Coldwater headed to regional

KALIDA - The Coldwater volleyball team checked another goal off its to-do list on Saturday night.

And now the bigger goal is closer in sight.

The Cavaliers won their third district title in a row and captured their 20th consecutive victory with a 3-1 dispatching of a good Liberty-Benton squad (25-13, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18) in the Division III district final at Kalida High School.

Coldwater will now turn its attention to the regional semifinal, where it will face Otsego starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Lake High School. Ostego defeated Tinora in four sets on Saturday in the Perrysburg district final.

The Cavs improved to 24-2 and are just two wins away from reaching the ultimate goal: the state tournament.

"We've been to the regional (final) for the past two years and we got beat. We have that taste in our mouths," Coldwater coach Mike Etzler said. "We know everybody has that goal (winning a state title), but we really just feel that this year the girls are so focused on that. Now they have a chance to do it.

"Everybody at the regional is great. It's just going to be a battle of mental toughness and heart. I'm excited for them. They work so hard. I'm so proud of them. All the girls in this program have done so many phenomenal things to get us where we are."

It was a total team effort in Saturday's win.

Coldwater tied the opening set at 4-all by outlasting the Eagles for a point on a long volley. That triggered a 4-0 run by Coldwater, who later doubled up Benton at 12-6 on back-to-back kills by Danielle Welsch. The Eagles responded with a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to 13-11, but the Cavs reeled off nine unanswered points - capped off by consecutive Brooke Welsch spikes and a Paige Hartings block - and took the set, 25-13.

Lauren Leugers' and Tasha Kahlig's kills put the Cavs in front 8-4 early in the second set. Later on, Kahlig dove for a dig and dropped the ball down the line to make the score 13-6. After the orange and black took an 18-8 advantage, the Eagles scored seven in a row, aided by Alyson Hughes' kill and block on consecutive sequences, chopping the Cavs' lead down to 18-15.

Coldwater, however, answered with a run of its own. Hartings had a kill, Brooke Welsch served an ace and Kahlig added a dink to help put their team at match point (24-17). After three straight points by the Eagles, Danielle Welsch closed the set with another kill.

The Cavs trailed by as much as three on two different occasions in set three. Liberty Benton held a 13-10 lead but pair of hitting errors by the Eagles and consecutive Leugers' aces put Coldwater in front. The Cavs took a 19-17 cushion later on before Alyson Hughes dropped home a pair of kills to tie the score. The Eagles benefitted from a Cavalier service error and got a kill by Brooke Hoehne and an ace from Lauren Kotey before finishing off the set at 25-22 with a block.

Lauren Kotey (three kills) and Brooke Welsch (two) traded spikes as the teams played to a 4-4 tie to open the fourth set. Coldwater kept its lead between 2-4 after Leugers' kill made it 8-5. A Brooke Welsch kill and service ace gave Coldwater a five-point lead at 16-11. Another slam by Brooke Welsch made it 21-15 and then another by her made it 23-17. Hartings' kill finished the job with a spike of her own.

Six different Coldwater players (Hartings, Leugers, Denise Schwieterman, Danielle Welsch, Kahlig and Brooke Welsch) registered kills in the game.

"The three seniors were big," Etzler conlcuded. "Lauren Leugers was big tonight, Brooke, Kim (Hosbach) set a great game.

"We played well tonight. We really did. Everybody did a great job."