Titans top Indians in section final

OTTAWA, Ohio — Fort Recovery found itself in an early hole in every set Saturday.
It only managed to climb out once.
The Indians battled to take the second game, but couldn’t ride the momentum into games three and four as they fell in the Division III sectional championship Saturday to the host Ottawa-Glandorf Titans.
“All of the games kind of started similar where we had to come from behind,” said FRHS coach Chelsea Rogers, whose team lost 25-11, 22-25, 25-18, 25-11 to the Titans, who finished 14th in the latest Division III poll. “I had to call early timeouts. Toward the end there I didn’t really have subs and I couldn’t really break the momentum.
“I was confident and I think the girls were confident coming into it, but they are scrappy. They weren’t letting us get what we were used to getting. We had to work for everything we got.”
Trailing 13-6 in the third game, Tori Lennartz sparked a seven-point run by Fort Recovery (8-15) when her attack went off a Titan defender to give the Indians the serve. After a hitting error by Ottawa, Kendra Siefring and Kirsten Jutte teamed up for a block, and the Titans weren’t able to get the ball over on Rachel Pugh’s next two serves, forcing Ottawa coach Ann Ellerbrock to call a timeout with her squad ahead 13-11.
A kill by Siefring and another error by the Titan offense tied the game at 13, but the Titans made sure the Indians wouldn’t lead again.
Ottawa re-took the lead on four quick points forcing Rogers into calling her second timeout, and an attack error by the Indians extended the deficit to five.
Siefring, a first-team all-MAC and District 8 player as a junior, connected with one of her team-leading 15 kills to end the run, and Cassidy Rammel’s only ace of the game got the Indians back within three.
The Titans then capitalized on a couple mental mistakes by the Indians, getting seven of the next 10 points to take the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.
“After game two I went into the huddle and told them to do three things better — block a little better, serve more aggressively and play better defense on their tip,” said Ellerbrock, whose team improves to 19-4 and advances to the Kalida District semifinal Thursday against Liberty-Benton. “I knew that Chelsea (Rogers) was going to continue to have them swing hard and swing aggressive because that’s how they play in the (Midwest Athletic Conference).”
The Titans totaled six blocks in the fourth game alone, as they got out to a 15-6 lead that included an eight-point run. Ottawa’s defense, Rogers said, capitalized on an offense that took some time to get set up.
“Our offense is very slow, and when our defense gets better I think we can work on a quicker offense,” Rogers said. “It’s pretty easy to block when we’re running those high, outside balls.
“I don’t think we had as many options and I think that was because of their block. We just got frustrated and made some critical errors.”
Because of Ottawa’s front line, the Fort Recovery offense was forced to tip over it or try to hit around it. By doing so, the Indians missed wide, long or hit into the net.
“I told them I’d rather get blocked and have a chance to get it over than hit it (long) into a wall and not be able to recover,” Rogers said.
In the opening game, Ottawa got out to a 6-1 lead on kills by Anna Bellman and Olivia Hermiller. The Indians and Titans went back-and-forth for the next 12 points until the home team had a 12-7 lead. But, Fort Recovery errors and a pair of aces by Madison Stechschulte helped the Titans to a seven-point run, breaking the game open for Ottawa with a 19-7 advantage.
Fort Recovery trailed by as many as four points in the second game, battling to tie the set five times. Five straight points gave Fort Recovery a 20-17 advantage — its biggest of the evening. Two attack errors by the Indians got the Titans within one, 20-19, and the two teams traded the next eight points, until Siefring hit home the game-winning point.
While the Indians weren’t able to win their first sectional title since 2009, Rogers is confident they have a bright future.
“Even though our record isn’t what we had hoped, I’m proud,” she said. “I think we’ve improved. I think we’re young enough to keep getting better.”