Fort defeats Patriots

Fort Recovery has begun to find its stride again. The Patriots are still looking for better overall consistency.

The visiting Indians swept host Jay County Tuesday night 25-16, 25-19, 25-18 in high school volleyball as the teams met in their cancer awareness match.

The Tribe has bounced back recently after losing seven out of eight matches from Sept. 10 through Oct. 1. It finished third at Saturday's Crestview Invitational - the Indians' only loss in the tournament came to Division IV No. 4 St. Paul - and is back to .500 at 9-9 on the year.

"We had a really good weekend up in (Convoy)," said FRHS coach Diana Rammel of the tournament. "We beat a team that beat us earlier in the season. We played well. I think it was a good confidence booster and something we really needed.

"(Tonight) we did some things that we don't usually do, so I was excited about that. We ran some plays that we don't usually run."

Jay County went 0-3 in the Olympic Athletic Conference Saturday and dropped to 4-22 with Tuesday's defeat. Coach Fred Medler said his team was limited in its options against the Indians.

"Our passing tonight, partly because of their serve ... and their hits were basically giving our setting one option," he said. "Basically we were giving the ball back and then their passes were giving their setters multiple options. That was basically the difference. We needed to clean up the passing a little bit and they kept us from cleaning it up."

As has been the case for JCHS in many of its matches this year, it stayed with the Indians until about the 10-point mark in each game.

Fort Recovery had just a 9-8 lead in the opener before the Tribe pulled away thanks in part to three consecutive Holly Brunswick kills for an eight-point lead. A 7-1 run got the Patriots to within 13-12 in game two, only to have FRHS score four straight to open the lead again.

And Jay County had a 9-5 advantage in the third game before the Indians scored 10 consecutive points to take the lead for good.

"I think it's a lineup," said Rammel of her team's ability to pull away. "I think it's one of my stronger lineups when we score a lot of points. My strongest offense and my strongest defense is there."

The Tribe's pair of Brunswicks played a major role in the victory, with Holly racking up five kills in her team's final nine points of the opening game. She slammed home six of the Indians' final nine points in the third game and finished with a match-high 13 kills.

Shelby Brunswick came off the bench to play all six rotations in the final game, coming up with six digs.

"I had Shelby Brunswick play all the way around (in the third game). She had a really good match tonight," said Rammel. "She played very well. ... I have a lot of confidence in her."

Nicole Pottkotter had 14 assists, 12 digs, 11 kills and four blocks for the Indians, and Emily May had 20 digs and 13 points. Carly Staugler put up 15 assists, and Chelsey Leuthold scored 12 points.

Ashley Langenkamp had seven assists and five points for the Patriots, and Danielle Wellman totaled 11 digs and four points. Kelsey Wood recorded seven kills, and Laura Castillo and Mariah Hornaday each added five.

Becky Muhlenkamp finished with nine digs, and Maria Murphy had two blocks.

"Becky Muhlenkamp came in at the Olympic Conference (tournament Saturday) and played solid and got her confidence back," said Medler of the senior. "And so she came out and got us some pretty good swings tonight. ... She did well. ... I'm pleased with what she's done the last three or four matches."

Medler said he's been happy with his team's attitude and effort recently despite losses in eight of its last nine matches.

"They aren't hanging their heads," he said. "We have not beat a lot of people, but they're not hanging their heads and they're getting out there and they're battling. They're trying. They're doing their best."

Both teams wore the black shirts with pink letter that they sold to raise money during breast cancer awareness month. JCHS coach Fred Medler estimated that $1,500 would be donated to the Jay County Cancer Society.

Junior varsity

The teams split a pair of close games before Fort Recovery controlled the finale for a 25-20, 24-25, 15-6 victory.

Game one was tied at 20 before the Indians scored the final five points in a row. In the second game JCHS scored three straight to snap a tie at 21, Fort Recovery pulled even at 24 and then the Patriots took the game on a service error.

Kayla Kahlig had 19 assists and 12 points for the Tribe, which pulled away in the final game to improve to 9-5. Abby Backs added 12 digs and seven assists, and Holly Thien had eight kills and six digs.

Whitni Somers paced Jay County (14-5) with seven points, seven digs and six kills. Tanner Martin totaled seven points and seven assists, and Randa Gillespie had eight digs.[[In-content Ad]]