Friday, November 1st, 2019
That was unexpected
No. 2 Cardinals sweep No. 1 Redskins to set up rematch with Tiffin Calvert
By Colin Foster
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen celebrates on Thursday night at the Elida Fieldhouse after defeating St. Henry 25-19, 25-21, 25-20 in the Division IV regional semifinal. The Cardinals reached the regional final for a fifth straight year and will play Tiffin Calvert on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Elida.
ELIDA - As New Bremen was about to close out St. Henry in Thursday's Division IV regional volleyball semifinal, a "We want Calvert!" chant - referring to defending state champion Tiffin Calvert - could be heard from the Cardinals' student section.
Ask and ye shall receive, New Bremen.
The second-ranked Cardinals scored a 25-19, 25-21, 25-20 sweep over poll champion St. Henry at the Elida Fieldhouse - avenging a five-set regular season loss and advancing to the regional final for a fifth straight year.
"I don't think anybody thought we'd win in three," New Bremen coach Diana Kramer said. "It was just a matter of responding to mistakes. Essentially, every point in the game of volleyball is a mistake, and we found ways to respond a little better than St. Henry did tonight."
In Thursday's nightcap, Calvert made short work of Miller City with a 25-15 trifecta sweep of the Wildcats.
That sets up a rematch of last year's state final between New Bremen and Calvert, which the Senecas won in five sets. The regional final will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Nobody would have been surprised if Thursday's match went five. Heck, most people probably expected it. Runs by the Cardinals were key, as they had scoring streaks of 7-1 in the first set, 6-1 in set two and 11-1 in set three.
"They just outplayed us," St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck.
New Bremen went on a 7-1 run out of the gate in set one, which made all the difference. Macy Puthoff got the run jumpstarted with a couple kills on her way to a set-high six of them. St. Henry made numerous attempts at coming back, as Hannah Bruns had four kills with Mia Niekamp adding three scoring spikes and two stuffs. However, the closest St. Henry drew was one at 11-10. Josie Reinhart finished with four kills in the set for New Bremen and Claire Pape added some clutch plays down the stretch in a 25-19 win.
An ace by Grace Lange gave St. Henry its first lead early in set two. When the score reached 9-apiece, it marked the fifth tie. From there, Diana Heitkamp had an ace and Puthoff swatted home a kill to ignite a 6-1 run. That little cushion would suffice, too.
Nora Vaughn put away a couple balls for St. Henry to make it a two-point game, but Pape made a couple plays at the net and Puthoff later iced a 25-21 victory with her fifth kill of the second set.
After a 35-second opening volley in set three, New Bremen hit into the net. It was the first time St. Henry scored the opening point of any set. Brianna Siefring followed with an ace and Addy Vaughn touched a ball across with her left hand into open space as the Redskins opened on a 4-1 run. The score was tied at 5, 6 and 8. St. Henry followed with its first big run to the tune of 6-1.
The Cardinals answered with a run of their own, though, to the tune of 11-1. Diana Heitkamp led it with a lengthy service run, then three consecutive blocks - two by Pape and one by Puthoff - made the score 20-15.
"In the third set when we were down 12-8 or whatever it was, I called a timeout and told them 'You need to find a way to get to (point) No. 9 - nothing else matters. Everything else is in the past,' " Kramer recalled. "Then we started chipping away and chipping away.
"Diana Heitkamp went behind the service line and did what she always does," the New Bremen coach added. "She makes somebody move. Find a way to play to play defense and then turn defense into offense."
A controversial call soon came. St. Henry's Bruns had a kill wiped off the board for what the refs ruled a net infraction. That would have made it 21-19. Instead, it was a three-point set. Rosenbeck was given a yellow card for arguing with an official, as St. Henry fans jeered and New Bremen fans cheered. The match was over a few minutes later.
"They went on a run because they served aggressive and we weren't handling it with our serve receive and we weren't putting balls down when we needed to put balls down," Rosenbeck said.
Puthoff was the top kill-getter in the match with 15. Reinhart (seven kills), Taylor Paul (six kills), Pape (five kills) and Ashton Heitkamp (five kills) also contributed in the balanced attack. Diana Heitkamp added three aces and 16 digs with Pape dishing out 26 assists.
"I think our defense was so good because of our first contact," Kramer said. "Our first contact was really aggressive, and St. Henry was never really in system like they normally are. They could never get going. They were really predictable offensively, so we were able to set up our defense a little better.
"The fact of the matter is everyone did their jobs," she added. "That's the most important thing. It doesn't matter who led us in kills or who led us in digs or aces or any of that stuff. We've got to come together as a team, stay together as a team and find a way."
After avenging their only loss of this season, the Cardinals will try to do the same against the team they were last defeated by in 2018. Calvert is ranked third in Division IV, and boasts a matching 25-1 record to New Bremen.
"They have everybody back except they graduated a setter," Kramer said. "But their sophomore setter, Emma White, is Division-I setter material.
"Bring it on," she concluded.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Hannah Bruns (13) hits a drop shot against New Bremen on Thursday in the third set of the Division IV regional semifinals at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Macy Puthoff (8) makes a blocks in the second set against St. Henry in the Division IV regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Taylor Paul (6) tries for a kill against St. Henry's Nora Vaughn (6) and Carley Winner (8) in the second set of the Division IV regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Diana Heitkamp bumps the ball during the third set of Thursday's match with St. Henry.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Ashton Heitkamp hits the ball during Thursday's match with St. Henry.
