Shaken Cardinals lose 3-1 to No. 1-seeded Polar Bears – News-Herald

Hudson — After dropping the first two sets 25-14, 25-16, the mentor knew he had to start doing something if he wanted to avoid a sweep with Jackson in the Division I district semifinals on Hudson. I understood.

The Cardinals saw that swing in the third set, scoring 15 of 16 points and scoring points in a 25-17 win.

However, the Cardinals were unable to repeat the magic as they ended the season dropping the fourth set 25-15 and the game 3-1.

In the first two sets, Mentor saw Jackson’s offense go beyond blocking attempts, and Polar Bear scattered kills across the back portion of the court.

Coach Samantha Weaver knew her team faced challenges at the top seed in the district, but she needed to remain confident in her ability to compete against such a team.

“We were hesitant, but we knew Jackson was a good team,” Weaver said. “We couldn’t forgive what happened, we couldn’t push as hard as we could. We doubted ourselves, but the mental side of things made us realize what we were. was hindering the achievement of

That confidence was restored in the third set, with Mentor recovering from a 5-point deficit on the aforementioned run to propel him to victory in the set. Six different players scored points for the Cardinals in that run.

In addition to the reinforced blocking mindset, and seeing players like Melody Garrett and Sam Hartman jumping all over the court in defense, Weaver could see a bid for an upset still in the cards. I believed there was.

“It was a question of both,” said Weaver. “They understood that they could click things and they could do that too. All I wanted them to do this postseason was believe they were good enough They showed today that they can hang, they wanted to do it for each other and that’s what we saw in the third and fourth sets as well.”

But Mentor couldn’t carry that momentum into the fourth set, and Jackson took the lead.

Not the way Weaver wanted the season to end, but she knows this will serve as a building block for the next season.

Mentors watch four seniors depart while the Cardinals return with some key pieces. This includes Garrett and Hartman and other important contributors from Chloe Rhodes and Kayden McKinney.

“Our seniors laid the foundation for this program, and it’s really great to see that,” Weaver said. “And now the underclassmen know they are good enough to do this and I am really excited to see what they can do with this program. They’ve shown they can do this, and I’m really excited to see what they’ve done this year and bring that into next season.