by In many ways, this volleyball match was for nothing but bragging rights. But when the Jags and Mags get together, it’s for much more than that. It’s for everything.
Played in front of a packed, rowdy gym as one of the more intense and entertaining rivalries in local high school sports, host Magnificat came back from a deep hole to take the third set and then used the momentum to win the fourth set handily, dropping rival St. Joseph Academy, three sets to one, on Thursday. The set scores were 25-17, 21-25, 29-27, 25-16.
The Blue Streaks, now 13-4, entered the match ranked second in the state in Division I in the state coaches poll. St. Joseph Academy, now 10-7, was ranked third.
Magnificat was led by junior Sydney Borowy with 27 kills, 10 in the first set. The Jaguars countered with senior outside hitter Chloe Smith with 20 kills and senior Bella Groomes with 11 kills, five blocks and three aces. Headed to the University of San Diego next year, Groomes got all of her kills as the team’s setter, either placing the ball across the net before the defense could set up or just pounding the ball to the floor on her team’s second hit.
“It was an exciting match,” said Magnificat coach Matt Onweller. “That’s a really good St. Joe’s team. Bella Groomes is phenomenal. She’s one of the best players in our state, probably in our region. It’s a team we will continue to have a lot of respect for. They run a lot of outside-heavy offense like we do, so we were thankful we were able to match up well with them there. We were fortunate that we served and passed pretty well, so we came out on top.”
The key to the match was the third set, which saw SJA rattle off eight consecutive points, turning a 10-9 deficit into a 17-10 lead. However, just when it appeared the Jaguars would roll through the set, the Blue Streaks put together a 12-5 run of their own to knot the score at 22. From there on it was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams having multiple chances to pull out the set. Staring at a 27-26 deficit, Magnificat sandwiched two Borowy kills around an ace by Lindsey Murphy to take the set, 29-27.
“With all of our adversity because we lost the second set after being up and then fell behind, 18-12, in the third set, we challenged them to see if we could play as a team and battle back,” Onweller said. “And we did. When we got it to 22-22, we battled back and forth for each point, and we were able to come out on top.”
While it appeared the Jaguars were knocked back a step after seemingly having the third set under control, SJA coach Jordan Kortowich said she doesn’t hold to the theory that the match could have had a different outcome had her team held on in the third set.
“I don’t think it matters what order you win sets in,” she said. “I think it’s how you apply yourself to each set. And delivering that outcome is how you play and how you execute. I don’t think it’s a matter of what set we won and what set we lost. How we execute each set that we’re given, each opportunity that we’re given, that’s how we need to win these games.”
It was the second consecutive frustrating road loss for the Jaguars, who on Tuesday won the first two sets against undefeated Akron Hoban, only to drop the final three.
“We’ve got to do better,” Kortowich said. “We do everything that we need to do. We see these teams everywhere we go. We know what needs to be done. It’s just a matter of executing.”
Much of the executing was being done by Magnificat early in the match, as the Blue Streaks jumped out to leads of 5-1, 12-6 and 15-8 in the opening set. The Jaguars battled back to within 20-16, but Magnificat then scored five of the final six points to take the set, 25-17. Borowy was so dominant that it forced SJA to alter its defensive scheme in order to handle her huge hits.
“(Sydney) did very well for us,” Onweller said. “She’s been progressing like no other. She’s come a long way for us.”
Magnificat also jumped to an early lead in the second set at 5-1. But this time St. Joseph Academy gradually battled back to a 12-11 deficit and eventually took its first lead of the set at 19-18 on a kill by Groomes. Smith helped put the set away for SJA, scoring three of the final five points with some massive hits.
The fourth set belonged to Magnificat senior Ava Carney, who took control of the net with five kills and three blocks. Onweller said he had planned to unleash Carney earlier in the match, but it turned out the timing of her emergence was just right.
“She really came on in the fourth set,” he said. “We talked about how we wanted to run her early, but then we didn’t. So, we challenged her. We said we needed to get her more involved because we knew they were going to start getting more touches on Sidney Borowy and Fiona Greulich. We wanted to get her involved a little more, and once we did, it opened everything up.”
In basketball, these two rivals play each other twice each regular season. In volleyball it only happens once, but both coaches feel it is likely these two could face each other again in the postseason.
“I think we will probably play each other again,” Onweller said. “I think if we both win, we would play each other in a regional final. But we feel like we’re going to see them again.”
Kortowich said she would relish another opportunity to play the Streaks.
“I hope so,” she said. “This is a good match. Matt does a really good job with his girls. I hope to see them again. I think it’s a great opportunity for both teams.”
