| Athens High School 7:30 PM |
| Thursday, October 2nd WF def. SE 25-17, 25-19, 17-25, 24-26, 15-7 Tuesday, September 9th WF def. SE 25-20, 17-25, 29-27, 21-25, 15-10 |
In a way its a match-up of a program that "has been there, done that" and a program that is hungry to
taste "that." However you choose to look at it, both sides tell a great story. Overshadowed too often by
Adena's incredible program, Westfall has been a southeast power for quite some time now. Last
weekend's straight set win over West Union marked the eighth straight sectional title - and 12 out of 13 -
for the Lady Mustangs. In those 12 district trips, WF has won nine district titles, was regional runner-up
twice, and three times has won the regionals to advance to the final four. Even in a year where Cassie
Sowers is off to play Division-I college volleyball in the MAC and in a year where setter Hannah Gabriel
was forced to miss time with an injury, Coach Lori Merriman once again has her Lady Mustangs right in
the middle of all the postseason hype, and in the eyes of many are the favorites in their bracket to head
back to the regionals.
On the other side, Coach Lori Dresbach has made huge strides in putting Southeastern volleyball on the
map. The Panthers enter Thursday night with a 12-12 overall record, and the blue and white lost four,
five-set matches in the league (two of them to WF) or that record could read 16-8.
A big part of this match could be the play of the setters. Westfall's Hannah Gabriel (second in the league
with 7.47 assists per game) and Southeastern's Kaitlin Duarte (third in the league with 7.29 assists per
game) have both keyed balanced attacks for their respective teams. Gabriel's favorite targets are Suzy
Gantz (2.96 kills per game in the regular season) and sister Haley (2.62 kills per game in the regular
season), while Duarte will usually look to Catherine Dresbach (2.92 kills per game in the regular season )
and Olivia Arledge (2.53 kills per game in the regular season).CLICK HERE FOR SVC INDIVIDUAL
LEADERS.
taste "that." However you choose to look at it, both sides tell a great story. Overshadowed too often by
Adena's incredible program, Westfall has been a southeast power for quite some time now. Last
weekend's straight set win over West Union marked the eighth straight sectional title - and 12 out of 13 -
for the Lady Mustangs. In those 12 district trips, WF has won nine district titles, was regional runner-up
twice, and three times has won the regionals to advance to the final four. Even in a year where Cassie
Sowers is off to play Division-I college volleyball in the MAC and in a year where setter Hannah Gabriel
was forced to miss time with an injury, Coach Lori Merriman once again has her Lady Mustangs right in
the middle of all the postseason hype, and in the eyes of many are the favorites in their bracket to head
back to the regionals.
On the other side, Coach Lori Dresbach has made huge strides in putting Southeastern volleyball on the
map. The Panthers enter Thursday night with a 12-12 overall record, and the blue and white lost four,
five-set matches in the league (two of them to WF) or that record could read 16-8.
A big part of this match could be the play of the setters. Westfall's Hannah Gabriel (second in the league
with 7.47 assists per game) and Southeastern's Kaitlin Duarte (third in the league with 7.29 assists per
game) have both keyed balanced attacks for their respective teams. Gabriel's favorite targets are Suzy
Gantz (2.96 kills per game in the regular season) and sister Haley (2.62 kills per game in the regular
season), while Duarte will usually look to Catherine Dresbach (2.92 kills per game in the regular season )
and Olivia Arledge (2.53 kills per game in the regular season).CLICK HERE FOR SVC INDIVIDUAL
LEADERS.
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| 2008 Postseason Volleyball |