'Flyer grit'

FORT RECOVERY - Anthony Chappel knew what attendees were probably thinking after one set was complete between his Marion Local Flyers and Fort Recovery on Thursday night.

"Everybody probably thought (we'd lose or be swept) after that first set with the exception of about 17-18 people," he said.

The Flyers looked very good after that set.

They went from first-set flop to can't be stopped - storming back after that opening 16-25 loss to win the next three 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

And with that four-set win, the Midwest Athletic Conference now has four co-leaders at 4-1 each: Marion, Fort Recovery, New Bremen and St. Henry.

"We've put ourselves in a good spot in the MAC, and we're ready for the next one," said Chappel after his team handed the Indians their first MAC loss.

"I told the girls we're all 0-0 now," Fort Recovery coach Chelsea Kahlig said. "I would love to win the MAC. But the big picture is are we walking away and preparing for the tournament. We didn't walk away feeling that tonight."

Marion Local scored the first two points in the opening set off Fort Recovery miscues. But Fort Recovery scored the next eight of nine points. Kierra Wendel served the Indians in front with back-to-back aces. The score was tied once after, but Fort never let Marion ahead.

Six different players had kills for the Indians, with Paige Fortkamp (four) and Whitley Rammel (three) leading the attack. The Flyers had just two kills in the entire set, both by Alana Pohlman.

A small lineup tweak swayed momentum to Marion in the second set, Chappel said. Asked what the change was in the second set, the coach replied "It's a secret. I can't reveal that."

Set two was tied nine times. Marion went on a 4-0 run midway through to grab a 13-10 advantage. Paige Jutte followed with her third and fourth kills of the set, leading a 5-0 Fort run. The last tie occurred at 16-all, then a Brooke Homan ace broke it in Marion's favor. Homan added another ace and Kinsey Thobe picked up a pair of kills as the Flyers took a 23-17 advantage. Fort worked its way back to within two at 23-21, but the set ended with another Thobe spike and Polman's third ace of the night.

What was a 7-all score in set three Marion Local turned into a touchdown plus two-point conversion lead. Heidi Rethman had a lengthy run behind the service line, Thobe and Pohlman were each clutch around the net as Marion took a 15-7 lead.

The Indians trimmed their deficit to 19-16, but the Flyers followed with three in a row thanks to Thobe's fourth kill of the set, a Brooke Homan spike and a Fort hitting error. Fort got within three once more after a kill by Jutte and an ace from Brenna Homan. Marion thwarted a comeback bid, however, with Polman's kill, an out-of-bounds Fort hit and Rethman's free ball securing the final three points.

An ace by Lydia Griesdorn and a spike by Homan capped a 6-1 by Marion in the fourth set. Marion responded any time the set got closer. Fort couldn't get out of its own way, either, committing hitting errors in bunches The score never got closer than four after that initial run. Pohlman and Thobe closed it out with a series of kills.

"We made a little bit of a lineup tweak, not a major one," Chappel said. "The girls just rose up. They saw how confident the Fort Recovery girls were, and deservedly so. They played a great first set. I think they just thought they were going to roll us. We just showed them a little different. We showed them a little Flyer grit there.

"My assistant coaches have been doing a great job preparing the girls and helping with adjustments during the games," he added.

Fort Recovery finished the match with 22 attack errors, which included nine hitting miscues in the final set.

"When you're coming from behind, you start to play on your heels and the mistakes come a little bit more," Kahlig said. "When push comes to shove, we just didn't get the job done. Credit to Marion. They played really, really well. Their defense, they had some phenomenal digs that really killed our momentum. We thought we had the kill, they dug it up … they played well. It's a tough loss, a tough lesson for the girls, but I think we walk out realizing that nobody really played spectacular and we can be better."

Statistical leaders for Marion were Thobe (14 kills), Pohlman (eight kills, three aces), Rethman (33 assists, 12 digs), Kelsey Koenig (23 digs), Homan (10 kills, two aces) and Griesdorn (10 kills).

The Indians were led by Fortkamp (13 kills, four blocks), Jutte (11 kills), Rammel (10 kills, five blocks), Kierra Wendel (four aces, 11 digs), Olivia Patch (five blocks), Brooke Kahlig (19 digs), Hope Wendel (16 assists) and Chloe Showalter (12 assists).

The MAC standings will have only two leaders after next Thursday. Marion Local visits New Bremen and Fort travels to St. Henry.