Cardinals get past Flyers

MARIA STEIN - After two stellar sets to start the match, New Bremen hit a roadblock in the third set against Marion Local and was shaky out of the gate in the fourth.

The momentum turned back towards the Cardinals down the stretch and they improved to 3-0 in the Midwest Athletic Conference with a 25-18, 25-21, 11-25, 25-22 win over the Flyers at the Hangar in a battle of state-ranked Division IV teams.

The Cardinals, ranked 13th in the first state coaches' poll, are now 7-3 on the season and share the conference lead with St. Henry and Coldwater. Marion, ranked fifth in the same poll, dropped to 6-2 and 2-1.

New Bremen had all aspects of its game going in the first two sets. In the first set alone, the Cardinals tallied five service aces, four coming from Paige Jones. The Cardinal defense limited Marion to just four kills in the set.

In the second set, Jones and Devon Heitkamp dominated at the net, combining for 10 kills as New Bremen jumped out to an 18-11 lead at one point before holding off the Flyers.

"After Versailles, (which was) a big win for us, a big confidence builder, we played Russia and played well. We came out here against Marion, which has that stature," Cardinals coach Theresa Jenkins said. "Coming out the way we did the first two games (is something) we've been trying to instill in them; that they are good and can be a successful team if they put it all together."

For everything that went right for the Cardinals in the first two sets, the opposite occurred in the third set. While Marion began to find its hitting prowess via solid kills from Emily Mescher and Makenzie Albers, New Bremen dug itself into a hole with hitting mistakes. Five times the Cardinals were called for double-hits (hitting the ball twice on one play) and only had one service rotation go more than one serve.

"I think they freaked a little in the third set. I think they actually started to believe we were telling them the truth," Jenkins said with a laugh. "It felt like with one mistake came five mistakes (and then) 10 mistakes. Marion came out and was really focused and took it to us."

"I told the girls this game (third sets) shows if you have a backbone or not," Marion coach Erica Fullenkamp said. "They stepped up to the challenge. ... That's all I could ask."

Marion carried over the momentum from the third set into the fourth set, leading 5-1 early and later went up 7-2 with the chance to put significant distance between themselves and New Bremen.

The Cardinals, though, were able to snap out of the third-set funk and began to claw their way back into the set.

Jones recorded a kill to trim the deficit to 14-11 and went back to serve. Two aces, and a block and a kill from Kaitlyn Ahrns later, the Cardinals were leading 15-14. Back-to-back kills from Andrea Wynk put Marion back into the lead as the teams traded ties up to 19-19 before Alyse Clune served up several big points to put New Bremen up 21-19. The Flyers were able to get several points back on sideouts, but the Cardinals held on and picked up the win.

"We talked about outscoring the other team one-to-two (on serves)," Jenkins said. "When we get the sideout, we have to try and score one to two more points, especially with Heitkamp and Jones in the front row together. The girls rebounded from the third game. I'm so proud that they came out and finished like that."

"It was a close game and we put ourselves in a bad position losing those first two sets," Fullenkamp said.

"It was a great battle. This is what MAC volleyball is all about. A fun game and fun environment to be in."  

Jones had 18 kills, five aces and 14 digs for New Bremen. Heitkamp added 11 kills and 17 digs. Kaitlyn Schwieterman recorded 35 assists.

Albers led Marion Local with 13 kills. Wynk and Mescher had 10 kills each. Tyla Bergman finished with 36 assists.

Both teams are back in conference action on Tuesday. New Bremen travels to Fort Recovery and Marion Local heads to Delphos to face St. John's.