Senecas stifle Tribe

ELIDA, Ohio — The Senecas had been to regional three years in a row.

The Tribe hadn’t been there in almost three decades.

Recent experience was on the side of a seasoned team.

Fort Recovery High School’s volleyball team succumbed to the weight of the moment Thursday as it committed 17 service errors during a 25-21, 25-19, 30-32, 25-17 loss to the Calvert Senecas in the Division IV Region 14 semifinal at Elida Fieldhouse.

“Pressure got the best of us,” said FRHS coach Travis Guggenbiller, whose fourth-ranked Indians end the season 21-4. “First time we’ve been in a situation like this in a while. They just came out blades of glory. They were on fire. They were ready to play.

“We just let the pressure get the best of us today. Hats off to (Calvert), they’re going to have a great season. I see them going far. They’re a great, athletic team.”

Calvert, ranked second and now 26-0 on the season, advances to the regional final for the third straight season. The Senecas, who won the 2018 state championship between New Bremen’s titles in 2017 and 2019, meet Leipsic in the regional final at 2 p.m. Saturday. Leipsic, which finished 14th in the final Division IV poll of the season, swept North Central in the other semifinal Thursday night.

Seneca coach Lori Rombach was thankful for the free points, but said they are not something she wants her team to count on.

“You never rely on that, that’s for sure,” she said. “That only makes the job a little bit easier. I don’t know how many aces they had but they served aggressive. When you serve aggressive you’re going to have errors.”

The first three sets were tight throughout. In the opener, Calvert gained a four-point lead, 10-6, thanks in part to a Fort Recovery service error, a Caroline Lanicek kill and an Indian attack error.

The Tribe fired right back though with one of Calvert’s service mishaps, two Seneca attack errors and a Marissa Gaerke kill to even the score. However, Calvert grabbed six of the next eight points and the Indians were never able to fully recover.

Set two was much of the same, though closer early as it was tied at every score from one through eight. Fort Recovery jumped out to 13-10, which turned out to be its biggest advantage of the match, only to have Calvert retake the lead 14-13 on a kill from Ashlyn Jones, back-to-back blocks from the 6-foot freshman Lanicek and a Maria Mangiola ace.

The set was tied three more times — at 14, 15 and 16 — before the Senecas pulled away.

On the brink of elimination, the Indians outlasted the Senecas in set three despite committing eight service errors. The Tribe led 24-21 but was unable to put Calvert away. The Senecas eventually served for match point three times but also failed to put the match away. With the score tied at 30-all, Paige Fortkamp fired one of her team-high 20 kills for an FRHS lead and a net violation gave the Tribe some life.

“The girls didn’t give up and that’s what we’ve been doing all year, not giving up,” Guggenbiller said. “We keep fighting. We keep working hard. That’s the stuff I’m glad about and glad I saw for the team. We fought hard.”

Rombach said she was short and to the point with her team during the break ahead of the fourth set.

“That was a good game,” she said. “That was a good team we’re playing and that’s a good game. It’s over, let’s put our head back at it and go for set four and take it one point at time.”

Calvert jumped out to an early lead in set four and Fort Recovery could never catch up. Seneca sophomore Hannah Miller notched five of her team-high 12 kills in the deciding game.

In a sport in which success can hinge on momentum, the back-and-forth affair made it difficult for the Indians to get in any sort of rhythm.

Neither team scored more than four consecutive points. The Indians did it just once, while the Senecas did so three times.

Guggenbiller said the biggest challenge in a match like that is keeping his team composed.

“You could see we were very tense throughout the game,” he said. “We just had way too many service errors today.

“That honestly comes down to just the intensity of the game. The pressure took too much. When you’re having that many service errors that’s a mental breakdown rather than athletic ability. We just have to stay stronger.”

Thursday marked the end of the career for Kierra Wendel, Hope Wendel and Fortkamp. They capped their time as an Indian by finishing second in the Midwest Athletic Conference, and earning a sectional championship and the team’s first district title since 1991.

“Those three seniors did more than what they realize,” Guggenbiller said. “They helped make a program become stronger. I think they’re the reason why other girls are going to be interested in it.

“They worked so hard this season and they never gave up. They stayed strong. They fought hard. That’s why I’m so proud of them. They’re the best three seniors in my opinion in the league. I’m sad to see they didn’t get the chance to go further when we had the potential to.”

Rombach had respect for the Indians, too.

“That’s a good team that we beat,” she said. “That’s a very good team. I’m proud of what my girls did. Fort Recovery should be very proud of themselves and their team because that’s a great team.”