Cavaliers, Redskins to meet in final

KALIDA - For the second straight season, St. Henry and Coldwater will meet for the Division III district title after both posted wins in Wednesday's All-Midwest Athletic Conference semifinal round.

The Redskins defeated Fort Recovery in four sets (21-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-16) in the nightcap. The Cavaliers cruised in a three-set sweep of Parkway (25-15, 25-7, 25-19) in the first game.

The next installment of the Backyard Battle will take place one-hour north in Kalida on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Coldwater is seeking its first district crown since 2014. The Redskins, who defeated the Cavaliers in last year's matchup, are making their third straight district finals appearance, the second in Division III.

"I think the energy will be high," Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler said. "This is to go to regionals - that's big time. It's where everybody wants to be. I'm just excited to compete. I know the girls are, too."

St. Henry 3, Fort Recovery 1

One unbelievable comeback by Fort Recovery.

Then came three unbelievably good sets by St. Henry.

The Redskins showed poise after a meltdown in the first set, responding by posting three straight wins for a 3-1 victory.

The Redskins also avenged a four-set regular-season loss to Fort Recovery.

"We made some adjustments on our blocking, taking more line on their outsides," St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck said. "We adjusted our defense a little bit. I just feel like we're playing with more confidence than we were at the beginning of the season, too, and that helps a lot."

The Redskins' service game might have been the difference-maker as they notched 12 aces as a team, led by Julia Holdheide's game-high seven.

"We served very aggressively," Rosenbeck added. "I mean, Julia had an unbelievable serving night, but the whole team in general, we served really aggressive. They were out-of-system a lot and I think we got them rattled sometimes. That was awesome to see."

Back and forth early in set one, Olivia Clune keyed a 7-0 run at the service line that gave St. Henry a 17-9 lead. The Indians didn't help themselves, with nine service or hitting errors along the way. But Fort Recovery cleaned it up and the tide turned. Carley Stone had four kills - including a left-hander - to go along with a block and Devin Post's kill added the exclamation point to a 16-4 set-closing run by the Indians.

Whatever momentum was gained, however, was snatched right back by St. Henry in the second set.

With Alana Kunkler at the service line, the Redskins opened the frame on a 9-0 run. Olivia Niekamp had four kills during the set, Danielle Lange and Britney Siefring had three apiece, and Fort Recovery never recovered from the poor start in a 25-12 loss.

"They came out refocused (after set one)," Rosenbeck said. "They knew that we had to come back or else that was going to be Fort Recovery's, too."

The Indians maintained the lead for much of the third set after starting on a 7-2 run. St. Henry hung close and later, three straight kills by Julia Holdheide tied the score at 15. Two kills by Ashley Siefring and a block by Clune gave St. Henry an 18-15 lead - a lead they held until the end.

Fort Recovery cut the deficit to one point three times late, but St. Henry responded with kills each time. Post's kill made the score 24-23, but Britney Siefring finished the job with a kill on the next volley.

The Redskins delivered the knockout blow early in the fourth set.

Holdheide took the service line with the score tied at 1. She dropped home aces 4, 5 and 6 and Niekamp smacked down three aces as part of a 13-0 scoring run to begin the stanza. Stone and Brooke Gaerke led a resurgent Fort Recovery team on the comeback trail.

Gaerke had a block and a kill and Stone's back-to-back aces cut the score to 18-11. Later, Kiah Wendel's ace made the score 22-16, but an Ashley Siefring kill, a Clune dink and an Addy Vaughn block ended the set and match, 25-16.

"We got off to some bad starts, and it's hard to rally against a good team when you get down 10-0, 7-0," Fort Recovery coach Chelsea Rogers said. "We were missing the block. We were missing the serve receive. We couldn't find our hitters. There were just too many pieces that didn't come together."

The Indians won their second consecutive sectional title this season and finish the year with a record of 16-9.

"We're going to miss the leadership of our seniors, but they left their mark on this season," Rogers said. "We had our first winning season in a decade and won a second straight sectional championship. They have a lot to be proud of."

Britney Siefring and Olivia Niekamp shared team-high honors for St. Henry in kills with 10. Holdheide had 14 digs and 21 service points, Vaughn had 22 assists and Carleigh Dietsch added 16.
Coldwater 3, Parkway 0  

Parkway's run to its first sectional title since 2011 made for a compelling story.

The Panthers, however, ran into a veteran team that has a bigger title in mind.

Tasha Kahlig had a game-high 18 kills, Lauren Gilliland added six kills and five blocks as the Cavs won in sweeping fashion for the third consecutive time on the tournament trail.

"Our chemistry is good right now," Etzler said. "There's some things we need to do to prepare for our next match, obviously, but I felt like we played well."

It was an inspiring start by Parkway, but Coldwater crushed any thoughts of an upset rather quickly.

The first set was tied at 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- and 9-all. The Cavs outscored the Panthers 16-6 the rest of the way. Kahlig had a set-high five kills and two aces for Coldwater, Gilliland had four kills and two blocks and Katie Alig added two aces in the 25-15 win.

The Cavs reeled off 12 unanswered points to begin the second set and were well on their way to a 2-0 lead. Clista Hellwarth's kill finally put the Panthers on the scoreboard but they could never get any positive momentum. Danielle Welsch had four kills in the set, Allison Sudhoff had a pair of kills and blocks in the 25-7 blitzing.

Coldwater opened the third set on a 9-0 run before Hellwarth again ended Parkway's draught with a kill. Kahlig had five of the nine points on kills during the stretch and Sudhoff contributed two. But Parkway used a late 7-0 run to trim the damage to 23-19, with Hellwarth picking up a kill and a block and Sarah Gehron adding an ace. A Welsch kill and a Parkway attack error eventually ended the game at 25-19.

"It's hard to fight back from (the big runs), but I was glad to see us fight back in the third set," Parkway coach Jordan Henkle said.

Grace Swander had a team-high five kills Gehron had 13 assists and Mackenzie Sipe added 15 digs for the Panthers, who end the year with a record of 14-11.

"We went 14-11, but all 11 losses were against teams that were ranked at some point this year, nine of them were still ranked at the end of the year," Henkle said. "We played good teams and we played with some good teams, but the consistency every night has to get better if we want to start beating some of those teams."