TIGER TIME: Huron rallies to win state championship

VANDALIA, Ohio — The Huron Tigers were on the ropes in Sunday night's Division III state championship match. They lost two of the first three sets to an Independence team playing in its third straight title bout. That's when the Tigers' block showed up, leading the way to a 24-26, 25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 15-7 win to top off a most unusual volleyball season in style at the Vandalia Butler Student Activities Center. "I absolutely expected a knock-down, drag-out fight between us," said Huron coach Don Wood, whose team rallied to beat Independence in five sets during the regular season. "That's twice this year we've done it. Thank goodness we don't have to do it a third time." The fifth and deciding set was all Huron. The Tigers scored four straight points to take an 8-2 lead and kept attacking. An Alizia Lagando ace was followed by a Sophie Lee stuff of an overpass and a Lee block to give Huron the commanding six-point lead. It only grew from there. Another Lee block made it 10-3 and a Claire Solberg block gave the Tigers a 13-4 advantage. Solberg finished off the match with a soft tip to open court and a kill. The Tigers piled onto the court in celebration as a large Huron cheering section gave the team a standing ovation. "It's amazing seeing everyone up in the stands," said senior All-Ohio outside hitter Makenna Schafer. "People who used to play, parents, friends. It means a lot to us. "All the students back there cheering, it helped a lot because those are our friends. They've been through this with us the whole time, and even though they weren't at games they were supporting us." Lee, who led the Tigers with 18 kills and eight blocks, was a key part of Huron's big front line that seemed to wear down Independence, which lost in the championship match for the third straight season. "In the tiebreaker they wanted it pretty bad," Independence coach Anthony Messina said. "Not that we didn't, but I don't think we got a ball down. They blocked every ball we were trying to hit over and we didn't have an answer for that." Schafer, who caught fire midway through the second set with Huron trailing 14-10, finished with 16 kills and assisted on eight blocks. "A little worrisome," she said when asked how she felt with Huron trailing in the second set after losing a 23-18 lead in the first. "I was thinking, 'I'm not letting this happen.' I knew everyone would do their job and I had a really good feeling we would step it up," she said. "It's the best feeling in the world. That was amazing." Schafer, who will play collegiately at Ohio University, had five late kills in the second set to help turn the momentum. "We were on the ropes a lot, but we had a chance to win every game. We had all kinds of chances," Wood said. "We were able to free (Schafer) up a little bit and (setter) Georgi (Moody) started feeding her. As soon as she started swinging that picked everybody up — a lot." So did Huron's block. The official statistics credited second-ranked Huron (25-2) with 17.5 total team blocks to six for third-ranked Independence (25-4). "I think our block tightened up," Wood said. "Their hitters are really intelligent and skilled. They were able to hit off our block. It wasn't an accident that they were hitting off our block and it was going out of bounds. "We didn't get many blocks in the first three games, then the blocks started coming. They couldn't have timed it any better." Solberg finished with 13 kills and nine block assists. Moody had 51 assists, 20 digs and eight kills. The back row was busy digging what the Blue Devils' hitters had to offer — especially senior Grace Smotek, who had a match-high 26 kills. Smotek will play collegiately at Notre Dame College. Huron junior Izzy Cozzie finished with 25 digs. Lagando added nine kills and 14 digs and Sofia Stefano had 12 digs. Stefano was 27-for-27 serving while Lagando and Moody were each 21-for-21. Rae Roldan finished with three aces and eight digs. After losing the first set, Huron trailed 14-10 in the second before a 6-1 run gave the Tigers the lead. A Lagando kill and Lee's soft tip tied the match at one set apiece. Huron led 21-18 in the third before Smotek keyed a 6-0 Independence run. The Tigers fought off three set points before the Blue Devils prevailed 26-24 on a kill by Callie Prokopious and a block. The fourth set was all Huron. Solberg keyed a 5-0 run that made it 18-10. A huge Schafer kill extended it to 22-12. Another Schafer kill and a kill and stuff at the net by Lee tied the match at 2-2, setting the stage for Huron's dominating fifth set and the fifth state championship in school history. "Very proud of this group to get through 2020 unscathed in terms of being healthy and being able to get our whole team here," Wood said. "We played in the fifth game of the last match in this volleyball season." After a brief celebration in the locker room the team headed to the bus and a late-night trip home. Wood said he'd be at the school before 7 a.m. ready to teach. "When we were celebrating back there (in the locker room) it felt like my past self as a kid went into my body. I was in shock," Lee said. "This has my dream my whole life now and it's real. It's crazy." ----- Huron's state finals history The Tigers have played in eight Division III final fours. How they finished, with season records: 2019 -- State champion (25-2) 2014 -- State champion (25-4) 2009 -- State champion (26-3) 2006 -- Lost in semifinals (23-5) 2002 -- State champion (27-2) 2001 -- Lost in semifinals (23-5) 2000 -- State runner-up (24-5) 1999 -- State champion (26-3) GALLERY: [Album Placeholder (use source code to remove)]