Semifinal foe too tall for Indian Creek

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SOMONAUK – The Ottawa Marquette volleyball team wanted to play at a deliberate pace. With a distinct size advantage over Indian Creek, the Crusaders wanted to control the tempo to neutralize the Timberwolves’ speed advantage.

Crusaders middle hitter Cordella Murphy and outside hitter Bailie Bongartz were a towering force that was too much for the scrappy Timberwolves in a 25-17, 25-22 Class 1A Somonauk Regional semifinal loss Thursday. The Timberwolves knocked off seventh-seeded LaMoille, 25-22, 25-21, in a quarterfinal match earlier in the evening.

Murphy had a match-high 10 kills and 10 blocks. Her presence alone was enough to sidetrack the Indian Creek offense.

“We made a lot of mistakes trying to hit around their big girls,” Indian Creek coach Stephanie Crutcher said. “Their defense did a nice job of getting to a lot of balls. That seemed to frustrate us.”

No. 6 seed Marquette (20-10) scouted Indian Creek as a team that hustles. Crusaders coach Brooke Rick said a diversified attack was the key to pulling off the upset over No. 2 seed Indian Creek (10-24).

“IC is one of the best defensive teams we’ve seen all year,” Rick said. “We knew that coming in. We aren’t fast enough to be a scrap-ball team. We slowed it up, passed it and then set up the offense. The outside hitters did a great job of mixing up shots.”

Faced with a 22-14 deficit, Indian Creek senior Loren Goodrich (seven blocks) swung momentum to the Timberwolves with stuffing Murphy's kill attempts at the net.

“She started reading things right,” Crutcher said. “Loren is our big blocker. I think she was all-or-nothing determined at the end. They were hard to stop. We don’t run up against height like that too often. It is something you have to adjust to on the fly when you aren’t used to seeing it.”

With Goodrich offering stout resistance with back-to-back blocks at the net, Indian Creek closed to within 24-21. Marquette called a timeout to stem the tide. Fittingly, it was Bongartz who set up Murphy for the game-winning kill.

“She’s ginormous,” Goodrich said. “It was just decision-making, being smart and knowing where to set plays. She’s a big block and did a nice job.”

The Timberwolves graduate four seniors, Goodrich, Vicki Novotny, Jennifer Westbrook and Katie Browder.

“I’ll miss this team; it’s been fun,” Browder said. “We are like a family.”

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