By Jim Evans

Kennedy Dolmage, rising up to take a big swing, helped lead the Lutheran North Mustangs past Regina in the Catholic League AA Division Tournament Championship match.

Jay Leno does a nightly monologue. So do Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert.

That’s part of their job as late night talk show hosts.

Jessica Lancaster’s job description is different. She is the volleyball coach at Lutheran North.

As such, she is not strictly into monologues.

“I actually learned to listen more than talk. It is different when you’re watching from the sidelines and the girls are in the heat of the moment. So many times, I would ask them what are they seeing out there and they would tell me. It’s so much easier to adjust game plans when you hear from your players,” said Lancaster.

Those conversations resulted in a Catholic League AA Division tournament championship. The Lutheran North Mustangs downed Regina in four sets; 25-23, 17-25, 25-16 and 25-18 in a match played at Bishop Foley Tuesday.

“Afterwards, I told them I was so proud of them,” said Lancaster. “In the first two sets, we were struggling a little bit with serve receive which is uncharacteristic of our team. I think some of the girls had a little bit of nerves going on and it took them awhile to settle in and get comfortable on the court.”

In the first two sets, the Mustangs had to come from behind. Regina got out quickly, leading 6-0 in the first set and the 8-2 in the second set.

“Basically, I told the girls to just play our game and get the passing under control. I told them to control our hits and don’t worry when Regina gets a big kill. That is what the game is about. Don’t get shaken when the other teams get kills, just do what we do,” continued the Lutheran North coach.

One of the things the Mustangs did best was let Kenndy Dolmage, a senior outside hitter, lead the attack. She had an outstanding match both at the net and from the service line.

Regina’s biggest hitter was Jenna O’Brien, a junior outside hitter.

Lutheran North (26-9-1) got out quickly in both the third and fourth sets.

It was the first time for both schools to make it to the championship round of the tournament. Lutheran North won the regular season of the AA Division in 2012, but was not allowed to play for the tournament championship. Only Catholic schools were allowed into the playoffs. That rule has since been rescinded.

Regina coach Liz Stibich’s Saddlelites were also playing for their first league championship.

“This is our first final appearance ever,” said Stibich. “I am super proud. The girls worked hard this year. This is a two-year formulation. They worked really had on what they were doing. It’s been impressive.”

This is Stibich’s second year as Regina’s coach. Her team finished with a 25-14 record.