Spoils of victory

COLDWATER - Coldwater almost turned its Senior Night into Spoiler Night for New Bremen.

Instead, to the victor belonged the spoils.

The Cardinals went into Thursday's game at the Palace needing to win for at least a share of the Midwest Athletic Conference championship, and held off the upset-minded Cavaliers in five sets (25-16, 25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 15-13).

As a result, the top-two ranked teams in Division IV - No. 2 New Bremen and No. 1 St. Henry - share the MAC title. The Redskins swept Delphos St. John's on Thursday, claiming their record 29th conference crown. After presenting the trophy to St. Henry in Delphos, MAC Commissioner Don Kemper made it to Coldwater just in time to give New Bremen its prize.

"It's such a great honor," said Cardinal coach Diana Kramer after her team earned the program's fourth MAC title and second in three years. "This league is so competitive from top to bottom. We talked at the beginning of the season and said if we can have a shot to win an MAC trophy in our last game, that's awesome. We're happy for (St. Henry). Congratulations to them. That says a lot that we're at the same level in the MAC as them because they prove every night that they're ranked No. 1."

It'll have a No. 1 by both their names on the MAC website, though.

For an umpteenth time this season, ranked teams from the conference went head-to-head. Coldwater was No. 6 in Division III, and almost rallied from a two-set deficit to stun New Bremen. It could have been a different story, too, had the Cavaliers not let an eight-point lead slip away in set two.

"I think the girls are hurt by this," Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler said. "For one, it's Senior Night. And 2) they want to end on a win in the MAC. But the way the battled back and the expectation they have for themselves is exciting for me as a coach. Because they want more. That's exciting."

New Bremen came up aces in the first set - dialing up five of them from behind the service line in a 25-16 win. Macy Puthoff and Josie Reinhart were the key players for the Cardinals. Puthoff had four kills, two aces and a block with Reinhart adding four kills and an ace of her own. Taylor Paul and Diana Heitkamp each hit for aces as New Bremen ended the set on a 15-7 run.

The teams traded barbs early in set two. A lot of big runs followed. Coldwater created distance with a 5-0 run. Lauren Gilliland had a solo block and a wrap-around kill during the stretch with Katie Alig scoring an ace for a 9-4 lead. The Cards came right back, though, with a pair of Reinhart kills spearheading a 4-0 run. Gilliland fired back with consecutive kills and Jenna Leugers spiked down another as the Cavs claimed a 14-8 lead with another 5-0 run, and eventually upped that to 17-9.

The Cardinals kept chipping away at that deficit, however. And eight hitting errors and six service errors came back to bite the Cavs.

Coldwater was in control at 21-15 and committed a combined five hitting or service errors from that point on. Also in that stretch, Puthoff hit for back-to-back kills and two straight illegals on Coldwater tied it at 22-all. After the teams traded service errors, Kaylee Freund finished off the set in Bremen's direction with consecutive scoring spikes.

"The way we got back in it … it's just the game of volleyball," Kramer said. "You have this big lead and you're supposed to win. Then you start playing on your toes and you're not playing confident. You're waiting for the other team to make a mistakes, when really the other team has nothing to lose. It's really just a mentality thing, and I'm proud of us finding a way to come back and win that second set."

The Cavs found themselves in a similar spot during set three. They didn't let this one get away, either. With Alig, Gilliland and Alaina Steinke on the attack, Coldwater doubled up New Bremen, 18-9. Things got interesting when New Bremen went on a 6-1 run from there, but Alig had a block and a kill down the stretch, Gilliland and Steinke added scoring spikes to give the Cavs a 25-16 victory.

Gilliland and Leugers were a two-girl wrecking crew in set four, racking up seven and five kills, respectively. The Cavaliers finally created space in the end. They played to 12 ties, the last coming at 16-all. Alig and Harlamert each followed with kills, Steinke scored an ace and Gilliland tied up the match at 2-2 with her seventh kill and a stuff at the net.

The reigning MAC Player of the Year was big again in set five, too. Gilliland had five kills in leading Coldwater out to a 9-6 advantage. However, kills by Paul and Puthoff and errors by Coldwater sent the Cardinals in front 10-9.

A service error on New Bremen tied it at 10. Harlamert then had what appeared to be the tie-breaking kill, but Kramer threw out a challenge flag. The call was reversed in Bremen's favor, as Harlamert was ruled in the net to send the visitors back ahead. Both coaches agreed it was the correct call after the match.   

Puthoff and Gilliland exchanged kills on the next four volleys, but Reinhart put New Bremen in front 14-12 with a kill. It was a one-point set after a hitting error by New Bremen, but a serving error on Coldwater ended the match.

"In set two, we just couldn't finish," Etzler said. "But I think that we can come back in the gym tomorrow and get ready for tournament. Everybody's 0-0, and we have some things we can work on and tweak. I think that can make us hungry and fuel us for the tournament. We played a great team tonight and lost by two. We know that we can do better in moments. We'll just take a look at that, take a look at film, take a look at stats and know we can do better."

Leading the way for New Bremen were Puthoff (15 kills, three block), Reinhart (15 kills), Paul (six kills, nine digs), Ashton Heitkamp (five kills, three blocks), Freund (four kills, three blocks), Diana Heitkamp (19 digs, three aces) and Claire Pape (39 assists). The Cardinals (21-1, 8-1 MAC) host the Ridgemont-Kalida winner to open Division IV tournament play on Thursday.

"My No. 1 concern moving into the postseason is figuring out how we can play the middle of sets strong," Kramer said. "If we figure that out, we'll be really good. We usually end strong, but you can't just end strong against the teams we play."

Gilliland had a match-high 26 kills for Coldwater. Harlamert distributed 48 assists, Alig had 19 digs and Steinke finished with three aces. The Cavaliers (6-3 MAC) finish in a three-way tie for third in the conference with Fort Recovery and New Knoxville. They host Elmwood on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to begin Division III tournament play.