“We knew what we had to do, and we showed out,” said senior libero Kendall Kupper, who had 20 passes and six digs. “We showed grit every single day at practice. We practice like we were going to play in the game — never stopped. We practiced every single day — Monday through Friday. We just showed grit. This is the hardest working team, and I’m just very proud of them and proud of this coaching.”
The Indians ended the season 18-7 and graduate seniors Bella Wotring, Elise Haughin, Ava Hensley, Maya Beck and Kupper.
“Beginning of the season, we lost a lot of girls last year, so overall we were kind of nervous,” Kupper said. “We were hesitant going into the season. I had faith in every single one of these girls. I’m proud of every single one of them.”
Junior Kennedy Ostendorf had 38 total attacks and 13 kills, Hensley had 25 total attacks, sophomore Rose Rodriguez had 14 assists, and Beck had 11 total attacks and four kills.
“It’s one of those surreal moments that at the beginning of the season you never know what it’s going to look like three months later,” Fairfield coach Jessi Grimes said. “But it’s surreal to see it happening for them. We rode a little bit of a mental rollercoaster this season. There were games that we lost that we shouldn’t have and games that we won that people might have thought we shouldn’t have. So it’s definitely fun to see that they played with resilience, mental toughness, with heart — and they’re a better team because of it.”
Seton (23-2), which has numerous Division I college players on its roster, moved out to a 12-2 start in the first set and rolled the rest of the way.
The Indians fought back after being down 23-12 in the second set before the Saints took it.
“I know for me coming into that game, I was excited,” Kupper said.. “I like playing against good teams. We were excited. We came in with an open mind. We worked out butts off. We didn’t stop. We didn’t come in with a negative mindset. We came in knowing that we were going to push as hard as we can.
“We knew going into it that it was going to be a hard game,” Ostendorf added. “But I think we just tried to keep the energy up. I think we did a great job of that. We stayed positive a lot throughout the entire game. We just kept pushing.”
“We’re not the biggest team, and we’re not the D-I recruit team, but we’re definitely the hard workers and the smart workers,” Grimes chimed in. “This started years ago — grinding in preseason, grinding every season leading up to this. They were a hard-working group with a lot of heart.”
Seton moves on to face Mason in the regional finals on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Lakota West.
“Super proud,” Grimes said of her team’s effort. “It’s a testament the times that we were in that situation, and it didn’t pay off earlier in the season. While the score in that set isn’t what I wanted, I do feel like the final score of the second set is a better reflection of what we’re capable of.
“That’s a choice to go out there and have that energy in that third set. They could have already had their vibes already made up, but they didn’t.”
MASON 3, MILFORD 0
The Comets defeated the Eagles 25-19, 25-18, 25-13 in the other Division I regional semifinal at Lakota West on Wednesday night.
Mason senior Valerie Umnov had nine kills and 20 total attacks, senior Hailey Westerman had 23 total serves and 18 digs, junior Addy Bianchini had 22 assists, and seniors Katie Helmes and Avery Renners each had eight kills.
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