Still on top

NEW BREMEN - After a strong third set win, New Bremen looked poised to close out the match. But Coldwater wasn't about to go gently into that good night.

The Cavaliers rallied late in the fourth to spark a frantic closing stretch, with the teams trading eight points before the Cardinals got two in a row to finish a 25-19, 24-26, 25-17, 28-26 victory in a Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at the Nest.

"That fight was awesome," Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler said. "I'm super proud of the girls. We were a better unit, because at some points tonight we were our worst competitor too - we were fighting against ourselves and then playing New Bremen. So it felt like in those points, we were actually working as a unit."

New Bremen (10-0, 3-0 MAC) took a 16-14 fourth-set lead on an Olivia Heitkamp kill before a hitting error gave the ball back to Coldwater, and the Cavaliers took advantage. Madison Wendel served up six straight points and Morgan Blasingame led the way with two kills and a block on the way to a 20-16 lead, forcing Kramer to call her second timeout to try to stop the bleeding.

Rianna Paul came through with a kill off the serve receive, then added a spike from the left side to cut the lead to one. Amelia Dammeyer spiked an errant serve receive to tie the game, a double-hit put New Bremen back in front, and Paul added another kill to make it 23-21 Cardinals.

"We took the lead 21-20, and I looked at my assistant coach and asked, 'How many timeouts do I have left?' And she's like, 'None!' " New Bremen coach Diana Kramer said. "I had no idea that I already called both of them, because this match, you're just so locked into the moment."

Blasingame snapped the short run with a kill and a hitting error tied the set at 23, kicking off the dramatic finish. Olivia Heitkamp gave New Bremen three straight match points, only for Blasingame and Spencer Etzler to answer right away.

With the set tied at 26, Megan Reinhart spiked the ball from left to right to give New Bremen another shot at match point, and this time the Cardinals came through. Coldwater's Jenna Leugers tried a quick-set and freshman Mary Rindler spiked it back behind her to seal the victory.

"We're learning how to push each other, how to give each other what we need, composure-wise, confidence-wise, strategy-wise," coach Etzler said. "I think that's something we're going to take away, is failing forward. If we can do that, we'll be better off for it. You hate to take a loss, but within this, we want to fail forward as we're getting people back in our lineup and figuring out what's working for us."

Coldwater (8-3, 2-1 MAC) struggled early in the third set, spotting New Bremen a 10-point lead that proved too much to overcome. The Cavaliers battled back within six before a hitting error off the left pole gave the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage.

New Bremen had a chance to take a 2-0 lead before a late push by Coldwater tied the match. The Cardinals went ahead 23-20 on a tip shot by Paul, but Kendra Clune answered by spiking an errant dig and Spencer Etzler added an ace. After Heitkamp fired a shot into the back left corner to give New Bremen set point, Jenna Leugers hit a knuckler that fell behind the defense and Wendel tied the set at 24 with a kill.

Heitkamp's shot off the serve receive went into the net and Blasingame closed out the set win with a kill from the right side.

"After that second set, I told my team, that was my fault that we lost that," Kramer said. "We were up and I refused to call a timeout. I look back and reflect back, and I should've called a timeout. However, my team knows that I trust what they're doing and they just need to find a way to figure it out. But they responded, they picked their coach up and found a way to come back and win."

New Bremen answered an opening 5-2 run in the first set, taking the lead at 7-6 and slowly widening the margin. Coldwater stayed within four points until the final stretch, closing within 21-19 on a block by Wendel before Paul answered with a kill and two Cavaliers errors put the Cardinals at set point.

Alivia Dammeyer finished off the first set with the Cardinals out of sorts after two diving saves, hitting a long bump that the Cavaliers let fall just inside the back line.

"Both teams played with heart, played with passion," Kramer said. "This gym was packed and had crazy amounts of energy. Our fans were unbelievable."

Heitkamp finished with 29 kills, with Paul adding 10. Abi Powers racked up 19 digs, while Melina Schrader chipped in 47 assists and three aces.

"I think she's the best setter in the conference right now," coach Etzler said. "She gets to a lot of balls, plays great defense, serves really well. She does a lot for them. It's like when you have great quarterback to run the offense."

Spencer Etzler led Coldwater with 11 kills.

Both teams return to action Saturday, with the Cavaliers returning home to take on Findlay and the Cardinals traveling to Anna.