Redskins win consolation prize

COLDWATER - St. Henry and Coldwater are two teams with championship aspirations this year.

They had to settle playing for the consolation prize at the 10th annual Totally Promotional Spikeoff on Saturday at the Palace.

The Redskins defeated the Cavaliers in three sets (25-11, 21-25, 25-17) for a third-place finish after having let a big, third-set lead get away against Versailles in the semifinal round.

"Obviously this tournament's really tough, and there's a lot of good teams," St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck said. "To start the season off that way is good, you know, to get right into playing really good teams. I felt like we had our moments where we played really, really well. But we're still really inconsistent and we need to find a way to be more consistent and more mentally tough as players and as a team.

"It will be a learning experience. We should be happy to come away from a tournament like this 2-1."

Ottawa-Glandorf knocked off Versailles in a three-set, championship matchup. The Titans took the opener 25-21, lost the second 26-28 and then won the finale 25-22.

St. Henry was dominant from start to finish in the opener against Coldwater, winning 25-11. Six different Redskins had at least two kills, with Olivia Winner leading the group with three.

The Redskins had a seven-point lead in set two. It dissipated by the midway point. The Cavs overtook them at 18-17 on Lauren Gilliland's kill. She added another spike later to break a 19-all tie and then back-to-back nylon errors gave the Cavs a 22-19 advantage. They finished off a 25-21 victory on an ace by Kadance Blockberger.

The final set had five ties and one lead change. St. Henry didn't grab its first lead until 15-14. With the score tied at 15-all, the Redskins went on a 5-0 run. The final three points on the 25-17 win were supplied by a Hannah Bruns kill, Ashley Siefring ace and a Nora Vaughn kill.

The Redskins survived for a three-set victory over Fort Loramie to open the day (20-25, 25-21, 28-26). After having opened the semis with a 25-17 victory over Versailles, St. Henry fell in the second set 25-21. The Redskins had a 12-4 lead in the final set, but the Tigers crept back in. St. Henry had service errors three times on set points, and Versailles pulled it out by a score of 30-28.

"I felt like our serving was really inconsistent all day," Rosenbeck said. "In that game, I felt like it came down to mental toughness at the end, finding a way to beat a really good team. Give credit to Versailles, because they found ways to fight back. They were on the ropes a lot. It was back and forth, and they found a way to push and finish."

Addy Vaughn tallied 51 assists, 17 kills and 20 digs at the tournament for St. Henry. Ashlyn Gerlach had 64 digs, Hannah Bruns totaled 23 kills, 32 digs and four aces, Ashley Siefring and Olivia Winner had 20 kills each and Carleigh Deitsch added 47 assists and 23 digs.

Coldwater began the day with a three-set win over Miami East (26-24, 20-25, 25-20) and then was defeated by Ottawa-Glandorf 15-25, 21-25 in the semis.

The Titans' path to the final also included a 25-18, 26-24 victory over New Knoxville in the opener. The Rangers defeated Fort Loramie 25-22, 25-11 for a fourth-place finish with a record of 2-1. They defeated Miami East 25-23, 25-19 to advance.

Miami East bested St. Marys with matching 25-14 results. The Roughriders' day also included 25-7, 25-13 losses to Versailles.