October 20, 2017 at 3:38 a.m.
Fort falls in final
No. 5 Indians rally to force fifth set but lose to Flyers
Fort falls in final
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
FORT RECOVERY — The Indians didn’t play exceptionally well in the first two sets.
As a result, the Flyers won both, but the home team showed signs of getting back on track.
The third and fourth sets went to the Tribe.
With the match on the line, the demons from the beginning showed up again.
The Fort Recovery High School volleyball team, which was ranked fifth in the state, wasn’t able to keep momentum in its favor during the fifth set Thursday as it lost to the ninth-ranked Marion Local Flyers in the Division IV sectional final 25-16, 25-23, 9-25, 16-25, 15-8 at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
“I knew this would be a tough battle,” said FRHS coach Chelsea Kahlig, whose team ended its year 19-4. “As good as we are, you’re going against a (Midwest Athletic Conference) rival that has been traditionally very strong. You know you’re going to get the best of them.”
Marion Local advances to the district semifinal against the No. 2 St. Henry Redskins at Van Wert. The top-ranked New Bremen Cardinals will meet No. 4 Ottoville Big Green in the first semifinal.
What makes the loss hurt even more is the Indians, who were two-time defending sectional champions, beat the Flyers (14-10) in four sets during the regular season. During that match, Fort Recovery had an answer for Marion Local’s Kara Evers.
But Thursday night, she was able to swing freely.
The 6-foot, 1-inch, senior rifled her final kill of the match from the right side that Madi Rammel wasn’t able to dig cleanly.
It gave the Flyers a 7-5 advantage. An attack error and being out of rotation made it 9-5 in favor of the Flyers, who took two of the next three points thanks to an Adaline Mescher kill and an FRHS attack error.
Kahlig called her second timeout, and out of the break Paige Fortkamp notched a kill to cut the deficit to three before the Flyers scored the next three points.
Evers finished with a match-high 15 kills, besting Tribe junior Cassy Martin’s 14.
“Evers, we didn’t really have an answer for her,” Kahlig said. “When we played them earlier in the year we handled her really well and that was what kind of won us the game honestly four weeks ago.”
Fort Recovery was out of sorts in the early goings of the match as the Flyers scored the first four points of the night and jumped out to a 9-1 lead with the help of five offensive errors from the Indians and a pair of Kylie Albers aces.
It’s the one part of the match Kahlig wishes she could have back.
“The very beginning of the game I guess I would take back,” she said. “I guess that set the tone early. When you get down … in the beginning of the games against a traditionally good school, in this kind of environment, and tournament time, you’re going to pay for it.”
The Indians got as close as 18-13, but weren’t able to trim into the deficit any more.
Evers kicked off the second set for the Flyers, who later led by as many as four, 15-11. With the score 16-13 in favor of Marion Local, Martin rifled a kill that started a 6-1 FRHS run that put the Indians on top 19-17. The set was tied at 21, 22 and 23 before consecutive FRHS errors gave Marion Local a commanding 2-0 lead in sets.
“That second set was huge and we let a couple errors get to us,” Kahlig said. “Winning that set would have been the difference maker.”
But facing elimination, a balanced offensive attack from Paige Jutte, Carley Stone and Martin propelled Fort Recovery to a commanding 25-9 win in game three.
Stone was second on the team with 12 kills and 11 digs and also added two blocks. Jutte finished with seven kills, two blocks and a pair of digs.
Martin and Stone both had three kills while Brooke Gaerke had a pair of her team-best six blocks in the fourth set, helping the Indians win to force a fifth. Gaerke totaled a career-high 11 kills.
“We talk about where we are as a program, we had one heck of a year and they have something to be proud of,” said Kahlig, whose team tied for fifth in the MAC — its best finish since it was the runner-up in 2006 — and was a flawless 13-0 against non-conference opponents. “Obviously we still have to fine tune some things and be confident and tough when it comes tournament time.”
Seniors Kiah Wendel (team-best 27 digs), Alexis Bubp (13 digs), Kelsey Jutte and Stone had their volleyball careers come to a close.
“It’s going to suck losing those four seniors,” Kahlig said. “Carley Stone has been kind of a rock for us and it will be interesting to see who steps up and fills her shoes.”
