By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

The Sweet Sixteen.

It has a nice ring to it.

The Aurora volleyball team had never been to the regional level before.

That changed on Oct. 23 when the eighth-seeded Greenmen won their first-ever Division III district championship with a thrilling 25-23, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21 victory over second-seeded Padua Franciscan in a match played at Holy Name.

The win qualified them for the regional tournament.

“That was a big staple, a culture-changing, program-changing win for our program,” said head coach Katie Cicione, who was recently named the Suburban League American Conference Coach of the Year for guiding the Greenmen to the league title. “I think it says a lot because we were the only public school that beat Padua this year.”

Junior outside hitter Aubrey Verdova paced Aurora with 18 kills.

“As a team and playing against a very tough opponent,” said Cicione, “I think we all were really on the same page, but I think Aubrey led the way and the tone we were trying to set and deserved to be playing on that stage. She played extremely dominant and fearlessly, and it really pushed us to win that match.”

Aurora looked to be on the brink of a regional finals berth a week later in its regional semifinal match Oct. 30 against Kenston that was played at Mentor. After winning the first two sets 25-22, 25-19, the Greenmen wound up losing the final three sets 25-20, 25-17, 15-11.

Cicione feels the immense pressure of being on the big stage affected her team.

“It overcame us,” she said. “I think it kind of ate away at us a little bit. I think we fell short in some areas to be able to win those third, fourth and fifth sets. Kenston has an outside who honestly I think turned it on, and she really gave us a run for our money.”

Senior libero Emerson Spiesz led the way with 21 digs. That’s nothing new for her; she was the District 3 Player of the Year and will be continuing her volleyball career at the University of South Carolina Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.).

“Emerson is the most decorated player in Aurora history,” said the coach. “I think she is made to compete in big, high-stake moments. I’m thrilled for her that she finished her career with those stats behind her name because she deserves it. She’s a big reason why we put two numbers on one banner in three years (including this season’s first-place tie with Highland at 12-2 in the Suburban League American Conference).”

Aurora began its postseason at home Oct. 16 by cruising past 39th-seeded Cleveland John F. Kennedy 25-8, 25-6, 25-7 in a sectional final.

With six kills each were junior middle hitter Sarah Dwyer, senior middle hitter Addyson Rumskey and junior outside hitter Aubrey Verdova. Dwyer missed the first half of the season due to an ankle sprain.

“To watch Sarah come back and to watch her play confidently, which I felt like she did against JFK, was huge,” Cicione said.

Five days later, on Oct. 21, the Greenmen were challenged much more but still defeated 19th-seeded Uniontown Lake 25-22, 25-23, 25-13 in a district semifinal played at Padua Franciscan.

“Lake is a good volleyball program, that’s for sure. They served the ball pretty well, which kind of got us into a little bit of a frizzy,” said Cicione. “But when it came down to pushing and closing out sets, I thought we did so in a dominant fashion.”

Sophomore setter Kaylie Liepins hung up five aces; she set the school record for aces in a single season with 77.

Said the coach, “A lot of those aces this past season were in really crucial situations, and she did that against Lake.”

Aurora’s 20-6 overall record this past season speaks for itself.

Cicione, though, offered her two cents worth on exactly what it means.

“It completely changed the landscape of Aurora volleyball,” she said. “It was a historical season in all aspects. We know now that we can get (to regionals), and there’s a lot of drive in us to get to another Sweet Sixteen and to get to a Final Four. We’ll lose four seniors to graduation, so the bulk of our team returns next year; we also have a pretty strong freshman class coming in.

“It certainly won’t be a rebuilding season.”