Ranked 8th in the State, a United Shoregals Eyeing Playoffs

Going through a season undefeated is tough.

Not only do you have to be on your "A" game each outing, but you also carry a large target on your back.

Just ask the lady University of Connecticut basketball players, or the New England Patriots.

Everybody is gunning for you.

The Lady Shoremen volleyball team,(19-2, 13-1 Southwestern Conference) enjoying its best season since the early 1990s knows exactly what that is like.

Ranked eighth in the state, already holding the SWC title for the first time since 1995,and sporting a perfect 17-0 slate into last weekend, the team fell to St. Joseph Academy on Saturday. After bouncing back against North Olmsted on Tuesday, they fell again on Thursday night to a hot Brecksville-Broadview Heights team (25-16, 25-19, 25-17) on the team's Senior Night.

“If anything, this is a good thing, and that's what I told the girls in the huddle (after losing to Brecksville)" Shoregal coach Dan Berkheimer said. "I think they are very positive and our goal is to play in November. When we won the conference that was what we set. This is an eye opener for us. Maybe this is the kick in the butt we needed to go into practice and raise our level of play."  

Maybe indeed. 

While the loss to Brecksville may have seemed stunning, there was no look of dismay on players’ faces. There were no tears. The slate is clean again, as the second season begins with Midview Sectional approaching (Avon Lake is first, with a first round game against North Olmsted) and the goal is simple: to play into November, with hopes of a berth at the Nutter Center at the State championships in Dayton.

"Nobody cares what your record is, we are the No. 1 seed in Midview, so everyone wants to knock us off," Berkheimer said. "We have to check our motivation and make sure we are in the right place."

In both losses, the Shoregals started slow. Berkheimer says it has been an Achilles’ heel throughout the season, even in wins, and will need to be addressed.

"We have to work on that and try to figure out what we have to do to get off to a fast start," Berkheimer said.

Sophomore Katie Mihalik, who had a nice game against Brecksville, says while you don't want to lose, the mindset is the same heading into the second season as it was during the win streak.

"It doesn't matter how great a season you had, we all go into the tournament at 0-0," she said. "We all have to work here and go into the tournament hard."

Playing with unity

Mihalik, one of the younger players on the team, carries with her a senior mentality, as do most of her teammates.

"We have a team; it’s not centered around one person," Mihalik said. "All our hitters are involved, all our passers are involved and I think that is why we are such a good team. The girls on this team are great. We have fun and it’s kind of unreal to think where we started and where we are right now. We thought we would be good, but this is great. The last time we had a year like this was 1995, the year I was born."

Heather Smith, the team's Libero, agrees with Mihalik and says another thing that makes the team so good is the fact they aren't lacking in any position.

"I think we play together. We are really united and no one has problems," Smith said. "I think we are going to go into practice now and work really hard on the things that we didn't have. We are going to go into Sectionals very strong, because we want to play into November."

While most of the girls came through the Shoregal program, Smith is a transfer. Many times when this happens in other programs, there is a jealousy that comes with it. Smith says there was none of that.

"The unity is amazing, we have people from every grade, and I think we have so much skills," Smith said. "When I got here, everyone was really nice and took me in right away. It's made it fun."

Berkheimer agrees with his players.

“There is no ‘I’ in this team,” he said, adding that while other teams around the area look to pad stats for one player, the Shoregals have accomplished what they have as a unit.

"I look in the papers all the time at stats, and there are kids with 200 kills on many teams," Berkheimer said. "We don't have anyone like that on this team, because everyone shares the wealth. We don't have one person who gets all the digs. Everyone contributes and that is the one aspect of these girls. We come together as a team and nobody is selfish."

The team includes seniors Danielle Donelan, Erin Kearns, Heather Smith, Rachel Janicek and Sarah Alflen; juniors Whitney Craigo, Christine Bohan, Isabelle Wagner, Taylor Leube and Kathleen Durisek and sophomore Lauren Bakaitis.

Mihalik, is one of the younger players on the team. Well not really as there is also another sophomores, (also Lauren Bakaitis); five juniors (Whitney Craigo, Christine Bohan, Isabelle Wagner, Taylor Leube and Kathleen Durisek) and five seniors (Danielle Donelan, Erin Kearns, Heather Smith, Rachel Janicek and Sarah Alflen).