Normandy’s historic rally sends heartbroken North Olmsted home in stunning upset, Elyria sweeps Berea-Midpark

19th-seeded North Olmsted led 23-14 in the fourth set, needing two more points to advance to the second round of the Division I, Northeast 4 District tournament.

But, 25th-seeded Normandy kept fighting to come back and force a fifth set and eventually it 15-8 to upset North Olmsted (18-25, 21-25, 25-19, 29-27, 15-8) in heartbreaking fashion.

“It’s a lot of disappointment,” Eagles’ coach Joe Marita said after the loss. “The whole team has worked hard and earned every opportunity that they were given and including the opportunity to play in this playoff match. It was very unfortunate to see us on the wrong side of it, but we gotta learn some tough lessons.”

The Eagles flew through the beginning of the fourth set. Hitters Hannah Coyle, Erica Merth, and Grace Sowecke hit their way on a 14-1 run and a 4-1 soon after to build a 18-6 lead.

Normandy’s (7-16, 6-7 in Great Lakes Conference) comeback was slow at first, but the Eagles’ momentum quickly crashed after the Invaders went on a 10-0 run to tie it at 24-24.

“(Normandy) never gave up,” Marita describes the Invaders comeback. “They kept their intensity up and they made us try and earn it. We earned a lot of points, but not the points that got it done in the end.”

Sowecke, however, had a different reason as to how Normandy came back and said it was because of the lack of communication and the substitutions down the stretch.

“Coach (Marita) made some subs and then people weren’t warm and not talking together,” Sowecke said.

North Olmsted spilled their guts out on the court, literally. Before the end of the fourth set. Eagles’ Senior Grace Sowecke’s stomach couldn’t handle the anxiety as she vomited onto the court with the score tied at 25-25.

After the 20 minute delay, Normandy won the set 29-27.

In the final set. The Invaders took a quick 5-0 lead. Hitters Morgan Tomblin (13 kills) and Emily Queener (12 kills) were forces down the stretch.

“We tried to clue in on (Queener),” Marita said. “But a couple of touches just didn’t go our way. She’s a nice player. She does a lot of smart; aggressive things and she really helped bring them into their high energy play.”

Elyria sweeps

30th seed Berea-Midpark didn’t make winning easy for 16th seed Elyria, despite sweeping them both times they faced off this season. The Pioneers had five of those sets decided by five or less points.

In their first round game at home, Elyria swept the Titans 25-15, 25-15, 25-23 to advance to the second round of the Division I, Northeast 4 District tournament.

“(Berea-Midpark) play really well against us,” Pioneers’ coach Jennifer Shouse said after the win.

“I didn’t know what to expect tonight. I knew that it was going to be a tough one and I think our first two sets, we definitely [played our best] against them. In the third set, they took us out of system and we got caught on defense and it was a lot closer.”

Elyria’s (12-11, 8-7 in Southwestern Conference) sweep had to come off a comeback, trailing 9-4 in to start the third set. But the Pioneers knew they had the edge in close sets, coming back to win the final set 25-23 against Berea-Midpark.

The Pioneers took a commanding lead early in the first set, going on a 12-1 run to lead 14-2. Their serves made getting good contact from their hitters difficult.

“We talk about serves and getting (teams) out of system and putting balls in the seams, making players move,” Shouse describes her team’s serving.

“When we do that,.. good things happen, [like] off-speed shots and hitting errors.”

Elyria’s hitters showed up tonight, Seniors Kayla Bender (10 kills), Deja Whitten (13 kills) led the Pioneers in kills in their last home game of their careers.

Their offense showed off their wide range of hitters in the second set. Elyria went on two 5-0 runs and a 4-1 run to secure the second set 25-15. Bender, Whitten, and Isabelle Zebrowski had at least three kills in the set.

“I definitely think that the hitting chemistry is really good, We have those connections to put the ball away more.” Whitten said.

Titans’ hitter Alison Reilly led them with 13 kills, Elyria defense came from their back line. Their hustle turned Berea-Midpark points into Elyria points.

“This team has a lot of fight and I think that we can go really far if we keep fighting and bringing all the energy that we have,” Bender said.

Both teams advanced to play in the second round at Wooster High School on Oct. 23. Elyria will play Brecksville-Broadview Heights at 3:00 p.m. Normandy plays Wooster at 4:30 p.m.