than I thought, and it surprised me when they came out so strong.”

        Mechley looked at it as an emotional letdown.

Liz Engel spikes. | ZOOM |

        “I didn't have to say a word to the girls before the McAuley match because the kids were already bouncing off the walls,” Mechley said of Friday's semifinal.

        “We weren't overconfident today, but probably too relaxed. St. Ursula didn't back off. Any time we had a player in the wrong position, they took advantage and hit to that spot.”

        But the second game was all Mount Notre Dame. The Cougars took a quick 4-1 lead and extended it to 9-2 before closing it out.

        “We regrouped after the wake-up call in the first game,” Engel said.

        The Cougars didn't trail in the third game until the Arrows, led by freshman hitter Sarah Florian and junior Ashlei Nofzinger, fought back from a four-point deficit to take a 11-10 lead.

        “When they took the lead in the third game, we never lost our composure and kept attacking,” Engel said.

Danielle Meyer and Kelly McAllister block. | ZOOM |

        Freshman hitter Danielle Meyer came through for MND with a powerful kill to tie the game and senior setter Kelly Morgan served out for the victory.

        “I missed a serve after a time out in a game several weeks ago,” Kelly said. “I told my teammates that I would never miss another serve. This is great. I'm on an all-time high.”

        St. Ursula coach John Buck said his team's inexperience was as a factor in the outcome.

        “We started playing conservatively after the first game,” Buck said. “Mount Notre Dame isn't a big team, but they play great defense and handled our smoke. We started looking at the scoreboard after we took the lead.”

        Senior Krista Mestancik sparked the Cougars on both defense and offense with a game-high 22 digs and had 13 kills. Reserve Kim Cherry was second in kills with nine.

        “We have four girls with more than 100 kills,” Mechley said. “They had some great outside blockers and Kim was on the inside against one of their weaker blockers.”

        “We wanted to end the season with a victory,” said Cherry, who was the captain of the junior varsity team last season. “I played about 50 percent of the time this season and it was nice to be able to contribute in the championship game.”

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