The score made it look easy, but there were some tense moments during last Thursday’s Division III semifinal match between Johnston and Mt. Pleasant.
Luckily for the Panthers, a little tension proved to be just fine, as they finished off a 3-0 sweep of the Kilties with a hard-fought game three win to advance to the D-III finals.
Johnston wound up falling 3-2 in the championship match to Central.
But getting there was an accomplishment, and the Panthers were thrilled with how they took care of business in the semifinals.
“Mt. Pleasant put up a fight in that third game,” Johnston head coach Greta Lalli said. “It was really something. As always, we kind of dip down a little bit lower than our best, but then we pulled ourselves together.”
One year ago, the top-seeded Panthers were upset at home in the semifinals by No. 4 Shea, and that was still in the back of their minds when they took the court this time.
As the top-seed again, Johnston didn’t want a semifinal letdown. The Panthers made sure it didn’t happen.
“I think everyone was kind of nervous because of what happened last year,” senior Alex DiRaimo said. “We just wanted this so bad. This was our game.”
Mt. Pleasant, the No. 5 seed, came out firing, winning seven of the first nine points in game one thanks to a kill and a block by Maria Ogundolani and a pair of aces by Erasmin Castro.
Lalli called a timeout.
“It was sobering,” Lalli said. “I kind of told them to get the jitters out and they’re champions and they need to act like champions and play like champions.”
The message got through. Johnston came back onto the court and won 18 of the next 21 points to take a 20-10 lead. DiRaimo served seven straight points, racking up three aces in the process, while she also had a kill. Erin Tvenstrup had a pair of aces as well, and Francesca Gaudiana landed a well-placed push over the net.
Johnston’s dominance slowed toward the latter part of the game, but it had a big enough lead so that it wasn’t an issue. It ended up with a 25-15 win.
“(Lalli) just pumped us up,” DiRaimo said of the timeout. “She yelled at us, but that’s what coaches do.”
Game two wasn’t nearly as stressful, as Johnston took a quick 7-3 lead, never trailed and was hardly ever pressed. Ahead 15-10, Johnston won three straight points. At 19-13, Katherine Rocha stepped behind the service line and didn’t come off it until Johnston won the game. She served the final six points, and the Panthers won them all. Dana Desmarais had two big hits and Rocha had an ace en route to a 25-13 win.
“They have a strength inside them this year,” Lalli said. “Last year I don’t think they felt like they were deserving and I don’t even want to visit that mentality again.”
In the third game, Johnston was truly tested for the first time all night, and it responded well. The Kilties led most of the game, and led by three as late as 20-17 thanks to a kill from Ogundolani.
Then the Panthers made their push. A net violation and hitting error by Mt. Pleasant made it 20-19, and after a kill by Rocha three points later and another Kilties’ hitting error, the score was tied at 22-22.
Johnston smelled the finish line and didn’t waste its opportunity. Mt. Pleasant sent a ball wide of the line to give Johnston a 23-22 lead, its first since 8-7. DiRaimo stepped behind the line and calmly served an ace to make it 24-22 and set up match point.
“I was afraid I was going to screw up,” DiRaimo said. “I just didn’t think about it.”
She didn’t. Her next serve never came back over the net, giving Johnston a 25-22 win and the 3-0 sweep.
That sent the Panthers back to the finals for the first time since 2004.
“It feels so great, because last year we were so close to getting to the finals and now we’re actually going,” DiRaimo said.
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