By james art 
Wellsville’s Presley Stokes blocks the ball in the face of Norwalk St. Paul’s Ella Kaliszewski on Saturday. We look at Gracie Dowling of Wellsville and Christine Matlack of St. Paul. (Photos by Michael Burich)
STRONGSVILLE — The Wellsville senior volleyball players knew Strongsville High School’s gymnasium well, having been there five times before.
The Tiger squad hoped that the sixth time would mean the Tigers would get their elusive spot in the state volleyball tournament, but Norwalk St. Paul played a complete team game to defeat the Tigers 25-14, 25-17, 25-23 on Saturday in the Div. VII Regional Final.
“It’s frustrating because we always get stuck in the same place every time,” Wellsville senior Bella Poppelriter said.
Wellsville finished its campaign 21-6, while the Flyers moved to 19-7 and will face Tiffin Calvert in the state semifinals at noon Thursday at Wright University’s Nutter Center.
Like Wellsville, who finished second in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference, the Flyers finished second in the Firelands Conference. Unlike Wellsville, St. Paul’s program has previously been to the state tournament six times and won it twice.
However, St. Paul’s last glory days were a runner-up finish in 2009 in the Div. IV. A thorn in the side of the Flyers was Firelands Conference champions Monroeville, who had also eliminated Wellsville in the Div. IV regional finals in 2021 and 2022. Monroeville is now in the Div. VI due to the expansion of divisions from the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
“We’re clicking at the right time,” St. Paul coach Angie Kaliszewski said. “I’m going to stick to our division and what we’re capable of doing and I’m not going to worry about the others because that’s how it’s worked out.”
The Flyers, who have just one senior, kept the Tigers off guard with good service and a cohesive defense. In the first set, Wellsville was tied at 5 before a 7-0 run swung the momentum to the Flyers. With the score tied at 5 in the second game, the Flyers scored 16 straight points to take away almost all of Wellsville’s energy.
“They’re a good team and we just play like we do here.” Wellsville coach Sherry Allen said. “It’s like Groundhog Day.”
“I don’t think we played the way we knew how to play and we gave up,” Popelritter said.
Presley Stokes, who was the district player of the year, showed why she is headed to Youngstown State in the final game. She had six kills in the first seven points of the match to give the Tigers a 7-1 lead. St. Paul’s eventually tied the score at 11 before a furious fun volley closed out the game.
“I thought we played that game, but I think the pressure got to us.” Popelritter said.
Stokes led the offense with 17 kills, seven assists, 12 digs, a block and an ace. Poppelriter had 10 kills, 16 assists, 12 digs, a block and an ace. Senior Miley Jackson had 12 digs and an assist. Senior Gracie Dowling had a block, while senior Olivia Addison had two digs. Aleena Owens had eight digs, while Maddie Drysdale had two kills and two blocks. Kaylee Kazee had three digs and Kenzie Bosco had three digs.
Stokes finished his career 93-15 while winning 290 of 363 sets played. Her career totals are 1,944 kills, 335 aces, 191 blocks, 1,215 digs and 718 assists.
“She’s my best friend and I’ve loved playing with her over the years,” Popelritter said. “I wish we had more time to play together.”
Allen, Stokes’ mother, said the ending was bittersweet because she knew Stokes had accomplished a lot but fell short of the state’s ultimate goal.
“She has more heart than a lot of teams put together.” said Alan. “She tried her best, but it just didn’t work out. But she will play Div. I play volleyball, so she has more to play.”
Game notes
• Wellsville won the Div. IV regional semifinals at Strongsville gym in 2021 and 2022. Tigers did not qualify for regionals in 2023.