District volleyball: Wadsworth falls to St. Joseph

MAPLE HTS. — A season that exceeded all expectations for the Wadsworth volleyball team ended in the round of 32 of the tournament. Junior Annabelle Groomes had 17 kills, six assists, three blocks and three aces as No. 1 seed St. Joseph Academy eliminated No. 8 Wadsworth 25-10, 25-17, 25-21 in the Division I, Northeast 4 District final Thursday. The Jaguars (21-4) — ranked second in the final state coaches poll and the best team in the northern half of Ohio — amassed a staggering 50 kills against the Suburban League co-champion Grizzlies (20-5), who had just 19. "They just don't make mistakes, it's amazing," Wadsworth senior setter Olivia Beldean said. "There wasn't anyone we could pick on because every girl out there was really good." Beldean dished out 13 assists, sophomore outside hitter Lauren Decker had six kills, eight digs and two blocks and senior libero Avery Nicholson made a team-best 14 digs. Despite graduating four of their top five players, the Grizzlies became the first Medina County squad to qualify for back-to-back district finals since Kacie Evans and Wadsworth did so in 2017-2018. "I loved every second of this season," Nicholson said. "These girls are my best friends, which makes it so hard for it to be over." Junior middle hitter Karley Allwood had three of her four kills in the third, when the Grizzlies pulled within two points four times late in the set before Groomes ended it with consecutive kills from the left side. St. Joseph utilized its lightning quick offense to dominate from start to finish. Olivia Castelluccio had 28 assists and Hannah Foor had 10 kills and four blocks. Wadsworth didn't hurt itself all evening, only committing seven errors in the first two sets, but was simply overwhelmed by the larger, more powerful and much more experienced Jaguars. "We didn't play against a zero-tempo (extremely fast) setter all season until today," Grizzlies coach Allyson Wines said. "That's why we talked to the girls about expanding their mindset of how the game is played. "You don't beat elite teams unless you look beyond the Suburban League or Medina County, but you really can't put it into motion until you see it. We now have that motivation to carry us for the next 12 months." Wadsworth also received three kills from senior Brooke Manfull, nine digs from junior defensive specialist Maddie Blackburn, three blocks from sophomore middle hitter Lilly McComas and two kills from senior outside hitter Rachel Dunkle. The Grizzlies' future is very bright as they also will have setter Rowan Kelly and middle hitter Reese Kelly in the lineup for a full season in 2024. "We came so far as a group to get here, it just sucks that we lost," said Decker, who developed into one of the top players in the area this fall. "We'll miss our seniors, but we should be really good next year. I can't wait to get started again." Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com. Follow him @BrianDulik on Twitter.