Wednesday, September 28th, 2022

Down to the wire

Celina wins five-set marathon over Coldwater

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

Celina's Amelia Lutz (8) tries to tip the ball past the the block of Coldwater's Jenna Leugers during Tuesday's match at Celina Intermediate School.

CELINA - The fans that packed into the Celina Intermediate School gymnasium on Tuesday for the Coldwater-Celina volleyball match were not short-changed when it came to action, though the fans, coaches and players of Coldwater left unhappy.
The Cavaliers took set one 25-23 before the Bulldogs took the next two 27-25 and 25-23. Coldwater forced a fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth set. Celina then used a great service run by Allison Schwieterman in the final set to take the lead for good and get the 15-10 win.
"Coldwater is a fantastic team. We knew we had to bring everything tonight," said Celina coach Phil Bange. "It was a 'throw the kitchen sink' kind of night. Our girls did a great job responding to that pressure in a big-game environment."
"The level of volleyball in this area is high and competitive," said Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler. "Exactly where we want this as coaches. It's a match to prepare for the MAC championship. We're moving through some things now emotionally and getting some people back (from injury). It's good to see where we're at right now."
Coldwater had to fight back from a six-point deficit to take the first set. Trailing 14-8, the Cavaliers got the serve back and Madison Wendel served up four straight points to cut the margin to 14-13. Celina pushed the lead back to 18-14, but Mia Knapke used several Celina hitting errors to make it 19-18 Coldwater before Celina tied the set again at 19-all. With the score knotted at 21, Celina was called for being in the net, allowing Kendra Clune to serve Coldwater back into the lead to stay.
Celina took the next two sets, but in the second set the Bulldogs saw a 17-9 lead disappear as Coldwater fought back with solid serving from Mia and Keira Knapke, with Keira Knapke using a four-point run to first tie the set at 22-all, then give Coldwater a 23-22 lead. Coldwater was the first to 24, but an Ava Knapke kill knotted the set at 24-all. Coldwater also had set point at 25-24 before Ava Knapke scored a spike to tie again. Amelia Lutz stuffed the ball to the Cavalier side of the floor to give Celina set point, then the Cavaliers were called for a double-hit to level the match at 1-1.
The third set also went down to the wire as Lutz scored some big kills early, but several Cavalier hitting errors down the stretch allowed Celina to get the win in regulation to go up 2-1.
In the fourth set, Coldwater jumped out early and deflected Celina's chances to tie the game down the stretch to force the winner-take-all set.
Celina won the right to serve first and jumped out 3-1 early, but Coldwater worked its way back to get ties at 6-, 7- and 8-all before Schwieterman went back to serve. The Bulldog libero came up big as Knapke had a block, Payton Bertke faked the set and spiked the ball to the Cavalier side for a kill and Evie Holstad came up with a big kill to help make it 12-8 Celina.
"Allison is such a great defensive player, but her serves have come along this season," said Bange.
Coldwater managed just two more points. Brooklyn Bourne got match point with her 18th kill of the night and then a Cavalier spike went out of bounds to end the set.
"Great credit to our team for coming together, ready to battle for big points," said Bange. "First time we've gone five sets all season."
In addition to her 18 kills, Bourne had 36 digs and five aces while Lutz finished with 17 kills. Bertke had 49 digs and recorded her 500th career dig during the match.
"Those were our seniors. They came through in a big way," said Bange. "It was an all-around effort."
"We're going to take this loss and get better from it and keep moving forward," said coach Etzler.
Both teams return to league play on Thursday. Celina hosts Ottawa-Glandorf in a Western Buckeye League match and Coldwater hosts Versailles in a battle of state-ranked Division III teams.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

Coldwater's Morgan Blasingame (6) spikes the ball as Celina's Ava Knapke (20) defends.

Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard

Celina's Allison Schwieterman bumps the ball as Ava Knapke looks on in a match against Coldwater at the Celina Intermediate School on Tuesday.

Additional online story on this date
Details are sketchy on Homeland Security raid
CELINA - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security alongside other law enforcement agencies conducted an operation in Behm's Landing on the south side of Grand Lake on Tuesday morning, according to multiple sources. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - A 40-year-old Celina man was arrested Tuesday on multiple sex offense charges involving victims under the age of 13.
Shane B. Chilcoat was apprehended on 19 counts by Celina police officers at 812 Pro Drive, according to a news release from the Celina Police Department.
ST. HENRY - Three people were injured in a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of U.S. 127 and State Route 119 on Tuesday evening.
Chickasaw Fire Chief Mark Seitz said the department received a call reporting a two-vehicle accident at 5:27 p.m. Tuesday.
ST. HENRY - Village council members at their regular meeting this week heard first reading of an ordinance to grant a 10-year, 100% tax abatement to Cooper Farms.
MINSTER - Minster Oktoberfest will have a new beer garden and more music this year as officials change up the event's offerings.
"We are very landlocked in our festival. We don't have a lot of room to try new things because of where our festival is," festival co-president Sue Brandewie said.
CELINA - Another step forward in wetland remediation and improved Grand Lake water quality began Tuesday after Kahlig Dozing and Excavating Services, Fort Recovery, was awarded a contract for the second phase of the Mercer Wildlife Area wetland project.
ST. MARYS - An early miscue and struggles in the final third proved too much to overcome for St. Marys on Tuesday.
Kenton got on the board less tha
Division II Girls Golf Sectional
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The Midwest Athletic Conference showed its dominance as Moose Landing in Ottawa played host to the Division II girls golf sectional tournament on Tuesday.
Area Roundup
Compiled By Tom Haines
The Marion Local volleyball team won its sixth straight match with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of St. Marys at the Hangar on Tuesday.