Wed, Nov 25 2009
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Emotional rescue for Dragons Lakeside eventually gets it going to get past Chardon, wrap up share of second straight PAC title KARL PEARSONStar Beacon There were other important parts of the game in which the Dragons realized they had to improve.
“We had to communicate with each other,” Rantamaki, who had seven points, said. Making sure they held up their end in winning at least a share of the PAC was also part of the stakes. “The girls knew what was on the line,” Newsome said. “Winning the PAC meant a lot to them. Not losing their last home match meant a lot, too.” “Winning the PAC again is an amazing feeling,” Pugliese said. “I think we proved to a lot of people we’re a lot better than what we thought. Most papers and people around here felt we weren’t as good as last year without (John Carroll freshman) Miranda Newsome.” At any rate, the Dragons picked up their level of play and gradually worked their way back into the match. Chardon (5-17) managed to hold them off until the game was tied at 18. After another tie at 19, Angela DeGeorge, who led Lakeside with 13 points, ran off four straight points to allow it to pull away. An ace block by junior Christiana Blakeslee, who had 10 points, five ace spikes, five ace dinks and three ace blocks, finished the game. Chardon coach Julie Kolcum said the Hilltoppers came in looking to pull an upset, but just couldn’t maintain their early pace. “This is not to cut on Lakeside, which is a very good team, but I really felt we could come in here and knock them off,” she said. “Believe me, if I could figure out why we can’t keep it up and develop doubts, I’d be a genius. “Lakeside just got going with a couple good plays. It just snowballed from there.” Fueled by its comeback to take the first game, Lakeside asserted itself in the latter two games. The Dragons charged to the front early in the second game, again behind the serving of DeGeorge, to maintain a lead that stayed steady at 10 points. By the third game, Morrison got rolling, although the game was still tied as late as 11. Morrison provided two ace blocks and an ace spike and provided five service points to seal the match. “It took me until the third game to get going,” she said. “The emotions of the night probably had something to do with it.” Now, both teams turn their attention to the Division I sectional-district tournament at Euclid High School. Both open Tuesday night. “I told the girls now we have the second season,” Kolcum said. “We’ve got to focus on South and on not being afraid.” That is the goal of Newsome and her team. The third-seeded Dragons open against Brush, but they have other goals in mind, like trying to make it to the district finals for a second straight year. Riverside, which holds the second seed, likely stands in the way of that goal in a district-semifinal date. 
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