Taking control

ELIDA - Even though New Knoxville lost the opening game of the Division IV district volleyball final to New Bremen, fans could see that the Rangers were just getting warmed up.

New Knoxville came back to dominate the next two sets and then held on to win the fourth and final set to end the Cardinals' run of five straight district championships with a 23-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-21 victory on Thursday night at the Elida Fieldhouse.

The Rangers (23-2) return to Elida next Thursday for regional play against Leipsic, which swept Miller City in the Bowling Green district. The other semifinal pits defending state champion Tiffin Calvert against West Unity Hilltop.

The Cardinals, who have been to the past four state championship matches, suffer their first loss of the season and end at 24-1.

"I love them. This team has been through so much heartbreak off the court," said New Bremen coach Diana Kramer. "This might be the closest team I have ever coached. We talked about 'The Dash.' Not many might know about our story off the court (family members of the team having died during the season). …

"One of my favorite poems is 'The Dash' (by Linda Ellis). It talks about you have a birthdate and a deathdate, but how you live your dash (which separates the two) is the most important thing. Our record has a dash. People might remember the one (loss), but I told them to remember the dash - all the memories, moments and relationships. Relationships are the most important thing. People can never take away the dash from us."

New Bremen took the lead for good in the first set at 5-4 and was up 17-12 before the Rangers started to get back into the set. The Cardinals were at set point at 24-20, but a net serve allowed the Rangers to make a run as Carsyn Henschen had a kill and block to get her team to within 24-23 before Olivia Niekamp slammed down her eighth kill of the set to give the Cardinals first blood.

The loss seemed to spark the Rangers as they slowly built an early lead in the second. The Cardinals got to within one at 11-10 on an Amelia Dammeyer ace, but Carsyn Henschen got a kill to give the serve to teammate Melisa Waterman, who went to work with three straight points to push the lead to 14-10. Ellie Gabel applied the finishing touches to the second set win by sandwiching two aces between four Cardinal hitting or positional errors to level the match at 1-all.

"I thought we kept the momentum for most of the game," said Rangers coach Meg Lageman. "That's part of volleyball: keeping the momentum. Up and down, up and down. I thought we did a good job at being consistent and keeping the energy up."

Avery Henschen quickly put New Knoxville in front 4-0 in the third set with four straight points as Fledderjohann and sister Carsyn picked up big kills. New Bremen was unable to draw any closer than two points the rest of the set as Carsyn Henschen hit kill after kill to pull away.

New Bremen was determined to send the match to a fifth set as the teams fought back and fourth through the early part of the fourth. New Knoxville took the lead to stay at 7-6 on an Avery Henschen kill. Gabel followed with another big service run featuring a pair of aces to make it 11-7. The Rangers then built the lead with at least one point every time they had the serve, going up 17-10 before the streak was stopped. The Cardinals also got some positive serving to get within two at 22-20, but a long serve denied the chance to inch a point closer. A Carsyn Henschen kill made it match point at 24-21 and a spike into the net by the Cardinals allowed the Rangers to win its first district title since 2015.

"Defense is the name of the game," said Lageman. "(The Rangers) had the attitude that nothing was going to hit the floor without a body hitting the ground. They showed that tonight. We were able to keep New Bremen out of system."

Carsyn Henschen finished her night with a blistering 25 kills and three blocks.

"Tonight might prove she's the best player in the state of Ohio," Kramer said of Carsyn Henschen. "I'm proud of her. She's going to Duquesne (where Kramer played and is a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame). I'm a fan."

Avery Henschen added nine kills and three blocks.

Mia Schmitmeyer led New Bremen with 16 kills. Heitkamp had 12 kills and seven blocks and Melina Schrader had 27 assists.

"I'm heartbroken that I don't get another practice tomorrow. We love them," said Kramer. "We love each other so much."