FR spikers remain hot (10/13/06)

NEW BREMEN, Ohio - Three close games left the Cardinals with some level of accomplishment. But Fort Recovery wouldn't allow them to gain the confidence of victory.

Trailing 24-21 in the final game and facing a longer night than necessary, the Tribe volleyball team halted New Bremen for a 25-19, 25-20, 27-25 win.

"I'm in awe," said Fort Recovery coach Diana Rammel, whose team has won eight of its last nine matches to improve to 15-6 and 6-2 in the Midwest Athletic Conference. "For them to come back from behind like that and win just shows me that these girls are here to play.

"I feel pretty good. I keep waiting for that bad match to let me down, and these girls are just not going to do it. They are just on a mission, and I think tonight it showed."

The teams will meet again in just over a week when they play in the semifinal round of the New Bremen sectional Saturday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m.

Cardinal coach Lisa Thobe said she thinks her team can build on Thursday's loss in preparation for the tournament rematch.

"I think now they know they can beat them," said Thobe. "We were close every game.

"We've just got to learn to keep in the game and stay focused and make sure that if we give them one or two points you make it stop after that and push on. But I feel pretty good.

"Nobody thinks we can beat them. I don't have a Tiff Gaerke, but I have, I think, four to six girls who can hit the ball strongly. I think if we can just get our consistency down we're going to be all right."

New Bremen (10-11, 3-5 MAC) had the Indians on their heels for much of the third game and had three chances at game point to force a fourth.

With the game on the line the Tribe went to senior middle hitter Tiff Gaerke, and the future Dayton Flyer delivered. She sent a kill to the left sideline to deny the first game point, then tipped one to the back line to stop the second. With Fort Recovery back within 24-23, Gaerke and senior setter Abby Niekamp combined for a block on Christine Schwartz to even the score.

New Bremen got the ball back, but not for long as the momentum had clearly shifted to the Indians. Gaerke added another kill, and Niekamp finished off the match with an ace off the arms of Maria Elking.

"She just brings one solid all-around player that can do it all," said Rammel of Gaerke, who led the Tribe with 25 kills, 15 digs, nine points and five blocks. "We can count on her. That's huge."

Fort Recovery never trailed in the opening game, and controlled the second after the Cardinals scored the opening point. But it stumbled to a 13-6 deficit in the third as New Bremen's Jaclyn Dabbelt came up with a run of three kills in six points.

The Indians responded with a 12-3 run for a two-point lead, getting four kills and an ace for Gaerke, two kills from Joanna Snyder and an ace from Vicki Roessner. New Bremen managed to retake the lead, but failed on its three straight chances to win the game.

Thobe said her biggest frustration was not being able to take advantage when Gaerke when to the back row - the Cardinals led 16-12 when Gaerke stepped back to serve - and put the game away.

"They knew that's when we should score points," said Thobe. "(Gaerke) didn't jump serve, she just put the ball on the court, and she scored five points ... that's the difference between being a good team and a great team. And we're on the verge, we're playing with everybody ... we just can't seem to get those few extra points we need to win."

Lauren Wenning followed Gaerke with 12 kills and five blocks, and Niekamp racked up 41 assists. Roessner scored 12 points, and Snyder had 10 digs.

Stephanie Winner had 13 kills, 11 digs and three aces to lead New Bremen.

Schwartz added six kills, and Taylor Jones had 28 assists. Elking paced the defense with 13 digs, and Michelle Griesdorn totaled 11 digs.

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery fell behind 10-1 in the opening game on the way to a 25-11, 25-19 loss to the Cardinals.

Nicole Pottkotter finished with 11 digs, four kills and four assists as the Indians slipped to 8-7 overall and 3-5 in the MAC. Heather Schmackers totaled 11 digs and four points.

Kelsey Wuebker finished with seven assists and three points, and Kelly Sudhoff and Anne Koesters each added three kills.

Freshman

FORT RECOVERY - The Indians closed their season with a victory, knocking off the Marion Local Flyers 25-20, 18-25, 25-15.

Emily May powered the victory with team highs of 12 points and four blocks. She also had six kills and five digs.

Carly Staugler finished with six points and 11 assists, and Alyssa Brackman had six points and seven digs. Josie Guggenbiller totaled eight assists and three blocks, and Chelsey Leuthold had seven kills.[[In-content Ad]]