It had been a while since the Cardinal Huskies’ volleyball team celebrated a district championship, 27 years in fact. The Huskies ended that long drought when they swept Central Christian 25-20, 25-20, 25-22 to reign supreme in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division VII Northeast 3 district championship last Thursday evening at Smithville High School.
“It means the world right now,” said Coach Michael Chaffee. “We have talked about it a couple of times and have been very excited with our progress this year. We would have loved to have won the league and we are very competitive and came close to some big wins there, but winning a district title now gives us something.”
If the Huskies defeat Wellsville Senior in the regional semifinal on Thursday evening, they will advance to the Elite Eight and face either St. John or St. Paul in the regional championship at Strongsville High School on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
The last time the Huskies (15-10, 5-5) captured a district banner was in the 1996 season, when Chaffee was coaching the Windham volleyball team. It marks Chaffee’s first time coaching a team to a district title since doing so with Newbury in 2018.
Despite being seeded only eighth for the postseason, Cardinal has embraced being the underdog, winning each of its first three playoff matches by a sweep.
“We asked from the beginning that they trust the process here,” the first-year coach said. “I think we realized all along that we were getting better and that was a big part of our growth and we have very good kids who are good teammates and wanted to get better and worked hard at it. Our chemistry is a huge part of our success.”
On Thursday, the Huskies owned a 2-0 advantage against Central Christian, needing only to win one more set to clinch the district title. The Comets did not go away and held a lead throughout most of the third set and held a 21-18 edge near the end of the set. Cardinal went on 2-0 spurt to cut the lead to just one point. Even after Central Christian scored another point to go ahead 22-20, the Huskies responded with two quick points to knot things up again.
According to Chaffee, it was not as much about looking ahead to see how it could get to the 25th and decisive point but just taking things one point at a time, with the most important one always being the next point.
“The only thing we have to worry about is the next play. That is the only thing we have to worry about and our kids have really embraced that and it has helped them with that mindset,” he added.
Chaffee acknowledged that things had the potential to get sticky if the Comets prevailed in the third set, giving them a chance to put the pressure back on Cardinal.
“I think if it would have gone to a fourth game it would have been pretty similar,” he said. “It would have been a back-and-forth and obviously they would have had a little bit of momentum coming but when you are up 2-0, you don’t want to go to Game 4
Up until the third set, Cardinal had been in control the entire night, always having a lead no matter how slim and never allowing the Comets to make a big run to overtake them. Chaffee said that playing against Central Christian was almost like the Huskies were playing themselves.
“We were never ahead by a lot but we were always ahead by a few and we played really consistent last night and we did a really good job of not giving up any runs,” Chaffee said.
Cardinal went on a 3-0 scoring spree to finish off the third set and earn the district title, cementing themselves in school history.
“There was no deflation, they were making plays and we needed to respond,” noted Chaffee. “If you can get a couple, instead of being down three you are tied and all of a sudden that flips the pressure towards them.”
After a challenging start to the season when the Huskies began with a 1-4 record, it has been an impressive rebound. Although Cardinal did not win the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division title in its final year of competing in the CVC, it still has left its mark by finally ending a long wait to return to the Sweet Sixteen.
Chaffee credited his players for maintaining their focus throughout the season even when things looked bleak.
