Fantastic Fort

For the Indians, it was never a question of ability. When they brought their A game, they could play with, and beat, anyone.

With the sectional championship and the season on the line, the Tribe made sure it's A game was on full display.

Fort Recovery turned the tables on the Coldwater Cavaliers Saturday, avenging a regular-season loss to its conference rival 25-20, 25-20, 25-22 to win its first sectional title in 15 years.

"Wow. That was probably the best we've played all season. The girls were just fantastic," said FRHS coach Diana Rammel, who added that she felt her team's preparation for the match paid off. "The girls just knew what they were doing. They just came out here and played it. ...

"This is an exciting win, very exciting. The girls are just beside themselves."

The current Indians weren't even in kindergarten when Fort Recovery last brought home a sectional title. The school won five sectionals in a span of six years from 1989 to '94 - it went all the way to the state title in 1990 - but had been shut out since.

"I had goose bumps the whole, entire match," said senior Nicole Pottkotter, whose 27 assists, nine service points and five blocks were all team highs.

"It feels good to come out here and show everybody what we can do," added Emily May (18 digs).

Each of Saturday's three games was close, but as the match rolled along it became more and more obvious that nothing was going to slow down the Indians.

That point was illustrated best after Coldwater's Katie Lefeld used her jump serve for an ace to tie the third game at 22. She hit another hard-to-handle serve on the next point, with Alyssa Brackman barely getting her arms underneath it to send the ball flying back over the net. But instead of turning into a free chance for the Cavaliers (13-10) to run their offense, the ball found the floor to hand the lead back to the Tribe.

The Indians added two more points to end the match in a sweep and take the sectional title.

"Hats off to Fort Recovery," said Cavalier coach Mandy Diller, who is a 1993 graduate of FRHS. "They just played so consistently today. They fought for every single ball, and we were going to literally have to fight for every point for us to get on the board.

"I kind of felt like they did to us what we did to them during the regular season. Fort Recovery did an outstanding job of passing the ball tonight, which really helped them. We just had a hard time getting an offense rolling."

The Tribe, which advances to the district tournament at Napoleon to will play Division III No. 2 Archbold (24-0) Wednesday at 6:15 p.m., did not always seemed destined for the win.

Coldwater had control early, taking a 5-0 lead thanks to five consecutive attack errors by the Indians. Rammel responded by taking a quick time out to refocus her team.

"I just said, 'You know what girls. You didn't just work for three full days ... to play like this. You guys didn't come here to play like this. Get out there and play your game,'" she said. "And then after a little bit, that was all she wrote."

Rammel said she also wanted to get a smile out of Holly Brunswick, who had three of the opening five attack errors, before sending her team back to the court. Following the timeout, Brunswick bounced back and used a tip to get her team on the board.

The Cavaliers edged out to an 8-2 advantage, but Fort Recovery quickly claimed control.

The Indians got the ball after an attack error and Carly Staugler (15 assists) started their run with an ace that skipped over the net. Pottkotter notched three consecutive points with a tip, a kill and a block to finish a 6-0 run to tie the match.

Fort Recovery went on to outscore the Cavaliers 16-4, Brunswick added three kills late and Pottkotter ended the game with a kill.

"To get the first game meant a lot," said Rammel, whose team lost 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 to Coldwater during the regular season. "It's all about the momentum. Once you get that momentum coming your way, it helps you through the whole match."

The teams traded the lead during the first half of each of the next two games, but Fort Recovery never let the Cavaliers grab any kind of momentum.

Coldwater's 4-0 run midway through the second game tied the score at 14, but after another timeout the Tribe took control again. Olivia Thien recorded a kill to give the Indians the lead, and Shelby Brunswick followed with a block.

Fort Recovery never trailed again in the game, going up 24-19 on a Brunswick kill and ending it when the Cavaliers were called for a net violation.

In the third game Coldwater took a brief 12-11 lead only to have the Tribe respond with a 7-1 run. Brunswick had a block and two kills during the rally, and Josie Guggenbiller had a kill and an ace.

The Cavaliers pulled even again at 22, but could not fight off the sweep.

May, who gave Brunswick words of encouragement during a key moment in the match, said her junior teammate is a huge key to the team's success.

"I told her she needed to relax," said May of Brunswick, who racked up 16 kills. "Nobody cares that much about one point, but ... when she's down everybody gets down ... If she does a great job, we all do great."

Pottkotter continued her outstanding all-around play, trailing Brunswick with 15 kills to go along with her trio of team highs. She also had eight digs.

Chelsey Leuthold added 11 digs, nine points and five kills. Guggenbiller added six kills and five digs, Thien had five kills and Alyssa Brackman notched eight digs.

"She's just amazing," said Rammel of Pottkotter. "For her to come off a set at the top of the net and Holly just slam it home is ... incredible.

"I thought everybody played well."[[In-content Ad]]