Wednesday, October 12th, 2022
Two in a row
Celina clinches second straight outright WBL title
By Colin Foster
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Celina volleyball players, including Payton Bertke (17) and Sarah Giesige (second from right), celebrate after the final point of a three-set win over St. Marys that secured the Bulldogs' second straight outright Western Buckeye League championship.
CELINA - The Celina crowd celebrated milestones by Payton Bertke and Amelia Lutz Tuesday night.
They celebrated an outright Western Buckeye League volleyball title, too.
For a second straight year, Celina went through the WBL gauntlet undefeated, capping the feat with a 25-20, 26-24, 25-17 sweep of rival St. Marys at the Intermediate School.
"It's a special night with it being Senior Night," Celina coach Phil Bange said. "We've got eight seniors. I've got a little history with them. The first year I was a coach, I was their head coach in seventh grade. I've been around these girls now for six years.
"It's a really great group. They're very talented, hard-working, and put in all the extra work in the offseason. Tribute to our seniors tonight. They did a fantastic job."
This gives Celina 31 WBL titles all time. It's the first time it has won two straight since 2009 and 2010, after which the Bulldogs went on to claim a third consecutive championship the following year.
St. Marys coach Caley Yoder, a Celina alum, said it was bittersweet to see the Bulldogs win the crown against her team. The Roughriders had their chances in all three sets, but the hosts were able to make winning plays in all of them.
"Going into this week's practice, I felt like we were really focused on serve and serve receive," Yoder said. "That first game definitely got away from us as far as the goals we had. In the second and third sets, I thought we battled."
Mylee Sapp led a 10-1 run that gave Celina control in the opener after trailing 4-3. Sapp had a trio of kills and a block in the set and Ava Knapke added three spikes. The Roughriders made a run to pull to within 13-11 but never got closer. Bertke was honored between sets for getting her 2,000th career assist.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
St. Marys' Halle Huston goes up to block a shot by Celina's Amelia Lutz at the Celina intermediate school on Tuesday.
The second set featured 13 ties, the last at 24-all. A Lutz kill and a St. Marys hitting error gave Celina the final two points, and Lutz was honored between sets for getting her 500th career dig.
"Payton Bertke with her 2,000th career assist, that's an incredible accomplishment for her," Bange said. "Amelia Lutz with the 500th dig of her career, and in her position, that's great. She's not even a back row player, so that's a tremendous accomplishment."
The third set was tight through the midway point, then the Bulldogs poured it on. Sapp collected three kills down the stretch, with Brooklyn Bourne and Knapke making plays as well. Knapke provided the finishing touches with a block and scoring spike on consecutive sequences.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Celina's Brooklyn Bourne takes a shot as St. Marys' Darcie Liming goes up to block at the Celina intermediate school on Tuesday.
"They run a great offense," Yoder said. "They are scrappy enough to pick up balls. We just have to be better at pass, set, swing, and then reloading and going back at a team."
"St. Marys is a great team," Bange added. "We had to fight through a couple rough spots."
Brynn Clark paced the Roughrider attackers with eight kills and two blocks. Ashlie Nuss recorded a team-high 16 digs, while Lily Rammel added 12 digs and 18 assists.
Both teams open up Division II tournament play Tuesday at their respective homes. Second-seeded Celina takes on 16th-seeded Fostoria and third-seeded St. Marys meets 14th-seeded Napoleon.
Special Senior Night shirts were worn by many in Celina's circle Tuesday, Bange included. The back of the shirts listed all eight seniors with the caption "A memorable year," or something to that effect.
Celina's coach is hopeful there will be more to celebrate ahead.
"That's the goal," Bange said. "We will enjoy this tonight, but then it's back to work."
