What's Happening in Cougar Country

As a high school player, Tess Connolly-Alcantara (’16) never made it to the state volleyball tournament. Now, though, in her first year as the head coach at her alma mater, she’s finally getting that chance to be on the court for the state semifinals, and possibly finals.

“Every year in high school we lost to the eventual state champion, so I never made it this far,” Connolly-Alcantara said. “As the coach now, I’m excited about what we’ve achieved so far, but we have high goals to reach. I’ll enjoy all the wins after the season is over.”

The Cougars play Frankfort Adena in one of the Division V state semifinals today at 6p at Wright State University’s Nutter Center. A win this evening will put them in line for their third straight state championship against either Franklin Bishop Fenwick or Ottawa-Glandorf at 1p tomorrow (Friday) also at the Nutter Center.

A championship would also be the fourth overall for the program, moving it past the football program’s three state titles for most in school history.

“Some might think that coming in as a new coach to such a successful program is easy, but it does come with different pressures,” Connolly-Alcantara said. “These girls are so used to winning, so I didn’t want to come in and mess any of that up. I know, because I played here, what high standards the volleyball program has. So, I wanted to come in and implement some of my coaching philosophies, but most importantly, just continue the success of the program.”

So far so good for Connolly-Alcantara and the Cougars, who have been in lockstep almost since the first week of practice.

“I think we adjusted pretty quickly (to having a new coach),” senior captain Julia Oster said. Oster’s sister, Kara (’13), won state titles in both her years of coaching the Cougars. “They both played here. So maybe that’s why the transition was so easy. They come from the same system in high school and they both understand what this program is all about.”

The Cougars head to Dayton having won the new North Coast Conference title, and with a 22-4 record, with three of their four losses coming to teams in the Division III state semifinals. 

This will be the fourth straight trip to the Final Four for the volleyball team. That’s the first time in school history a Lake Catholic team has made it to the state semifinals four years in a row. Oster, Natalya Bergant and Ava Budrys Rini have been a part of all four of those teams.

“It’s pretty cool that us seniors have always made it to Dayton,” Oster said. “But at the same time there was a lot of pressure to get there again. So, when we won (the regional final Saturday against Elyria Catholic) I did have a little sense of relief. 

“But we do still feel some pressure, because we want to win so badly.”

Although it is the first team to make four straight trips to the state tournament, the school has had several individuals make in their sport all four of their years – Anthony Constantino (wrestling, 00-03), Brian Connelly (wrestling, 03-06), Je’Rica Sanders (track, 08-11), Jenna Krolikowski (swimming, 14-17), Silvija Taraska (swimming, 14-17), Kevon Freeman (wrestling, 15-18), Conor McCrone (wrestling, 16-18), Cole Hivnor (wrestling, 18-21), Brendan McCrone (wrestling, 19-22), and Joey Romano (wrestling, 21-24).

Despite this being the fourth straight trip, this team has heard doubters throughout the season after last year’s historic run when they went undefeated and only lost three sets all year. 

“We lost so many great players from last year’s team, but we still have a lot of great players too,” Oster said. “There’s going to be so much satisfaction proving that we can still shine.”

Not only has this group of seniors continued to shine and its winning ways, maybe just as important is how this group of seniors carries themselves and what they’ve passed down to the rest of the team, Connolly-Alcantara said.

“They just carry themselves a certain way, and they want it to continue even when they’re gone,” she said. “They continue to show the expectations of what it means to be a Lake Catholic volleyball player. For example, (freshman) Lola (Loncar) is a great player, but she now knows what it takes to be a great Lake Catholic player.”

What it means to be a great Lake Catholic volleyball player seems to now include annual Final Four trips.