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St. Marys senior Ashlie Nuss fields a shot by Liberty-Benton. Nuss got her 1,000th career dig Tuesday night.
BLUFFTON - St. Marys and Celina put up valiant efforts in the semifinals of the Division II volleyball district tournament, but in the end their opponents had just a little more in the tank.
The Roughriders had a big comeback after losing the first set to second-seeded Liberty-Benton, winning the second and third sets, only to have the Eagles take the fourth set and then hold off St. Marys in the fifth set for the 25-20, 19-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-9 victory in the nightcap at the Sommer Center on the campus of Bluffton University.
That puts L-B in Thursday's district final against Shawnee after the Western Buckeye League champion won a tenacious battle with Celina with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 victory in the opening match.
Both teams were up to the challenge in the opening set, with six ties and two lead changes. An Eagle hitting error tied the game at 12-all, only to have L-B maintain the lead down the stretch.
St. Marys battled back, as an ace by Syerra Greber cut the margin to 20-19 and another Eagle hitting error tied the set before Lauren Gerken slammed down a spike to give L-B (20-4) the lead back. Alyssa Hanni-Wells then served out the rest of the set.
But St. Marys wasn't ready to mail in the rest of the match, taking the early 4-1 lead in the second thanks to a Lily Rammel ace and a kill by Brynn Clark. The Eagles came back to force ties at 11-, 12-, 13-, 15- and 16-all before the Roughriders broke the tie on a kill by Greber, which was followed by a L-B hitting error to make it a 18-16 lead. The Eagles tried to get the set square again. but hitting errors hampered them as St. Marys leveled the match at a set apiece.
St. Marys' Brynn Clark (22) tries to put the ball past Liberty-Benton blocker Sophia Barbara (10) in the Division II district semifinal at Bluffton University.
Liberty-Benton (20-4) got an early 8-5 lead in the third thanks to a pair of aces from Maddy Amstutz, but St. Marys took control with Audra Clark on the service line, as Brynn Clark had two kills and a block to give St. Marys at 13-10 lead. L-B tied the set at 13-all, but St. Marys got a kill from Sylvia Wiechart, who then served up two more points to make it a three-point lead. The Eagles could not get closer than two the rest of the way as Brynn Clark hammered the final kill to make it 2-1 Riders in the match.
"We were really focused in the second and third sets," said St. Marys coach Caley Yoder. "We were fluid. We were playing together."
Four straight Eagle hitting errors allowed St. Marys to open the fourth set with a 4-0 lead. St. Marys fended off L-B for as long as possible before it tied the set at 11-all on a block by Corra Dehart, who then followed with a tie-breaking kill, only to have St. Marys tie the game at 12-, 13-, 15- and 16-all. A service winner by L-B broke the tie and Sophia Barbara added a kill before a Roughrider hitting error made it 19-16, and the Eagles were able to pull away to force the fifth set.
Liberty-Benton got the serve to start the tiebreaker set and Gerken served up five straight points as Barbara had a kill and a block followed by an ace before Brynn Clark got a kill to end the run. St. Marys looked for a comeback and cut the deficit to 7-6 before being called for a double-hit to make it 8-6 Eagles. Gerken had a kill and a block during Hanni-Wells' service run to make it 10-6 and forced Yoder to call her second and final timeout.
St. Marys (14-10) had one last push, getting as close as 12-7 before the Eagles were finally able to put the set away.
"We knew coming in it was going to be a battle," said Yoder. "We were hoping to come out with a win. I will take us coming back from 5-0 (in the fifth set) and putting pressure on them. I'm proud of the girls, how they played and finished the season."
Clark finished her career with 18 kills and six blocks for St. Marys. Greber added 10 kills and 10 digs. Ashlie Nuss had 23 digs, going over the 1,000 career dig mark on the night. Audra Clark had 20 assists.
Shawnee's Kelly Cooper takes a shot past Celina blockers Mylee Sapp (6) and Kira Bange (15) as Haley Kizer (second from left) prepares to defend in the first Division II district semifinal at Bluffton University on Tuesday.
Celina came ready to play against the WBL champs, staying close in the first set and tying it at 4-4 before the Indians began to pull away. A three-point run by Karleigh Hutchins extended Shawnee's lead to to 14-7. Later, WBL Player of the Year Grace Freiberger served up five straight points to give the Indians a 21-10 lead en route to taking the first set.
The Bulldogs were not ready to concede. Makayla Stoner served up five straight points to give Celina the 5-0 lead in the second, but Shawnee slowly chiseled away at the margin. A Hutchins kill got the set tied at 8-all and a Celina hitting error gave Shawnee the lead briefly before the Bulldogs tied the set again.
It was Freiberger stepping up big again at the service line with the set tied 12-all. Freiberger served up two aces during a five-point run to put the Indians in front 17-12. Celina tried to get closer, cutting the margin down to 22-19 before Shawnee held on to take a 2-0 lead in sets.
"We had our opportunities," said Celina coach Phil Bange. "We just couldn't take full advantage."
Shawnee looked ready to put the match away early in the third set as a five-point run by Addie Maxwell put the Indians in front 10-2. Celina, though, refused to let the Indians get away scot-free, putting together little runs to force a tie at 15-all during a three-point run by Allison Schwieterman.
The Bulldogs forced ties at 18-all and 21-all before Shawnee got a kill from Kelly Cooper to make it 23-21. Ava Knapke got a kill to cut it to one, then a Shawnee hitting error tied the set at 23-all, but Cooper got two kills down the stretch to close out the match.
"They're top of the class right now," said coach Bange. "They've got a great group of seniors. I'm proud of our seniors. Ava and Allison, our senior captains, had tremendous games. We gave them everything we had. Things didn't always go our way."
Celina's Ava Knapke takes a shot against Shawnee in the first game on Tuesday.
Knapke finishes her career with a 13-kill, three-block night for Celina. Mylee Sapp had 12 kills and three blocks. Schwieterman recorded 22 digs and Haley Kizer set the attack with 25 assists.
"It's hard to (lose) at the end of the season and say goodbye to our seniors," said Bange, whose team ends the season at 10-14. "They improved through the season. I think we played Shawnee better than the first time (which Shawnee won 25-19, 25-21, 25-19). Just couldn't quite get it done."
