Top-ranked St. Ursula Arrows stay perfect with 3-0 sweep of Columbus St. Francis

29-0 Arrows advance to state championship match

St. Ursula's Lauran Graves, 8, leaps for joy after hitting the match winner during a Div. I state semi-final volleyball game today at the Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio.

FAIRBORN, Ohio -- The top-ranked St. Ursula Arrows stayed unbeaten in dominant fashion today, needing just 63 minutes to defeat fourth-ranked Columbus St. Francis DeSales, 25-16, 25-10, 25-16, in a Division I state volleyball semifinal at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.

The win sends the Arrows (29-0) to their sixth state championship match in the last 14 years.

St. Ursula will meet the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal between third-ranked Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame and unranked Hudson.

Junior Lauran Graves led the balanced Arrows attack with 11 kills, senior Lauren Daudelin had 10 kills, and sophomores Emily Lydey and Morgan Rectenwald added six apiece.

In all, the Arrows turned their 99 total attacks into 42 kills against the Stallions (26-2).

Equally impressive was St. Ursula’s defensive effort against DeSales’ attack game, which managed to convert just 21 of 106 attacks into kills, with Stallions standout outside hitter Kenya Cason getting only 13 kills on 50 attempts.

Junior Maurissa Leonard topped the Arrows with 23 digs, freshman Jayme Cox had 15, and senior Madelyn McCabe and junior Ryann Cox added eight and seven digs, respectively.

McCabe led the team in assists with 21, and Lydey had 12.

The Arrows can set a school record for victories in a season if they win their third D-I championship. The 2004 St. Ursula state champions were 29-0, and the 2010 championship team finished 28-1.

The Arrows were state runners-up in 2000, 2005 and 2011.