One More Match

VANDALIA - In its fourth trip to the state semifinals in four years, New Bremen was right at home.

The Cardinals led Newark Catholic wire-to-wire in the first set and closed it out with an even more dominant fourth set to earn a fourth consecutive state championship appearance in a 25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13 win.

"To play in eight state matches is just remarkable," New Bremen coach Diana Kramer said. "It speaks to their ability to get their teammates to buy in and their ability to learn from the people that came before them."

With the win, the Cardinals advance to the Division IV state championship tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the Student Activities Center at Vandalia-Butler High School, where they will face Tiffin Calvert in a rematch of the 2018 state title match. The Senecas swept Dalton 25-22, 25-22, 25-20.

Newark Catholic came out strong in the third set to prevent the sweep, jumping out to a nearly insurmountable 20-11 lead. But the Cardinals woke up and surged back, cutting the deficit to three before running out of time.

"Newark's a great team, they have great athletes and they're well-coached," Kramer said. "You don't get to this point with it being easy. It was a combination of them making plays and us just looking frazzled at times. However, we were down maybe 10 points in that set, and the clear message to everybody was we expect to win. We will not stop playing."

The momentum carried over, and the fourth set was practically a victory lap. A service run from Claire Pape turned a 2-2 tie into a 12-2 lead, and the Green Wave was only able to muster a late run to make the result look closer than it was.

New Bremen was in charge all morning, and the Cardinals' experience showed from the opening gun. Newark Catholic committed a series of early mistakes to give New Bremen a 6-1 lead, and while the Green Wave was able to close to within one, the Cardinals never wavered. Short runs from Chloe Bornhorst Ellie Tangemen turned a 7-6 lead into a 15-8 lead, and the Cardinals were able to keep that margin down the stretch.

In the second set, Newark Catholic hung tough in the beginning, earning its first lead of the day on the first point and taking a 6-5 lead on a Cardinals hitting error. But once again, the Green Wave started making mistakes and New Bremen found a groove. Bornhorst hit two aces on an eight-point service run, and Newark Catholic was unable to recover.

"I could really just go sit down and watch," Kramer said. "My coaching staff could be spectators. These girls know what they need to do, and they are coaches out there, each and every one of them."

Kaylee Freund and Josie Reinhart each racked up 10 kills, while Bornhorst and Pape notched three aces apiece. Pape added 32 assists. Newark Catholic's Brynn Peddicord led both teams with 12 kills.

It was an especially impressive performance for the senior Reinhart, who spiked a shot by the left sideline on match point that the Green Wave couldn't return. Reinhart wore a brace on her right knee, and she said that the pain hit full force after the match.

"I told coach I was going to play," Reinhart said. "I could've torn everything and I would've found a way to be out there."