Tribe sweep Falcons in semifinal

FORT RECOVERY ­— All season, the Indians stressed the importance of using different options offensively.
The strategy put them one win away from back-to-back sectional championships.
Fort Recovery High School’s volleyball team had two players reach double-digit kill totals and spread the ball throughout in sweeping the Riverdale Falcons, 25-17, 25-11, 25-15, in the Division III Kalida District sectional semifinal Wednesday at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
“I just felt like we are really starting to mix up the offense, which hopefully helps them get past the block,” said FRHS coach Chelsea Rogers, whose team hosts Tinora in the sectional championship at 1 p.m. Saturday. Fort Recovery won the sectional title a year ago in Paulding.
“(Riverdale) didn’t have a strong block game, but we’re going to continue to work on that part,” Rogers said, also noting the extra time in practice having two coaches allowed the Indians (15-8) to focus more on offense.
“You could see we were running different things,” she said.
The majority of that offense, however, still went through junior Carley Stone, who on Tuesday was named to the All-Midwest Athletic Conference first team. Celebrating her 17th birthday, Stone led the Indians with 13 kills, while also notching seven digs and going a perfect 11-for-11 from the service line.
“I thought she got in there and did a great job offensively,” Rogers said.
Stone had the final three kills of the third set, capping a five-point run to secure the victory.
The junior also notched four kills in the opening set, helping Fort Recovery to an 14-11 advantage before Riverdale coach Jaci Bostelman called her first timeout. Two kills from Devin Post helped the Indians to four straight points and a 20-14 lead, then All-MAC honorable mention sophomore Cassidy Martin had two of her 10 kills as the Tribe finished the opening set on a 5-1 run.
Post was third on the team with seven kills, and sophomore Paige Jutte chipped in with six. Brooke Gaerke, who had a team-high three blocks, also notched three kills.
Fort Recovery stayed in control over Riverdale (9-13) in the second set, jumping out to a 10-4 advantage thanks to three more kills from Stone, an ace from Martin and a handful of attack errors by the Falcons. Back-to-back aces from Alexis Bubp helped put the Indians on top 15-4, and the Falcons had a difficult time getting momentum to swing in their favor.
The Tribe nabbed the first five points of the third set and eventually led 9-2 and 19-9. That’s when Riverdale finally started to show a little bit of life, scoring five straight to close the gap. The Indians and Falcons split the next two points, and a Riverdale serving error gave the serve back to the home team.
Martin tallied her final kill of the match and Stone handled the offense the rest of the way.
While the Tribe seemed to be firing on all cylinders at times, it was not without a few mistakes. During the Falcons’ run late in the third set, the Indians had difficulty with Riverdale’s serve. In conference play, the Indians are used to primarily jump and float serves, whereas the Falcons rarely used the tactic.
“I thought they did well early, but toward the ends of the game I think t hey did get a couple of aces on us in that bad stretch,” Rogers said. “They got (five) in a row which is never good.”
With the first victory of the tournament out of the way, Fort Recovery is set to meet Tinora, which improved to 20-1 on the season with a sweep of Allen East.
“They’ve played some good teams,” Rogers said. “We need to be ready and I’m going to do my best to find out as much as I can about them.”
Rogers also said as the defending sectional champion she feels her squad is confident and playing without pressure.
“They look like they’re having fun,” she said. “They look like they’re having fun, they’re practicing well and they’re practicing hard. They know they have to bring it every day.”