The NDCL volleyball team defeated Gilmour on November 12th at Wright State University’s Nutter Center for the State Championship title! The match was a hard-fought battle, as the teams played a long 5-set match. This will be Lion’s 3rd-ever state championship in school history! However, the season leading up to that game didn’t have spectators predicting the team would make it that far. 

The lions jumped to a great start at the beginning of the season with wins against Coventry, Hathaway Brown, and Mentor High. Then, they fell to Bishop Hartley and Coventry at a tournament but defeated Reynoldsburg. After those losses, the Lions won another four games against Gilmour Academy, Walsh Jesuit, Olmsted Falls, and Beaumont. 

Until this season, there had been relatively consistent wins, excluding the two tournament losses. This made the following streak all the more surprising. After the Beaumont victory, the Lady Lions went on a four-game losing streak— the biggest of the season— against Hudson, Saint Joseph Academy, Padua Franciscan, and Lake Catholic. A 5 set win against Walsh Jesuit is just what the lions needed to turn the season around again and get back on track. Senior Lauren Janosy reflects on this streak during the regular season. “Overcoming difficulties is the hardest thing in life. Through the middle of our season, our team went through a rough spot where losing seemed the only thing on our plate. But everyone who said we couldn’t do it fueled us to be better every day. Our turning point would be playing against Walsh Jesuit and finally coming out on top. We built upon that one game to reach our end goal, winning states”. 

After overcoming the losing streak, the NDCL volleyball team proved it easy to coast into playoffs. After the win against Walsh Jesuit, the lions also emerged victorious over Beaumont, Marlington, Padua Fransicsan, and Lake Catholic, only giving up one game to Magnificat High School to close out the regular season. The final record for the 2022 regular season was 13-7. 

According to fans and players, the regular season didn’t leave anyone prepared for what happened during playoffs. Junior Reilly Parent went into the postseason a little anxious. “I believed in our team and was confident that we could get as far as we did because I knew we had that fight in us, but judging by the inconsistency we showed during the regular season, I was a little nervous that we wouldn’t push for consistency and give up a match,” says Parent. 

Consistency was prevalent postseason, as the Lions won seven straight games to win the State Title. Leading up to the championship game against Gilmour Academy, the team pushed through Crestwood, Canfield, Jefferson Area, Holy Name, Bay, and Union Local. 

The championship match sent regular season flashbacks to players and fans. Before this match, the Lady Lions only gave up one set in the six preceding games they had played in the postseason. Having won the first set and losing the next two, players and fans got a familiar sense of the inconsistency they’ve seen throughout the regular season. However, the girls fought as hard as possible and took the last two sets to themselves for the State Championship game win. 

Overall, the 2022 season was very unsteady for the team. Senior Caroline Jurevicis reflects on the entire season: “Overall, I think the season was pretty up and down. We had a rough patch, but that made us stronger because if we could overcome losing five games in a row, we could overcome any adversity thrown our way. I’m so proud of our team and how we handled ourselves and gave it all we had to get as far as we got”.