The Daily Standard
Story Archive
St. Henry players celebrate after winning the Division III district volleyball title in four sets over Coldwater at Kortokrax Court in Kalida. The Redskins return to the regional for the first time since 2021 next Thursday at Liberty-Benton.
KALIDA - It's tough to beat an opponent three times in one season.
But that was what Coldwater needed to do on Wednesday when the Cavaliers faced St. Henry in the Division III district volleyball final at Kortokrax Court in Kalida.
The Redskins, though, weren't in the mood to be triple-played by the Cavaliers, quickly winning the first two sets before the Cavaliers took the third set.
The fourth had the feel that the match would go five sets, but the Redskins rallied to score the final four points to take the set and win the district title 25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23 to get back to the regionals two years after losing in the Division IV state final.
St. Henry (22-3) travels to Liberty-Benton on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. in the first regional semifinal against the winner of Saturday's Central district final between Marion Pleasant and Fredricktown at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
"It was a battle," said St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck. "(Coldwater) started playing some defense and blocking, Man, it turned to a battle that fourth set! Somehow we found a way to fight back."
The Redskins and Cavs played twice in the first two weeks of the season, with Coldwater getting a 2-0 win at the Cavalier Spikeoff, then winning 3-1 in St. Henry in the MAC opener.
That didn't matter Wednesday as the Redskins took control in the opening two sets with multiple-point service runs. Rya Buschur and Chloe Gels each had three-point runs in the first set that helped push St. Henry's lead to 20-13, then held off a late Coldwater charge to get the opening set.
Coldwater (24-2) led early in the second set as the teams had four ties early on before Gels served the Redskins into the lead with a four-point run to make it 8-4. A three-point run by Morgan Baumer raised the lead to 22-14 on the way to a 2-0 match lead.
"We told them we were doing so many things that were uncharacteristic of what we're usually doing," said Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler about the conversation during the break before the third set. "We needed to calm down in that moment and play for each other. Our first ball contact and our communication needed to improve."
Coldwater's Spencer Etzler reacts after trying to keep the ball from hiting the floor during Wednesday's match with St. Henry.
Coach Etzler's words buoyed the Cavaliers, and Spencer Etzler's five-point run turned a 9-7 deficit into a 12-9 lead. The Redskins bounced back and regained the lead at 19-18 on a kill by Molly Wendel, but Madison Wendel tied the set again to allow Rachel Schroyer to serve, and the Cavalier libero tallied two points to put Coldwater in front 21-19.
St. Henry got the next point, but could not hold serve, and Spencer Etzler used an ace and a Redskin hitting error to get to set point. St. Henry scored the next two points, but a long serve out gave Coldwater some life.
"Coldwater is such a disciplined team. Nikki does a great job with them," said Rosenbeck. "She kept them fighting the entire game."
The Cavalier momentum carried into the fourth set as Morgan Blasingame tallied an ace to start the set and later Spencer Etzler served up four straight points to put Coldwater in front 8-2 as Rosenbeck had to use one of her timeouts.
Coldwater's Morgan Blasingame spikes the ball against St. Henry in the Division III district final in Kalida.
Slowly but surely, St. Henry began to claw its way back into the set. Coldwater looked ready to send the match to the fifth when a Blasingame kill made the score 22-17, but a long serve allowed St. Henry to get the serve as Baumer went back to try for a long rally.
The Cavaliers were called for a double hit, which was followed by a Gels kill to make it 22-20. After coach Etzler called a timeout, Coldwater was initially called for being out of rotation, but after a consultation, the point was replayed. Baumer made it a moot point with an ace that looked be out but was played by a Coldwater player, cutting the score to 22-21 before Spencer Etzler got a kill to put Coldwater two points away from taking the set.
St. Henry's Chloe Gels (1) spikes the ball past Coldwater's Madison Wendel (14) and Mia Knapke (4) during Wednesday's Division III district final.
Gels, though, was in no mood for another set, getting a kill to send Rya Buschur back to serve. Karlee Buschur had back-to-back blocks to give St. Henry match point, then Gels hammered a spike down to the Coldwater side of the floor to send Redskin players and fans into a frenzy.
"I couldn't be prouder of my girls," said Rosenbeck. "The whole week we talked about our fight, what we had to do on our side and confidence. Confidence is so key for us. When we play with confidence, we're hard to beat."
"Everybody knew (the match) would be a testament of real solid play from all the girls in all positions," said coach Etzler. "I thought St. Henry did a good job serving aggressive, and they have a pretty developed offense. Kudos to them."
Gels finished with 11 kills on the night. Karlee Buschur had 10 kills and three big blocks with Molly Wendel adding nine kills.
Wendel and Blasingame each had 15 kills and Spencer Etzler recorded seven.
