Cinderella run ends in finals for Villa Duchesne
KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Villa Duchesne volleyball team gladly embraced its moniker as the Cinderella of this year’s Class 3 state tournament.
Unfortunately for the Saints, a new moniker of giant killer proved to be out of reach.
Heavily-favored O’Hara knocked off Villa 25-16, 25-13 in the Class 3 championship match Saturday at Municipal Auditorium. It was the third consecutive state title and the sixth overall for the hometown juggernaut.
“Hands down to the way O’Hara played,” Villa coach Shane Weber said. “As far as school classes go, that’s one of the best teams I’ve ever seen. To beat them, you have to execute at close to 100 percent and we fell short of that today.”
O’Hara’s Michala Boehm and Tori Hurtt combined for 30 kills. Hurtt had four blocks.
“Michala and Tori just work so well together,” O’Hara coach Lori Hanaway said. “When one goes to the back row, we reload with the other one. It’s a great offensive tool to have.”
O’Hara (30-6-1) took control of Game 1 with a 5-1 run aided by several Villa hitting errors to make it 11-6. Villa (31-9-3) couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.
Hurtt lived up to her name, almost single-handedly giving O’Hara a 5-1 lead in Game 2. Hurtt had three kills and a block to fuel the run. Villa cut it to 5-2 on an O’Hara hitting error, but never got any closer.
Frankie Vain led Villa with nine kills and Faith Rolwes had 10 assists.
“Experience was a big key,” Vain said. “I’m not going to say that the pressure beat us down, but having that experience definitely helps.”
O’Hara, with 11 appearances, entered this final four with the experience edge and played like it. Aside from a 25-20 game against Villa in the semis, no other opponent got within nine points of the Celtics.
It was Villa’s first final four appearance and even though the ending was disappointing, Weber considers it an overwhelming success.
“I told them that right now, you’re the best team to ever come out of this school,” Weber said. “This is something we can build on.”
The loss was the end of the line for Villa seniors Vain and Shannyn Rudawsky, but Vain believes it is just the start for Villa.
“Obviously, this was a huge learning experience, but I’m glad to be a part of it,” Vain said. “It is good to leave a program that has potential and this will definitely not be the last time Villa is here.”
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