Indians heading to districts semis

ROCKFORD - The Fort Recovery volleyball team had been waiting a long time to win another sectional title. 

The wait is over. 

The Indians, who encountered some ups and downs this season, have seemingly put it all together at the right time in claiming the program's first Division III sectional championship since 2009 with a three-set victory (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) over MAC rival Parkway on Saturday night in Rockford. 

Fort Recovery, which had hopes of competing for an MAC title entering the season, officially picked up its first victory over a conference foe. The Panthers had defeated the Indians in three close sets on Sept. 24. 

"I said it after our win against Paulding, getting a league win is a big pillar," Fort Recovery coach Chelsea Rogers said. "We got one at the right time. We had talked about the banner up at the school, and it's been since 2009 since we last won a sectional title. We've been really kind of pointing at that a lot, and the girls really wanted to make it happen." 

The Indians will get another chance to avenge an MAC loss when they take on top-seeded St. Henry at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday in Kalida in the district semifinal.

Saturday's matchup at Panther Gymnasium was a game of timely runs. Fort Recovery was the team that made them all and took control in each of the three sets. 

The first stanza featured ties and lead changes galore, and a whole lot of Kendra Siefring, who finished the opener with five kills, three blocks and an ace. The Indians finally gained some separation at the midway point. With the score knotted at 13-all, Kendra Siefring tallied two blocks and a kill on three consecutive sequences to put the Indians up 16-13. They hadn't led by more than one point prior to that moment. Fort Recovery maintained that distance the rest of the way - Siefring added two more aces to extend the lead to five and Morgan Lennartz added two more in the 25-19 win. 

Cassidy Martin had two of her set-high four kills early to get Fort Recovery out to a 5-2 lead. The Panthers went on a 6-1 run, with Emily Strunk's ace and two Fort Recovery hitting errors putting them in front 8-6. The Indians recovered and took control of the set with an 8-2 run, finished off by Madison Grover's ace. 

In the finale, the Indians had trailed 18-14 before going on an 11-5 match-closing run. Siefring and Kirsten Jutte sealed the deal with kills for the final two points. 

"We just didn't execute at the end of that third set," Parkway coach Jeff Marbaugh said. "We battled, made them call a few timeouts early. It got down to the end where we just had to make a few plays, and tonight wasn't our night to make those plays at the right time. On Wednesday (against Columbus Grove), we made those plays at the right time. Tonight we didn't." 

The Panthers, a team of all underclassmen, finish the season with a record of 11-13. 

Siefring, a first team All-MAC selection, had a match-best 12 kills to go along with eight digs and six blocks. Carley Stone had 10 kills and Jutte finished with six kills and 16 assists. Kiah Wendel added 10 digs for the Indians, who will be fired up for Wednesday's match against the undefeated Redskins. 

"We know that we just have to keep getting better every day," Rogers said. "We face St. Henry. I think they have a lot of pressure and we have nothing to lose. I look forward to it. I'm expecting us to be ready."