Rangers earn big win

ELIDA - Coming off an emotional week, the New Knoxville volleyball team rose to the occasion on Thursday.

The Rangers blew the doors off overwhelmed and sloppy Leipsic in the Division IV regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse, edging the Vikings 25-19 in the first set before decisive 25-11 and 25-12 wins to advance to the regional final against Tiffin Calvert on Saturday. The start time for the final has been moved back to 4 p.m.

Calvert, the defending state champion, beat Hilltop 25-20, 25-17, 25-11 in the second match to face the Rangers in the regional final.

Three days before, head coach Meg Lageman's husband Ryan was killed in a car crash. Lageman was present on the bench while assistant Jenny Fledderjohann coached the game.

"We just tried to focus, tell them they were stronger than they could imagine," Fledderjohann said. "Just telling them to have fun, live in the moment. That's all we can do right now, and I think they really did that."

With supporters out in droves, packing the New Knoxville side of the fieldhouse with fans from St. Marys, New Bremen and other nearby towns, the Rangers (24-2) took the lead early in the first set. Erica Weadock and Avery Henschen served up a 5-1 run for a 6-2 lead before Leipsic (23-3) cut the lead to 6-4. The two teams traded 11 consecutive points, and the Vikings got within one at 11-10 when Marisa Hermiller landed a kill at the feet of Carsyn Henschen.

Avery Henschen gave the Rangers the serve back with a kill off the next serve receive and served up three points to open up a small margin. Carsyn Henschen added three kills in four points as New Knoxville stretched the lead to 18-12, and after the Vikings got back within four, back-to-back receiving errors allowed the Rangers to pull away again.

Leipsic cut the lead down to 23-19 before Avery Henschen hit a kill off the Vikings blockers, and on set point Carsyn Henschen fired a shot that deflected off the block and spun out of bounds on the right side to close out the set.

"She wants the ball now," Fledderjohann said of Carsyn. "She knows it's her time, and we're so excited for her to just keep doing what she's doing."

Early in the second set, Haley Fledderjohann turned in a 10-point service run to give New Knoxville an insurmountable lead as the Vikings self-destructed. Three Leipsic receiving errors and a hitting error gave the Rangers four easy points, and Carsyn Henschen added three straight kills to stretch the lead to 12-2.

The two teams traded points the rest of the set, with a long serve giving New Knoxville a 23-11 lead before Avery Henschen blocked Kasey Brough's shot off the serve receive for set point. The Vikings next shot sailed long down the left side to close it out.

"They're very scrappy, they have some strong hitters - 21 (Brough), 11 (Hermiller), 5 (Peyton Heitmeyer)," coach Fledderjohann said. "But I thought we did a good job zoning in on where they were and getting a good block, a good touch. Just tried to slow down their off shots, their roll shots, their tips, and I think as the game went on we did a better job."

Leipsic got its first lead of the match at the beginning of the third set, with a kill by Brough and a net violation staking the Vikings to a 2-0 lead. But the Rangers didn't take long to respond, tying the set at three and overcoming a 4-3 deficit with three consecutive Carsyn Henschen kills.

Three more Leipsic errors gave New Knoxville a five-point lead, and that was more than enough for the Rangers. Fledderjohann served up four points to stretch the lead and Avery Henschen added five to give New Knoxville a 10-point advantage.

A Rangers hitting error brought the Vikings to 21-12, but Carsyn Henschen spiked a shot down the left line to get the serve back. Melisa Waterman added an ace before another Vikings hitting error off the serve receive gave New Knoxville match point, and fittingly it was Carsyn Henschen who finished it off, this time with a spike from the middle of the net for her 24th kill. Leipsic's Samantha Hazelton dove and managed to get a hand on the ball, but could only punch it into the stands as the Rangers' bench rushed onto the court.

"The biggest thing for the team is that we have an outstanding, overwhelming support system," assistant coach Madison Lammers said. "And not just New Knoxville, but other schools, other teams, other coaches reaching out and helping us through this tough time. They've been offering any help we might need, and snacks, which the girls like.

"But the community support's just been awesome."

Correction:

The story noted that head coach Meg Lageman was in attendance for the Rangers' regional semifinal match. She was not in attendance. The error was made in reporting.