Defending champs move on

VAN WERT, Ohio — The Knight block was too much for the Indians in the opening set.

The Tribe returned the favor in the second, then an unsung senior and stellar defense down the stretch gave the Indians the title.

Fort Recovery High School’s volleyball team bounced back from dropping the first set to get a 19-25, 25-16, 26-19, 25-19 victory over No. 3 seed Crestview in the Division IV Van Wert District sectional final on Thursday at Lincolnview.

“It was a good game,” said FRHS coach Travis Guggenbiller. “That was the first game, I think, all year that we had heart consistently throughout the game. That was what I kept talking about; every game in and out we have to be consistently giving heart.

“That’s people on the floor and on the bench. Overall, I cannot say enough about how proud I am of the team. We made some big plays tonight, we made some really big plays tonight, and I was happy with that.”

Fort Recovery (13-11), the defending district champion and fourth seed, advances to the district semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against the second-seeded Lincolnview Lancers. The Lancers defeated No. 6 seed Wayne Trace in three sets earlier Thursday.

Guggenbiller admitted following Tuesday’s sectional semifinal win over St. John’s he was a bit worried about the blocking ability of Crestview.

And that defense showed up early, as sophomore setter Cali Gregory notched two big blocks. The Knights, who never trailed again in the opening game after falling behind 2-0 early, compiled four blocks in slowing down the Tribe offense.

But Fort Recovery adjusted its attack and was on the move the rest of the match.

“One, it came to first we have to serve aggressively — serve aggressively to get them out of system,” Guggenbiller said of the changes heading into the second set. “When it came to the blocking situation, we were too predictable. We couldn’t keep going straight in. We had to do some different routes, change the speed of the ball, change the speed of the attack and that’s exactly what (we) did.”

The Indians were down in that second set 6-5 before Whitley Rammel and Teigen Fortkamp notched kills and Crestvew followed with an illegal attack. The Knights took three of the next four points to tie the score at 9-all, but then the Indians found their stride with Fortkamp at the service line and closed the set on a 16-6 run.

Fortkamp served Fort Recovery to eight straight points after Grace Guggenbiller gave her team the lead with a kill. That’s when Fortkamp went back to the service line, and during the run Marissa Gaerke totaled two of her four kills during the set.

Gaerke, a senior outside hitter, stepped up to the tune of 15 kills. She was second only to Rammel’s 18.

“Marissa is one of the nicest players on the court,” Guggenbiller said, noting she’s more apt to concede an attack to a teammate rather than taking it for herself. “I keep telling her, ‘Don’t let your team down and hit the dang ball.’ She picked it up from the back row. She had some momentous attacks back there.”

Fort Recovery matched Crestview’s set-one effort with four blocks in the second, including three from senior Grace Guggenbiller. Rammel had a team-high seven blocks for the night, and Guggenbiller ended with six.

In the final two sets, senior libero Aubrey Knapke and Fortkamp came up with big digs, including Knapke’s fourth-set pancake, to keep points alive. Fort Recovery led wire-to-wire in the third set, and was never behind more than a point in the fourth.

“Aubrey had some really big plays,” Guggenbiller said. Knapke’s 15 digs were two behind Fortkamp’s match-high 17. “The pancake dive … their setter is fantastic over there and she was attacking the ball like no other. Aubrey was doing a fantastic job getting hands up on them, getting the ball in the air and making some really big plays.

“My (defensive specialists) back there don’t get enough credit because (they’re) just passing the ball, but man did they step up in the serve receive as the game went on.”

Lincolnview is the only thing stopping the Midwest Athletic Conference from an all-MAC district tournament, as No. 1 seed St. Henry meets No. 5 Marion Local in the first semifinal Tuesday at Van Wert.

Guggenbiller said he expects another dogfight when the Indians meet the Lancers (17-5) in the second semifinal.

“We’re going to have to be consistent with our serves and our serve receive,” he said. “If we can stay consistent in those two areas, we’re going to be able to handle anybody we play.”