Momentum swing

CELINA - It seemed like Fort Recovery would have some momentum going into the second set, but Celina would have none of that.

After a wild first set that Celina won in extra points, the Bulldogs dominated the final two to take a 28-26, 25-9, 25-16 Mercer County volleyball victory over the Indians on Tuesday night at the intermediate school gymnasium. The win moves the Bulldogs to 8-0 on the season as the Indians drop their fourth straight match after starting 4-0.

"Our girls did a great job. Very proud of them," said Bulldogs coach Phil Bange. "Fort Recovery is a great team and well-coached. Lot of big swings (hitters) over there. Fortunately, we were able to serve them tough and attack the ball well to keep them from getting in their rhythm."

The way Celina started the match, it looked like it would be an easy sweep. The Bulldogs led 21-16 after an Indian hitting error, but Teigen Fortkamp got the kill to stop the run and help start the rally. Celina worked its way to set point at 24-21 when a hit into the net gave Fort Recovery the serve.

A block and kill by Whitley Rammel on back-to-back points tied the set at 24-all. Grace Guggenbiller followed with an ace to put the Indians at set point at 25-24 before Brooklyn Bourne managed a kill to level the set again. A bad hit by Celina gave Fort Recovery set point again at 26-25, but Bourne got another kill to tie it back up. A Tribe hitting error gave Celina set point and Sydnee Davis stuffed a Fort Recovery hit to the Tribe side of the floor to give Celina the set.

"We knew that some of their big swings would get their kills," said Bange. "We just tried to take them out of system."

The teams battled tough at the start of the second set, drawing ties at 1-, 2- and 3-all before a Fort Recovery hitting error gave the Bulldogs the lead. Bourne served up two straight points, then Emily Schwieterman served up eight straight to push the lead to 14-4, aided by two kills and a block by Amelia Lutz during the run.

Celina never looked back. Allison Schwieterman later had a four-point run and the Bulldogs went up 2-0.

Fort Recovery tried to get back and keep from being swept by jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the third set and later went up 7-4 before the Bulldogs roared back. Lutz got the serve with the Bulldogs down 8-6 and served up five straight points - including two aces - to move Celina ahead 11-8. Fort Recovery came back to take a 12-11 lead before Celina took the lead for good at 14-13 and pulled away.

"I don't think (Fort Recovery has) many down sets like (the second set)," said Bange. "We knew they'd come back in the third set. Sure enough, it was tight in the third and we had to grind it out."

"We struggled tonight," said Fort Recovery coach Travis Guggenbiller. "We have some work to do and we'll get back at it tomorrow in practice."

Bourne and Evie Holstad each had seven kills for Celina with Davis adding six kills. Payton Bertke recorded 28 assists and Summer Wilson had 24 digs, reaching the 500-career dig mark in the first set.

Fortkamp had five kills for Fort Recovery. Rammel had three kills and three blocks.

Both teams return to league play on Thursday. Celina travels to Hardin County to face Kenton while Fort Recovery will look to get back to winning ways against a tough Parkway squad.