Adios, district

KALIDA - Adios, district.

Hello, regional!

After three straight years of having its season ended in the district final, St. Henry finally broke the curse.

Division IV's top-ranked team rallied from a 2-sets-to-1 deficit to defeat fifth-ranked Fort Recovery 25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 25-16, 15-11 in the district final at Kalida High School. It was St. Henry's third victory of the year against Fort Recovery - and this one was by far the hardest to get.

"We knew coming in that Fort was going to give us everything they had," Redskins coach Tricia Rosenbeck said. "Beating a team three times in a season, like (Fort Recovery coach Chelsea Kahlig) said (on Monday), is a really hard feat, especially in the MAC."

A Midwest Athletic Conference opponent is on deck for the Redskins, too. They will meet second-ranked New Bremen in the regional semifinal next Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Elida Fieldhouse. The Cardinals won a fourth straight district title Thursday with a four-set victory over Marion Local at Bluffton University. St. Henry won a five-setter against New Bremen during the regular season.

It was perhaps an unexpected five-setter between St. Henry and Fort Recovery on Thursday. Entering the contest, the Indians had been swept in each of the previous two matchups with St. Henry.

"You had two of the best teams in the state going after it, and I'm so glad that we competed," Fort Recovery coach Chelsea Kahlig said. "I'm proud of the way we competed. I think there were just stretches where we couldn't pass and we took a little off of our serve. That really hurt us, and our block was a little slow. I really think it boiled down to the pass and the block."

Fort Recovery scored the first eight of 12 points in the match thanks to an early spiking spree by Paige Fortkamp, who had four kills off the bat. But it didn't take the Redskins long to tie it up. Addy and Nora Vaughn combined for three kills each with Grace Lange's ace tying the score at 9-all. Freshman hitter Mia Niekamp put St. Henry in the lead for good with back-to-back scoring spikes to make it 16-14. Senior Hannah Bruns took over down the stretch for the Redskins. Her ace gave them an 18-14 advantage and she followed with four kills to help close a 25-21 win.

The second set was tied at 1, 3, 6, 8 and 11. Neither team led by more than three. Fortkamp had four kills and an ace, Olivia Patch added two aces, while Aubrey Knapke and Kierra Wendel contributed aces in leading the Indians out to a 17-13 lead. Fortkamp later added her second ace and her 10th kill of the evening ended it at 25-21 in Fort's favor.

St. Henry shot out to a 5-1 lead in the third set. That was erased quickly, though. Fort Recovery took its first lead of the set at 9-8 on a Whitley Rammel kill. Back-to-back Paige Jutte-Brooke Kahlig blocks gave Fort Recovery a three-point lead. A four-point run featuring three Nora Vaughn points (two kills, one ace) and a Fort hitting error tied up the set at 16-all. The score was tied again at 17, 18 and 19. A Rammel kill and a Hope Wendel ace put Fort firmly in control. St. Henry committed three hitting errors from that point on, and a block by Jutte gave Fort a 25-20 result.

Early in set four, Bruns (three kills) and Niekamp (two kills, one block) combined for six points as part of an 11-4 run. That duo wasn't done, either. Bruns finished the set with seven kills with Niekamp tallying five kills and two blocks in a nine-point St. Henry win.

"The thing we talked about was winning first contact because we didn't in Game 2 and 3," Rosenbeck said. "We started serving more aggressively. Our serve-receive passers picked it up a little bit. We just stuck with it and focused on playing our game."

An Olivia Patch block broke a 3-all tie Fort's way in the fifth set. Marissa Gaerke followed with a block and a dink and then a Fortkamp ace upped the Indians' lead to 7-3. The Redskins fought back with a 5-1 run, with Marlee Vaughn's ace knotting the score at 8-each. After that, Nora Vaughn took control, racking up four kills - including the match ender.

"I think my seniors really stepped up in the end," Rosenbeck said. "In Game 5, Nora Vaughn was just putting balls down. Our leadership stepped up in some big moments."

"We came out of the dome firing serving wise in that third set," Kahlig said. "I really think we took them out of their game. They did the exact same thing to us in that fourth game. You got two pretty good serving teams. In Game 5, we both had our opportunities."

Statistical leaders for St. Henry were Nora Vaughn (16 kills), Bruns (17 kills, 12 digs), Marlee Vaughn (28 digs, Addy Vaughn (39 assists, 20 digs) and Niekamp (11 kills, four blocks).

Leading the Indians were Patch (seven kills, seven blocks), Chloe Showalter (22 assists), Fortkamp (16 kills, 16 digs, three aces), Kierra Wendel (23 digs), Rammel (seven kills, five blocks), Hope Wendel (17 assists) and Gaerke (six kills).

Next comes a rematch between MAC co-champions St. Henry and New Bremen.

Story lines entering that one: 1) New Bremen beat St. Henry in the last two district championship games, 2) The Cardinals are coached by Diana Kramer, a St. Henry alum and former coach at the school, 3) Kramer has won five straight district titles, a stretch which began in her last year at St. Henry, when the team finished state runner-up, 4) Rosenbeck was an assistant for St. Henry that season, 5) St. Henry defeated New Bremen 20-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10 in mid-September of this season … Thursday should be fun.

"The road ahead is tough and we know that," Rosenbeck said. "But we're going to celebrate this weekend and get back to work on Monday."

The other Elida regional semifinal features third-ranked Tiffin Calvert and unranked Miller City at 7:30 p.m.