Bulldogs win opener

CELINA - After her squad's match on Thursday, Celina coach Amy Sutter mentioned that after having beaten a team during the regular season, sometimes it's tough to get motivated to face that team again in the postseason.

Sutter's Bulldogs had no issues as they completed a three-set sweep of Bath - 25-17, 25-18, 25-17 - in the Division II district quarterfinals at the intermediate school.

The Bulldogs (15-8) travel to Bluffton University on Tuesday to face the Defiance Bulldogs at 6 p.m. Defiance defeated Elida to advance.

"It's a nice place to play," coach Sutter said. "I think it will add to the excitement and get us to re-elevate our game to what we're accustomed to."

Celina got out to a blistering start thanks to the serving of Hailey Langenkamp, who served up four aces as part of a 7-0 run to start the opening set. The Wildkittens, who had taken the Bulldogs to four sets in the regular season, worked their way back to make the set competitive. A four-point run by Abby Cosart, including two aces, closed the gap to 18-14. Alyssa Hoyng widened the gap again with three kills down the stretch along with a Paige Sutter ace, the eighth ace of the set for Celina, to put the Bulldogs up one set to none.

"Hailey did a nice job," coach Sutter said. "When our serves were on, we can do serious damage. We also missed our fair share, too. I thought we were up and down that first set and didn't play as hard defensively because we got out to a big lead. We got a little comfortable."

An ace by Cosart to start the second set gave Bath its lone lead of the match at 1-0. Cora Lutz quickly tied the set with a kill and Celina took the lead on a Bath hitting error. Bath stayed with Celina, but Hannah Rasawehr served up six straight points to turn a 10-6 lead into a 16-6 lead thanks to kills from Hoyng and McKenna Black and an ace. Lutz had four kills and Hoyng, Rasawehr and Black added two kills.

Bath stayed competitive with Celina through most of the third set. Paige Sutter put some distance between the teams with two service points to make it 15-9, but it was a four-point run by Logan Boley that put Celina in front 20-10 as coach Sutter subbed in some reserves. Maddy Luebke and Kassidy Fark each had kills and Black tallied kills on the final two points of the night.

"Sometimes it's hard to motivate the girls into re-beat a team they've already beaten," Sutter said. "They came in with the appropriate excitement and do whatever it takes to finish the job."

Hoyng had eight kills and Black and Lutz each added seven kills, Langenkamp recorded 13 digs and Paige Duncan had 18 assists.