Lake Catholic came into its Division V Berkshire Regional semifinal against Crestview knowing the Rebels had two players who combined for just over 800 kills on the season. So the Cougars needed to isolate one, if not both, through the contest. They did a strong job of that in the first two sets but let them start to find a swing in the third. A quick timeout led to a long, game-ending run and Lake Catholic concluded the sweep. Lake Catholic returns to Berkshire to play Elyria Catholic on Nov. 2 in the regional final. The Cougars swept the Panthers in the regular season. The Cougars didn’t start the match swinging well, rather forcing Crestview into mistakes and building a lead on that. They kept the Rebels rotation stagnant and worked with Abbey Emch, a Pittsburgh signee who had 498 kills this season, in the back row. Coach Tess Connolly was proud of the work the team did in the leadup to the contest. PHOTOS: Lake Catholic vs. Crestview volleyball, Oct. 31, 2024 "They did a lot of work on film and I'm proud of them for that," Connolly said. "They really went to that next level of identifying what's there and where to go with the ball. We also did a lot of work of what we want to achieve and how we're going to get there." Lake Catholic led, 11-9, in the middle of the first set but then went on a 14-3 run to claim the opening frame. Then the Cougars found their swing and took control of the middle of the net. It didn't matter which rotation was up, whichever player was up front controlled the game from there. The Cougars finished with a combined 10 blocks while Ahnna Bergant led the way with 10 kills. But the trio of Natalya Bergant, Avery and Ava Budrys-Rini had nine kills each. "We had a lot of momentum and energy," Budrys-Rini said. "We thought we were the underdogs coming into today and used that as momentum. It's nice, wherever the ball goes, you trust it." With the control up front, it also made the jobs all around the court for the Cougars. The receiving game was strong all contest and they were rarely out of system. It made the showdown a lot smoother for all to shoulder. Senior libero Julia Oster knows that being a well-oiled machine at this point in the year helps everyone be prepared for when the sets do get close. "We had a lot of fire coming into the game," Oster said. "We controlled the pace of the game all match long. I think it shows how bad we want it and how much we're going to work to achieve that. We were a little doubted this year and we want to prove everyone wrong." Lake Catholic also had a strong contest from the service line, recording a combined 10 aces in the contest. The second set started in a 4-4 deadlock but the Cougars began to roll again. They forced Crestview to use both of its timeouts amid an 11-3 run. The third set had a similar start but Crestview rallied after an 8-5 deficit to make it a 17-16 Lake Catholic lead. The Cougars called their lone timeout in the contest and again went on a run. A 4-0 run forced the Rebels to call their second timeout and a 9-1 run concluded the sweep. Connolly knows that when they get it going in all phases of the game, Lake Catholic is a hard opponent to figure out. "Volleyball is a team sport," Connolly said. "We might not be as tall or as powerful as previous years, but we are just as diverse. Super proud of how everyone stepped up to the plate. Layla (Kastner) and Ava did a great job in the middle, controlling and closing the blocks. That's one step done and now it's on to the next step to achieve." Crestview was led by Emch and Alaina Auer, with eight kills each.