Monday, November 11th, 2019
Division IV State Volleyball Championship
Champs again
Cardinals beat Redskins for 2nd title
By Colin Foster
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen defeated Fort Loramie 3-1 to win the OHSAA Division IV State Volleyball Championship for a second time in three years on Saturday at the Ervin J. Nutter Center.
FAIRBORN - New Bremen Head Volleyball Coach Diana Kramer sat with a handful of players in front of the media after Saturday's OHSAA Division IV State Championship match.
The love could be felt.
"Every single one of these girls have been with me for three years," Kramer said. "They're like my kids and I just love them."
"We love you, mom," a few players to her side uttered.
A love for each other and a love for winning, too.
The Cardinals completed a remarkable run to their second state title in a three-year stretch by defeating neighbor Fort Loramie 28-26, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20 at the Wright State Nutter Center.
Second-ranked New Bremen finishes 28-1 by capping a tournament run that included wins over top-ranked St. Henry, third-ranked Tiffin Calvert, fourth-ranked Monroeville and fifth-ranked Fort Loramie.
"We battled through injuries all season long," Kramer said. "For these girls to be here, it's a testament to who they are as people and who their families are and who this community is. They represent the town of New Bremen and I couldn't be prouder."
Returning to Fairborn a year after falling short in the title game against Tiffin Calvert, New Bremen met Fort Loramie for a second time this season. This meeting ended just like the first, with New Bremen winning in four sets. The Redskins hadn't been beaten since that Sept. 21 contest.
"I think they did improve, but we also improved as a team as well," Fort Loramie player Marissa Meiring said. "We kind of knew their tendencies. We saw them and watched film on them and prepared for them. We were just a little short."
In the opening set, Ava Scholtis and McKenzie Hoelscher tallied three kills each in leading Fort Loramie out to a 16-10 lead. New Bremen didn't help itself, either, with a number service and attack errors. The Redskins later led 23-20, then it got interesting.
Claire Pape had a block, Macy Puthoff supplied two of her set-high six kills, Taylor Paul added another and a Loramie hitting error capped a 5-0 New Bremen run that made it 24-23. The score was tied at the next three stops, before back-to-back kills by Josie Reinhart and Ashton Heitkamp finally ended a marathon first set that featured five ties and four lead switches.
"You can never be satisfied," Puthoff said. "We were still hungry. We still wanted more. But once you get that momentum, that's what pushes us through. That lead helped us get that momentum."
With her team facing a 3-1 deficit in set two, Bremen's Diana Heitkamp went behind the service line and dialed up an ace as part of a 6-0 run - supported by three Paul spikes and a Pape block. The Cardinals eventually stretched their lead to a touchdown. Loramie made a late push as an ace by Macy Imwalle made it 23-19, but spikes by Kaylee Freund and Puthoff finished the job.
The next set had 13 ties and five lead changes. New Bremen's late rally was turned away by Loramie this time.
A block by Hoelscher made it an 18-15 Loramie lead. Paul countered with a kill to return the serve to Diana Heitkamp, who followed with a five-point service run to put Bremen on the brink of victory. It didn't happen, though. The teams were even at 24-all when Maya Maurer broke it in Loramie's favor with a scoring spike. A hitting error by Bremen gave Loramie the set, 26-24.
"Losing a set is not an issue," Fort Loramie coach John Rodgers said. "You're just going to have to bounce back, and that's the beauty of this sport. You can just turn it on the next set and see where you're at."
The fourth set was again tight as New Bremen and Loramie played to a 14-all tie. The Cardinals followed with a 3-0 run and never trailed again. Leading 23-20, a kill by Ashton Heitkamp and a hitting error by Loramie ended the game. New Bremen players embraced and the crowd went wild.
"It was a great match," Kramer said. "It was a lot like I expected, a lot of back and forth, a lot of lead changes, big time plays on both sides, and it just came down to the team that made fewer mistakes at the end. We turned our defense into offense in the end and found a way to capitalize. Ultimately, an aggressive serve won the match for us. I know we talk about that all the time, but an aggressive serve got them out of system and that led us to a state championship today."
Hoelscher and Sholtis were the top attackers with 18 and 14 kills, respectively, for Loramie, which ends its season at 27-3.
"I'm waiting for basketball season," Rodgers said. "I want to see these guys sitting right back here at the (state) press table during basketball season and I have a feeling they will be."
Puthoff (13 kills), Reinhart (10 kills) and Paul (10 kills) were the top attackers for New Bremen. Pape had 43 assists and Diana Heitkamp contributed 22 digs.
Kramer has now won three state titles in five trips to state as a coach. Before arriving in New Bremen, she guided her alma mater, St. Henry, to two state trips, winning in 2011 and taking runner-up in 2015.
The senior class of Puthoff, Paul and Ashton Heitkamp won more than 100 games in their career. They were joined on the postgame podium by teammates Freund, Pape, Reinhart, Diana Heitkamp and Elli Roetgerman - the majority of whom played on New Bremen's first state team. It was 15 minutes of laughs and tears.
"It's been super fun playing with these girls," Puthoff said. "This is a memory that I think we'll remember forever."
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen Cardinals celebrate Saturday after beating Fort Loramie to win the Division IV state volleyball championship. It's the Cardinals second state championship in three years.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Kaylee Freund (7) blocks Fort Loramie's Alyssa Wrasman's (15) shot in the second set on Saturday at the Wright State Nutter Center.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Claire Pape (12) keeps the ball alive in the third set on Saturday against Fort Loramie in the Division IV State Championship at the Wright State Nutter Center.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen seniors, from left, Macy Puthoff, Ashton Heitkamp and Taylor Paul lead the Cardinals into the gym for their welcome home celebration on Sunday at New Bremen High School.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Taylor Paul (6) bumps the ball in the first set on Saturday against Fort Loramie in the Division IV State Championship at the Wright State Nutter Center.
