Friday, October 28th, 2022
Cards win district
New Bremen sweeps Marion Local in rematch
By Tom Haines
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Mary Rindler, Melina Schrader, Rianna Paul, Abi Powers and Amelia Dammeyer celebrate a point in the Division IV district final against Marion Local at Redskin Gymnasium in Wapakoneta on Thursday.
WAPAKONETA - Marion Local handed New Bremen its only loss of the volleyball season in September, but in Thursday's rematch between the top two teams in Division IV, it was the Cardinals who came out on top.
The Cardinals earned a 25-20, 25-13, 25-21 sweep in the district final at Redskin Gymnasium in Wapakoneta.
"Everybody in our town was here tonight," New Bremen coach Diana Kramer said. "The girls could feel that energy, they felt that energy from the second they showed up. Our fans were here before we got here, and that just set the tone for the whole entire night."
New Bremen (24-1) heads to Northmont for the regional semifinals on Wednesday, where it will face the winner of Jackson Center and Fayetteville-Perry in Saturday's district final.
The Cardinals took the lead for good on a kill through the Flyers block by Megan Reinhart to make it 7-6, but Marion (20-5) didn't make it easy. After New Bremen stretched the lead to 17-11, Lindsay Koenig got a kill and Natalie Evers served up four points as the Flyers closed to 17-15.
A hitting error gave the Cardinals breathing room, and after Lydia Eifert drew Marion within two again with an ace, Rianna Paul recorded back-to-back kills and April Baker notched an ace as New Bremen stretched its lead to 23-17.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Marion's Eve Mescher hits a shot as Lindsay Koenig (left) and Julia Moeller look on in the Division IV district final at Redskin Gymnasium in Wapakoneta on Thursday.
Marion got three points back before Olivia Heitkamp hit a kill from the right side and then fired a shot down the line to end the set.
"It seemed like every little thing just favored them a little bit more," Marion coach Anthony Chappel said. "The ball fell on our side of the net a couple more times, touched our side of the line a little bit more than it touched their side. Just had a little bit more than us tonight."
The second set was all Cardinals. Abi Powers served up four points early and New Bremen took a 9-3 lead, and the Flyers only got within four once as the Cardinals pulled away.
Reinhart stretched the lead to 10 with a shot down the left line, a pair of double-hit calls got New Bremen to set point, and after Chloe Ronnebaum got a kill to stave off defeat, Rianna Paul hit a shot off the block to finish the set.
"That's a good team, they forced our errors," Chappel said. "When we scored, it's because we forced the errors. Both teams played great defense, both teams played great offense. If there was a point scored, the point was earned."
New Bremen took an 8-1 lead in the third behind four quick aces from Melina Schrader. Marion battled back within two, but kills by Heitkamp and Schrader created breathing room before Schrader went to the service line again and rattled off a five-point run to make it 20-12, seemingly burying the Flyers.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
New Bremen's Melina Schrader goes airborne to bump the ball in the Division IV district final at Redskin Gymnasium on Thursday.
Reagan Kremer got a kill and Koenig did her best to will Marion back into it, recording a block and back-to-back kills before sending a shot to the back right to make it 22-19.
"Tonight was about the seniors, and they battled as much as they could," Chappel said. "We just ran into a really good team, and it was their night tonight."
Nicole Franck added a kill off the block and Heitkamp hit a shot into the net to cut the lead to one, but the Cardinals stayed steady. Heitkamp got her first shot off the serve receive down to pad the lead, then hit a kill down the right line to set up match point.
Koenig's shot went left to finish it off.
"My message to my team all week was to be confident," Kramer said. "Don't feel confident. If you feel confident, you'll lose that feeling after the first mistake. … if we were feeling confident, Marion could've come back and won that set."
Paul earned 11 kills, followed by Heitkamp with 10. Schrader had seven kills, 29 assists, 10 digs and six aces, and Powers added 23 digs.
Kremer led Marion with nine kills, Ronnebaum added seven and Koenig finished with six kills and three blocks. Julia Moeller recorded 15 assists and Eifert finished with nine digs.
"There were a lot of good touches," Chappel said. "You've got two of the best liberos in the state (Eifert and Powers) squaring up with each other."
Both coaches commented on the fact that the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Division IV faced off so early in the tournament.
"New Bremen shouldn't be playing Marion Local in a district final match, in my opinion," Kramer said. "Most people understand that, however, we need to get everybody to buy in."
