Rockets top Fort

FORT RECOVERY — A spark. Some fire. A little electricity.
Whatever you want to call it, coach Diana Rammel felt her team needed it Saturday night.
It seemed the Fort Recovery volleyball team didn’t truly come alive until it was two points from defeat in its season opener. At that point the Indians were able to run off five in a row, but it was still too little too late in a 25-21, 25-15, 25-21 loss to the Anna Rockets.
“They played tonight like they don’t believe in what they can do,” said Rammel. “I think the skill is there. They’re just no motivation.
“We just need to work on our spark. … It has to come from them.”
Although the first and third games were relatively closely contested, the Indians (0-1) struggled to find consistency in any part of their game. They finished the match with just nine kills and four assists.
Anna (1-0) took control of the first game with a six-point run that included four FRHS errors and ended on an ace by Colleen Baumer. They never trailed again in the game, getting a kill from Megan Fogt to take a 24-21 lead and ending the opener on a Tribe error.
“(That was important) for me as a first-year coach and for the team in their first match,” said Anna coach Amy Cobb of picking up the first game.
The Rockets rolled out to a 14-3 lead and never trailed in game two, and then used an 8-2 run to take control in the third. They were up 23-16 in the third game before Fort Recovery put together a run after a timeout.
Holly Brunswick started the rally with a kill and two aces, and Olivia Thien also had a kill as the team pulled to within 23-21. But a service error gave the ball back to Anna, and Baumer ended the match with a kill one point later.
“We couldn’t get anything going,” said Rammel of the match overall. “Nothing gelled.”
Fogt paced the Rockets with seven kills, and Carrie Watkins had five kills. Baumer racked up 17 service points, and Stephanie Romie put up 17 assists. Chelsea Cavender led the defense with 16 digs.
“We proved that we could do it in three games. Last year we had a tendency to go five games. Hopefully that continues for the rest of the season.
“The girls were aggressive. They were playing together as a team.”
Holly Brunswick had team highs of nine digs, five kills and five points for the Tribe, which won its first sectional title since 1994 last season. Shelby Brunswick added eight digs, eight blocks and two assists, and Holly Thien had eight blocks and five kills.
While the Indians struggled overall, they did find some success with their floating jump serves. They racked up 12 aces, including seven in the third game.
Kylie Kahlig, Olivia Thien (two kills), Shelby Brunswick and Holly Brunswick each finished with three aces. Abby Backs matched Holly Brunswick with nine digs.
Rammel complimented the serving, especially from Kahlig, and the play of setter Kayla Kahlig off the bench. She also said she was impressed by Holly Thien, who finished with eight blocks and two kills.
“She’s just a good motivator,” Rammel said. “When she does something good, set just gets so excited.“She’s a good, positive force out there.”

Junior varsity
The Indians rallied from a 24-20 deficit to pick up a 25-15, 14-25, 26-24 victory over Anna.
Fort Recovery rolled through the first game, struggled in the second and then built up a 17-12 lead in the third on a Kelsey Fiely kill. But the Rockets rallied back to tie the game at 18 and then surge to a 23-20 lead.
The Indians called a timeout, only to have an ace by Megan Fogt put Anna within a point of taking the match. However, an attack error opened the door and FRHS ran off six straight points with Kara Faller coming up with a block to end the match.
Rashell Muhlenkamp led the Tribe with seven digs, six kills and five points, and Fiely had seven kills and six points. Kayla Kahlig finished with 11 assists and seven digs, and Emily Link had 11 digs and five kills.
Faller totaled six blocks, including the match winner, and Hannah Kaup also scored five service points.[[In-content Ad]]