Academy of Notre Dame 2024 PAISAA STATE Champions
(Photo by Lennie Malmgren for PSD)
By: Josh Abrams
(Photos by Lennie Malmgren for PSD)
Villanova, PA - In the world of sports, unpredictability is usually an overarching theme - especially for a state title game.
When it comes to girls volleyball in the PAISAA, however, maybe not so much. Not when, for the third year in a row and 7th time in the last decade, Germantown Academy and Academy of Notre Dame clash in the state championship.
As if the anticipation couldn't build up any more already; both regular season meetings between the two went all five sets, with Notre Dame coming out on top in each game. As for Wednesday night, Long-time Fighting Irish head coach Mike Sheridan was sure of one thing.
"I talked to (GA head coach) Chuck Dougherty. We joked 'we might as well just start playing a 5th set' because every time we play them it ends up going five sets," Sheridan said.
Round 3 between the Irish and Patriots went four sets, and Notre Dame held off a resurging Germantown Academy squad who almost forced the penultimate fifth set multiple times. The frames went 25-12, 27-25, 20-25 and 28-26. With the fourth and last set needing to be decided in overtime, it provided a fitting ending that maybe came a match early.
"When we won that first set - pretty handily - I knew that wasn't how this match was going to play out. I knew they (GA) were too good, and I knew they would battle back, and they did," remarked Sheridan.
The Irish raced out to a quick 7-0 lead in the opening set, as the junior duo of Natalia Zelubowski and Kayla Edginton recorded multiple kills and the latter blocking the first of many spikes from GA's hitters all night. Notre Dame never looked back and took the first set with ease.
"A big thing (from coach Sheridan) was to never stop being aggressive," said Zelubowski . "Keep swinging at the ball, don't play scared."
Academy of Notre Dame takes back PAISAA crown by winning thrilling fourth set, fans storm court in celebration (Video by Josh Abrams)
Notre Dame Academy HC Mike Sheridan reflects on winning his 10th PAISAA title with the Irish (Video by Josh Abrams)
The second set proved to be much more of a championship-caliber bout. Both teams exchanged multiple 3-0 runs throughout the frame and found themselves deadlocked at 10 apiece. Germantown Academy took their first lead of the match, 14-13, when explosive junior outside hitter Pilar Presson fired a spike to the floor.
Another exchange of small runs ensued, tying the set at 19-all. Notre Dame senior Vikki Zelubowski, Natalia's older sister, recorded a kill off a beautiful set up from senior libero Bethany Morris to put the Irish ahead 20-19, prompting Dougherty to call a timeout.
Postgame interview with NDA sisters Natalia & Vikki Zelubowski, who helped lead the way up front for the Irish (Video by Josh Abrams)
Postgame interview with NDA junior Audrey Bergan, who reflects on winning a PAISAA championship as a key contributor (Video by Josh Abrams)
For a short while, it seemed like the timeout worked. After the elder Zelubowski recorded a kill to extend the Irish's lead back to three, the GA combination of Abby Traina-Nicole Ward-Caroline Smith tied the game back up at 22 apiece. The Patriots were one point away from tying the PAISAA title match at one set each, but Notre Dame once again tied things up, this time at 24-all. They went on to take three of the next four points, and clinch the second set to take a commanding 2-0 lead heading into the third.
"We've played - and you saw it in second set - from behind a lot... that's not the first time we've done that," expressed Sheridan. "I don't like playing that way, cause that's going to bite you at some point... but even then you'd think that was a big momentum game."
Spoiler alert: it wasn't. As Sheridan said himself postgame, Germantown Academy "came right back at us" and handled his team in the third set. This was the best GA looked the entire night, as they not only won the set but also went on a 6-0 run in the middle of it to go up by as much as eight points, 13-5. Their largest lead was nine, when an ace from NDA made it 21-12, and eventually they took the set, 25-20, to stay alive.
Similar to the second set, Germantown Academy started fast and led for the majority of the fourth frame. Smith and Presson were forces up front and did everything they could to keep the Patriots in the mix for forcing that enticing fifth set to 15.
Leading 22-19 and just three points away from doing so, it turned into do-or-die for Notre Dame. Vikki Zelubowski continued her impressive outing with two kills to cut GA's lead down to one. Then came the play of the game.
"My 5'1" setter (Morris) was playing the front row against their outside hitter (Smith), who was killing us all night," Sheridan said. "So I told my middle blocker 'you've got to change places with her', and that's Kayla Edginton. She made that block at the very end that I think was just the boost we needed to get over the hump."
Germantown Academy's Pilar Presson with a ferocious spike to clinch third set and keep Patriots alive (Video by Josh Abrams)
Great serve from Notre Dame Academy's Vikki Zelubowski clinches second set and gives Fighting Irish commanding 2-0 lead (Video by Josh Abrams)
Edginton's denial knotted the fourth set at 22 points each. Both teams exchanged points all the way up to the 26th point, and then the Irish managed to take the next two and clinch the PAISAA championship; their 10th in the last 11 seasons. The lone year they didn't win in that span? Last season, when the same Germantown Academy team defeated the Irish in a similar four-set clash.
Irish take first set of PAISAA title match with a commanding 25-12 victory (Video by Josh Abrams)
Sheridan has been there for it all, so how exactly does someone with so much success and championship pedigree view yet another season of such glory?
"I know it means a tremendous amount. We talk about it all season long," said a relieved Sheridan. "We had that streak of nine in a row, and I'll tell ya, that was sort of an albatross. It was so much pressure on these kids, and I think it just weighed down on them. So, in some ways, I thought last year's loss to GA had sort of a bright side to it - that burden's been lifted off of us."
For Vikki Zelubowski, who capped off her high school career with a third PAISAA title, it means the world, especially since she got to do it with her sister by her side.
"It's my last year here, so it feels really good to end it like this with my sister," said Vikki. "Obviously, last year we lost, and nine years before that we won every year, so now to get that back is just super rewarding."
Vikki led her Irish teammates with 27 kills, while Edginton provided 11 kills and eight blocks. Notre Dame's front row proved too much to handle for Germantown Academy, recording 18 blocks overall. Junior libero Paityn Kehoe paced the defense with 18 digs.
The Irish capped off their season with a 19-5 overall record, a perfect 8-0 mark in Inter-Ac play, a league title and the PAISAA state championship. With just three seniors departing next spring, they will look to continue their unprecedented dominance in 2025.
The Patriots finish their season at 19-6 overall, 6-2 against Inter-Ac competition and the runner-up in the PAISAA title game. Similar to Notre Dame, GA will only lose four seniors to graduation, and it is safe to assume those returning next season will have nothing but revenge on their minds.
