Siefring leads Indians to first title since 2009

ROCKFORD, Ohio — Kendra Siefring locked her eyes on the ball, jumped in the air and swung her right arm to make contact.
Just like she has been doing all season.
The ball rocketed through the Panther defense, just like it did 11 previous times throughout the night.
But this one was different.
It put the Indians in a place they haven’t been for a while.
Siefring’s 12th kill of the match Saturday completed a perfect sweep of the Parkway Panthers, giving the Fort Recovery High School volleyball team a 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 victory in the Division III sectional championship.
It was the first sectional title for the Indians (11-13) since 2009.
“It feels great because they beat us in three (sets),” said senior Morgan Lennartz, whose teammates were swept by their Midwest Athletic Conference foes on Sept. 24, also in Rockford. “Now we came back and killed them in three. It feels good.”
Second-year Tribe coach Chelsea Rogers shared the feeling.
“Awesome,” said Rogers, whose team now meets St. Henry at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday in the district semifinal Kalida, Ohio. The Redskins are the top-ranked team in Division III. “I said it (after the semifinal victory), not getting a (MAC) win is a big killer. We got one at the right time.
“We talked about the banner up at our school … I know we’ve been pointing at that a lot. The girls really wanted to make something of it.”
Fort Recovery and Parkway went back and forth in the early going of the first set. The Panthers led 4-1, but a handful of attacking errors put the Indians ahead 6-5.
Parkway’s Emily Strunk served up back-to-back aces, helping her team to an 8-6 advantage until Siefring tallied her third kill and served an ace to tie the score yet again. The score would be even again at 10, 11 and 12. A kill by FRHS sophomore Carley Stone knotted the score again at 13, and back-to-back blocks and a kill from Siefring put the Indians up 16-13 and the Tribe didn’t trail for the remainder of the set.
A pair of four-point streaks helped Fort Recovery to a 10-8 advantage in the second set, until back-to-back Tribe errors evened the score.
But Devin Post notched one of her two blocks and followed it up with one of her three kills to spark a six-point Indian run that essentially put the set out of reach.
Parkway coach Jeff Marbaugh called at timeout trailing 13-10, but an ace from Madison Grover, a net violation by the Panthers and another Stone kill — she finished with 10 — completed the run.
After each break in the action, whether a timeout or between games, the Indians broke on the word “intensity,” and it showed throughout the match.
“That is one thing I think we had, the energy, the spark,” Rogers said. “They did some things to keep us on our toes and expect anything — tips, roll shot, deep balls — but I think defensively we have been playing really well.”
Fort Recovery totaled 12 blocks, half of which came from Siefring, and racked up 64 digs. Alexis Bubp and Kiah Wendel had 12 and 10 digs respectively, and Madison Grover added eight.
Siefring also noted the aggressiveness of the Tribe offense.
“The intensity was on a whole other level,” she said. “We were so into the game and we wanted it.”
And it has the Indians gelling as a full unit at the right moment.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” Lennartz said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment where we would all come together and play as a team.”
“Perfect timing for that, a tournament run,” Siefring added.
Much like the Indians had in the fourth set of the sectional semifinal Thursday at Paulding, they fell behind early against Parkway in the third on Saturday.
A 6-0 Panther run made it 8-5, but the Indians slowly cut into the deficit. The set was tied at each point from 10 through 14, with neither team being able to score consecutive points.
A FRHS net violation kicked off a 4-0 run by Parkway, but Fort Recovery nabbed seven of the next eight points to lead 21-19 and force another Panther timeout.
Fort Recovery and Parkway split the next four points, giving the Tribe a 23-21 lead, and a kill from FRHS senior Kirsten Jutte down the left side of the court put the Indians one point away from the title.
Parkway’s Alivia Stover blasted a kill through the Fort Recovery defense, and one more tally for the Panthers made the score 24-23 in favor of the visitors.
That’s when Siefring returned to doing what she does best.
“I know now our legacy is left at this school,” Siefring said of the title. “It’s a great feeling.”