Martin, Indians reach district

Copyright 2018, The Commercial Review

All Rights Reserved

NEW BREMEN, Ohio — Cassidy Martin was under the weather and didn't practice Wednesday.

If Thursday is any indication, the rest of the district might be wary of what she can do once she's back to full strength.

Martin fired 24 kills, helping the Fort Recovery High School volleyball team rebound from dropping the first set to knock off the New Knoxville Rangers 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-16 in the Division IV sectional final at New Bremen.

“My mom just told me to suck it up, I guess,” Martin said, laughing as she explained how she overcame her illness. “That's just how my mentality usually is, to just push through it and play the best I can.”

The Indians (20-3), who are ranked second in the state and seeded third in the district, advance to the district semifinal against No. 3 New Bremen at approximately 7:30 p.m. Monday at Van Wert. The Cardinals, who are defending state champions, beat Minster 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 in the second sectional final later Thursday night.

Martin, who on Tuesday was named to the All-Midwest Athletic Conference first team, notched eight kills in the back-and-forth opening set that saw the Indians and Rangers (15-9) struggle to gain a clear advantage. The score was tied 15 times, and there were nine lead changes. After scoring four consecutive points to go ahead 20-17, the Rangers held off the Indians to win the first set.

Losing the opener brought flashbacks of last season's sectional final during which the Indians lost to Marion Local after beating the Flyers during the regular season.

But FRHS coach Chelsea Kahlig told her team not to panic.

“I told the girls before the game started that this isn't last year's team,” she said. “(They) have matured into really great volleyball players. We have just been put in situations this year that we weren't in last year. We had great upsets, we had some tough losses. Those games only prepare us for a game like this,”

Fort Recovery got off to a fast start in each of the next three sets, leading 4-1, 5-0 and 8-3 respectively. Each time, however, New Knoxville came fighting back. In the second set, the Tribe had a 15-10 lead but later found itself tied 23-all.

The Indians were out front 20-14 in the third set only to have the lead trimmed to just 21-20, and in the fourth set that 8-3 advantage quickly turned into an 11-8 deficit.

Still, they never wavered from the confidence they could pull through.

“Just a lot of communication,” Martin said of what it took to break out of that fourth-set funk. “We just kind of support each other, told each other we had each other's backs and worked through it.”

While Martin only had three kills in that fourth set, Paige Fortkamp and Brooke Gaerke stepped up with four kills each.

Fortkamp and Gaerke finished with 10 kills apiece, and Olivia Patch contributed eight kills. Gaerke tallied six blocks, second only to Martin's eight.

“Brooke Gaerke, I thought was really quiet early but got us some really big momentum blocks,” Kahlig said.

The Tribe coach also praised her defense, led by Hannah Knapke's 24 digs. Kierra Wendel and Madi Rammel, the latter of whom also registered 39 assists, chipped in 17 digs apiece.

“Of course I have to give my credit to the back row,” she said, “I thought Kiera Wendel played her butt off. She was everywhere.”

Despite not feeling 100 percent, Martin was glad to reach the district semifinal after last year's disappointing defeat.

“It was a hard game,” she said. “This is probably one of the hardest sectional games we've had to play in a while. They are a really good team but we had to fight through it and play our best.”

Fort Recovery defeated New Bremen in three sets on Oct. 9 at Fort Site Fieldhouse but the Indians know regular-season MAC matches have little impact when it comes time for postseason.

“You have to have the same mentality,” Kahlig said. “It's anyone's game … We talked about tournament time and everyone doesn't want their season to end so it's about who wants it more.”