District champs

FORT RECOVERY — Tiegen Fortkamp got her hand on the Flyer attack, sending the ball back from where it came.

Marissa Gaerke threw up her arms, looking toward the freshman.

Older sister Paige Forkamp let out a scream, bending down to slap the floor from her spot in the back row. Kierra Wendel jumped as she bellowed as well.

On the sideline, perhaps no one was as vocal, or as jubilant, as their coach, Travis Guggenbiller.

The Indians staved off a conference rival and thrust themselves into history.

Fort Recovery High School’s volleyball team bounced back from an early deficit in the fifth set to hold off the Marion Local Flyers to win the Division IV Northwest District 5 Championship 25-17, 21-25, 25-22. 16-25, 15-7 Thursday at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

“It feels really amazing,” said Wendel, one of three Fort Recovery seniors. “Our team has worked really hard for this. We’ve all wanted to get to where we’re at right now.”

Fort Recovery (21-3), the district’s top seed and the state’s fourth-ranked team, advances to the Region 14 semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against No. 2 Tiffin Calvert after winning the program’s first district title since 1991.

The Tribe swept seventh-ranked Marion Local (21-5) when the two teams met during their regular season. Guggenbiller said the difference Thursday night from the Sept. 22 meeting was a change in the way the Flyers attacked from the service line.

“I think the big thing — it was several things — but Marion served much more aggressively than the last game so it took us out of our system,” he said. “Marion served really aggressive today and we just had to work for every ball.

“We just had to mentally stay tough. It was a little sloppy on our side — both sides at times — we just couldn’t get down on ourselves. You believe in yourself to have the outcome that you want and that’s going to happen.”

The Indians had just gotten pummeled in the fourth set, during which Flyer senior Alana Pohlman had three kills and three blocks.

Heading into the fifth, a winner-take-all race to 15, Guggenbiller reminded his squad about one thing — including the two tournament matches, the Indians were 12-0 this season on their home court.

Fort Recovery grabbed the first point on a Whitley Rammel block but ended up behind 3-1. But as it had in the other odd-numbered sets, the big MO shifted toward the Tribe.

Paige Fortkamp rifled one of her match-high 14 kills to tie the set and Fort Recovery scored the next three points to lead 6-3, which forced Flyer coach Anthony Chappel into calling a timeout.

A 4-2 Indian run, which included a Gaerke kill along with one of Marion Local’s 19 service errors, put Fort Recovery out front 10-5, leading to another timeout. But Tiegan Fortkamp responded with a kill and Marion Local never got closer than that five-point deficit.

A set error from Flyer junior Heidi Rethman gave the Indians match point ahead of Tiegen Fortkamp’s championship-clinching block.

“Honestly, our freshman Tiegen Fortkamp stepped up big,” Guggenbiller said. “She made a couple plays. I know she had a block there, a couple saves defensively … For a freshman to step up under pressure like that, that is impressive for sure.”

The dominating fifth set was reminiscent of the night’s first, during which a six-point run that included three Gaerke kills, gave the Indians a 16-11 lead they never gave up.

In the second, though, Marion Local used a six-point stretch of its own to overtake the Tribe on its way to evening the match at one set apiece.

Rammel, a 6-foot, 2-inch junior middle known more for her play at the net than anything else, was thrust into action at the service line late in the third set. After she notched big block to tie the set at 22-all, Guggenbiller was out of substitutions, and Rammel had to step back and put the ball in play.

“I told her to suck it up,” he said. “My motto to her was just suck it up. Figure it out. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Rammel served the final three points, including an ace, as the Indians went on top 2-1.

Another six-point Marion Local run, which included a pair of Rethman aces, put the Flyers on top 11-4 during the fourth set and the Indians never really recovered from the deficit. Pohlman blocked Rammel twice, keeping her and Fort Recovery at bay for the time being.

It was all Indians in the fifth, and that 6-3 lead was crucial for the home squad being able to hang on.

“It was really huge because we kept being able to build our momentum,” Wendel, whose 10 digs were third on the team behind Gaerke (14) and Paige Fortkamp (13). “It made everyone like build up their playing level of getting every ball.”

And now the Indians, who came up short of the team’s first conference championship in more than three decades, claimed just the third district title in program history.

A bit of redemption?

Said Wendel: “It feels a lot better knowing we get to keep on playing for a bigger thing.”