Returning all but two players from last year’s Division II state runner-up squad, Gilmour coach Danny Coughlin had a clear vision of what his starting lineup would look like this year. Believe it or not, that envisioned lineup didn’t make its debut until Oct. 31, when the Lancers faced Padua in a Division III regional semifinal at Mentor High School. Because of a variety of injuries and illnesses and what Coughlin calls bumps and bruises, Gilmour never was able to face its challenging schedule with all of its weapons in place. But the Lancers were at full strength against Padua. Showing all the versatility and depth that Coughlin knew he had but had yet to display, Gilmour rolled its way into another regional final, dominating the Bruins, 25-9, 25-14, 25-12. The Lancers (21-4) next face Akron Hoban in the regional final at noon Nov. 2 at Mentor. Hoban swept its way past Medina Highland in the other semifinal, 25-22, 25-17, 25-13. PHOTOS: Gilmour vs. Padua volleyball, Oct. 31, 2024 “This was fun to watch tonight,” Coughlin said. “I just told the girls that might have been the best performance we’ve had all season because we finally had our lineup. We finally had people in the position we wanted them. We finally are healthy.” With All-Ohio setter Ella Jackson spreading the ball around the court, Gilmour was led by outside hitter Marlie Davis and middle D’aira Whitner with nine kills apiece. Outside hitters Kayla Channell and Aubrey Anders added eight kills each, and 6-foot-3 middle Kyla Williams had six. Contrast that with Padua, which was led by Angelina Gaal with six kills, but nobody else had more than three. “That’s what we do,” Coughlin said. “Ella does a wonderful job of spreading the ball around. She does a great job of putting people into position to score a point. She does a great job of giving them one-on-ones. When the middles are on fire, that just makes things easier on the outside. Both of our middles were scoring, then you had Aubrey and Marlie and Kayla who were also scoring points.” As indicated by the final score, none of the sets were very competitive. In the first set, the score was tied at 1-1 when the Lancers went on a rampage, reaching scores such as 8-2, 12-3, 17-5 and 24-6. In that opening set Gilmour had six aces by four players. For the match, the always hard-hitting Lancers had 15 aces from six players, led by Brie Habeeb with four and Davis with three. In the second set, Padua had leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2, but Gilmour again took over to open the lead up to 22-9. The Bruins went on a mini-run to cut the margin to 23-14, but the Lancers scored the next two points on hitting errors by Padua. The third set was more of the same. Gilmour jumped to a 3-0 lead, only to see Padua score five points in a row. But then the score was 9-5 and 15-6, allowing the Lancers to run away and hide. The regional matchup with Hoban should be exciting. The Knights went through the regular season undefeated for the second consecutive year. However, according to MaxPreps, their strength of schedule isn’t nearly that of Gilmour. But because of the unbeaten mark, Hoban is ranked No. 1 in the state by both MaxPreps and the state coaches poll while Gilmour is ranked second. “We’re looking forward to Saturday’s match,” Coughlin said. “We’re excited for this. We want this. As the saying goes, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. Right now, Hoban’s the No. 1-ranked team. We’re the underdog for once and we’re enjoying it.”