All Rights Reserved
FORT RECOVERY — The Indians didn’t play exceptionally well in the first two sets.
As a result, the Flyers won both, but the home team showed signs of getting back on track.
The third and fourth sets went to the Tribe.
With the match on the line, the demons from the beginning showed up again.
The Fort Recovery High School volleyball team, which was ranked fifth in the state, wasn’t able to keep momentum in its favor during the fifth set Thursday as it lost to the ninth-ranked Marion Local Flyers in the Division IV sectional final 25-16, 25-23, 9-25, 16-25, 15-8 at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
“I knew this would be a tough battle,” said FRHS coach Chelsea Kahlig, whose team ended its year 19-4. “As good as we are, you’re going against a (Midwest Athletic Conference) rival that has been traditionally very strong. You know you’re going to get the best of them.”
Marion Local advances to the district semifinal against the No. 2 St. Henry Redskins at Van Wert. The top-ranked New Bremen Cardinals will meet No. 4 Ottoville Big Green in the first semifinal.
What makes the loss hurt even more is the Indians, who were two-time defending sectional champions, beat the Flyers (14-10) in four sets during the regular season. During that match, Fort Recovery had an answer for Marion Local’s Kara Evers.
But Thursday night, she was able to swing freely.
The 6-foot, 1-inch, senior rifled her final kill of the match from the right side that Madi Rammel wasn’t able to dig cleanly.
It gave the Flyers a 7-5 advantage. An attack error and being out of rotation made it 9-5 in favor of the Flyers, who took two of the next three points thanks to an Adaline Mescher kill and an FRHS attack error.
Kahlig called her second timeout, and out of the break Paige Fortkamp notched a kill to cut the deficit to three before the Flyers scored the next three points.
Evers finished with a match-high 15 kills, besting Tribe junior Cassy Martin’s 14.
“Evers, we didn’t really have an answer for her,” Kahlig said. “When we played them earlier in the year we handled her really well and that was what kind of won us the game honestly four weeks ago.”
Fort Recovery was out of sorts in the early goings of the match as the Flyers scored the first four points of the night and jumped out to a 9-1 lead with the help of five offensive errors from the Indians and a pair of Kylie Albers aces.
It’s the one part of the match Kahlig wishes she could have back.
“The very beginning of the game I guess I would take back,” she said. “I guess that set the tone early. When you get down … in the beginning of the games against a traditionally good school, in this kind of environment, and tournament time, you’re going to pay for it.”
The Indians got as close as 18-13, but weren’t able to trim into the deficit any more.
Evers kicked off the second set for the Flyers, who later led by as many as four, 15-11. With the score 16-13 in favor of Marion Local, Martin rifled a kill that started a 6-1 FRHS run that put the Indians on top 19-17. The set was tied at 21, 22 and 23 before consecutive FRHS errors gave Marion Local a commanding 2-0 lead in sets.
“That second set was huge and we let a couple errors get to us,” Kahlig said. “Winning that set would have been the difference maker.”
But facing elimination, a balanced offensive attack from Paige Jutte, Carley Stone and Martin propelled Fort Recovery to a commanding 25-9 win in game three.
Stone was second on the team with 12 kills and 11 digs and also added two blocks. Jutte finished with seven kills, two blocks and a pair of digs.
Martin and Stone both had three kills while Brooke Gaerke had a pair of her team-best six blocks in the fourth set, helping the Indians win to force a fifth. Gaerke totaled a career-high 11 kills.
“We talk about where we are as a program, we had one heck of a year and they have something to be proud of,” said Kahlig, whose team tied for fifth in the MAC — its best finish since it was the runner-up in 2006 — and was a flawless 13-0 against non-conference opponents. “Obviously we still have to fine tune some things and be confident and tough when it comes tournament time.”
Seniors Kiah Wendel (team-best 27 digs), Alexis Bubp (13 digs), Kelsey Jutte and Stone had their volleyball careers come to a close.
“It’s going to suck losing those four seniors,” Kahlig said. “Carley Stone has been kind of a rock for us and it will be interesting to see who steps up and fills her shoes.”
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