By David Robb, Gary Post-Tribune staff writer
11/6/2008
PLYMOUTH -- Of all the Andrean players who lingered in the locker room long after their season-ending loss Saturday night, Meagan Ernd was the last to leave.
She emerged from the brown double doors in a hallway adjacent to Plymouth High School's main gym with tears in her eyes, the game ball in her hands and coach Alison Duncan right behind her.
"We just didn't really want it to sink in yet, so we were just hanging out in there for a little while," Duncan said following Andrean's 25-12, 25-16, 25-14 loss to No. 3 state-ranked Mishawaka Marian in the Class 3A Plymouth Regional title match.
"We've been through a lot together."
Duncan, of course, was talking about Ernd, her standout four-year starter. But really, she could have said the same about any one of her six seniors, a group she has coached in some capacity since they were eighth-graders.
A group that has been the foundation of Andrean's four straight sectional championships.
A group that seemed to have a legitimate shot of sneaking past Marian, the perennial regional roadblock to every other Class 3A team in Northwest Indiana.
"If there was anybody who could (beat Marian)," Ernd said, "it was definitely our group."
In fact, the 59ers, Ernd said, didn't want to face Frankfort, the team Marian swept in the other semifinal match, in the championship. They wanted another stab at Marian (32-6), the team nobody currently in the program had ever beaten, the team that has now defeated Andrean (24-12) in the regional title match three straight seasons.
"They're a great team and an established team," said Ernd, who was limited to four kills. "When they come in and do their job, it's hard to stop sometimes no matter how hard you try."
And the 59ers, both Ernd and Duncan agreed, left it all on the floor.
"It was probably the best effort that I've ever seen out of everyone as a group," Ernd said.
It just wasn't enough to beat one of the best programs in the state.
"What it came down to tonight was our serve-receive and our serving," Duncan said. "Both of them were not where they needed to be to consistently be competitive with a really good team like Mishawaka Marian. When you've got a lot of errors on serve-receive you can't start an offense, and that's what happened tonight."
With the 59ers struggling with their passing, Ernd, Kristin Walker and Megan Egert -- Andrean's starting hitters -- combined for only 14 kills. By contrast, Marian's big hitters -- Clarie Farkas, Meredith Farkas and Maggie Pajakowski -- combined for 30 kills, as the 59ers mustered just one block kill.
Andrean held brief leads at the beginning of Game 1 and Game 3, but for the most part it was all Marian.
"Basically it came down to one run per game, one four- or five-play run," Duncan said. "They're a good team, and it's not gonna be easy for any team to get back into the game after something like that."
Junior Rachel Young paced Andrean with 10 digs, and freshman Ana Nicksic tallied 12 assists. Young and Nicksic are two of only a few varsity players returning next year for the 59ers.
"There's a lot of positions to be filled," Duncan said. "But there's also a lot of key (players) returning."
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