FR slams Commodores (10/17/07)

NEW BREMEN, Ohio - Less than a week after upsetting the New Bremen Cardinals, the Indians dominated on their conference rival's home floor.

The Fort Recovery High School volleyball team dominated the Lima Perry Commodores Tuesday, rolling to a 25-18, 25-10, 25-15 victory in their sectional semifinal match.

The Tribe (12-11) trailed 6-1 in the opening game, but quickly reclaimed control. It went on a 14-2 run for a 15-8 lead, never trailed again in the first game and outscored Lima Perry 74-37 for the remainder of the match to improve to 12-3 this season against non-Midwest Athletic Conference opponents.

FRHS coach Diana Rammel said she was concerned about her team's passing in its tournament opener, but still happy with the result.

"If you don't have a pass you can't run your offense," said Rammel. "It wasn't a great game. It's a good one to start with I guess."

The challenge will pick up significantly Saturday when Fort Recovery (12-11) battles Division IV No. 1 Marion Local (19-1) for the sectional title at New Bremen at 2 p.m. Saturday's other title match will pit Minster (13-7) against No. 1 New Bremen (15-5) at approximately 3:30 p.m. after Minster advanced in Tuesday's other semifinal match 25-17, 25-22, 25-16 over New Knoxville (12-8).

Rammel said her team should have confidence it can play with the best in the state after dumping New Bremen 26-24, 25-19, 25-22 Thursday.

"(It will take) our A-game plus," said Rammel of Marion Local, which topped FRHS 25-13, 25-15, 25-11 on Oct. 4. "We're going to look at some tapes from our first match and a lot of practicing, a lot of passing practicing. We've got to bring all six of us.

"Their offense runs so quickly. ... Our defense had a hard time judging where the ball was going because they run it so fast. That's something we're going to have to work on in the next few days."

After stumbling early against Lima Perry Tuesday, the Indians took control after the first of the Commodores' four service errors in the opening game. Kinsey Wenning racked up three kills in the course of the next four points and Kelsey Wuebker added one as the Tribe evened the score.

Lima Perry (6-13) jumped back on top 7-6, but then Fort Recovery pushed ahead for good with a Sarah Braun kill followed by three consecutive aces by Wenning. Wuebker added an ace during the 13-2 Tribe run, and later Sarah Braun recorded the final two points with a kill and a block back-to-back.

Wuebker finished with team highs of 16 assists and 13 points for the Indians, who lost in the 2006 sectional championship to third-ranked New Knoxville. Emily May added 11 points and six digs, and Braun totaled six blocks and six kills.

Fort Recovery again trailed by a few points early in the second game before using a 7-0 run, including two Wenning kills, to take the lead. Three kills from Nicole Pott-kotter later sparked a 10-1 run to put the Indians firmly in control, and she closed the game with an ace.

Game three remained tight through the first 20 points, but the Tribe gradually pulled away and finished off Lima Perry thanks to an Anne Koesters tip.

Wenning totaled a team-best 12 kills for Fort Recovery, Heather Schmackers had eight digs and Pottkotter finished with six kills.

Amanda Rohrer's 12 digs, two aces and one block led the Commodores, who fell victim to 10 Tribe aces. Kara Beth Riepenhoff had seven assists.

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