Tribe tops Patriots

Athletic outside hitters are a valuable asset to have on a volleyball team. The ability to take a strong swing at a ball to attack the opponents can be a key aspect to winning matches.

Sometimes you have to switch things up. That’s what the Indians did, as they changed speeds on the Patriots.

The Fort Recovery High School volleyball team kept the Jay County Patriots on their toes all night as they constantly changed their approach when attacking the net to earn a 25-22, 26-24, 25-21 victory Tuesday.

“I felt like we overall had a great team effort. We all made some really big plays today,” FRHS coach Travis Guggenbiller said. “Every girl made at one time or another, they all made a big play. … Everybody pulled their own when we needed it.”

The Indians’ outside and middle hitters put in a lot of work in the match, but none shined brighter than Teigan Fortkamp. She contributed a match-high 14 kills and five aces while digging out 11 balls. Of Fortkamp’s 14 kills, nine of them came when the Patriots (2-2) were serving, three of them stopped Jay County runs and five times she changed speeds to just tip the ball between the blockers at the net and the defense along the back line.

Fortkamp attributed her success in the match to Cali Wendel and the communication between her and any hitter the ball was sent to.

“So every time I just listen to my libero Cali Wendel, and she tells me where to hit it,” Fortkamp said. “That was our main success tonight was finding the holes, and Cali was telling me where they were at.”

Wendel was the only Indian to not commit a service error on eight attempts. She also had a match-high 19 digs.

The Patriots tested Fort Recovery (3-0) at different points in the match. They had a 24-22 point lead in the second set before Mara Pearson rattled off four straight kills for the win. Pearson finished with nine kills in the match.

In the third set, the Patriots scored eight unanswered points, including two aces by Maggie Dillon.

“I was just picking the spots I thought were the weakest and just serving there,” Maggie Dillon said. “Changing up the speed of my serve was definitely helping. I think us just being aggressive and strategic was helping but then them sending tips back over was a struggle for us.”

Dillon led the Patriots with four aces, while also adding three kills and four digs.

The run ended with a Fortkamp kill, but the Patriots stayed with the Indians in the set. Approaching the end, Jay County had a 20-16 lead. The Indians tied the set because of a service error, a net violation and tip kills from Fortkamp and Paige Guggenbiller.

Bella Denton ended the short run with one of her nine kills in the match, but Fortkamp answered it with a soft kill of her own.

An ace, a bump from Jay County that sailed too far and two kills from Paige Guggenbiller completed the comeback and clinched the set and the match.

“I just think that they stopped hitting the ball so much because we were covering that,” Jay County coach Amy Dillon said. “They started mixing it up and tipping and finding corners and finding where we weren't. They were challenging us a little bit to start moving our defense.”

Jay County’s outside hitter Laila Waddell (14) goes up to hit against FRHS junior Kennedy Muhlenkamp (11) during Tuesday’s match. Patriots coach Amy Dillon was impressed with her outside hitters in the match, going up without fear of being blocked by the Indians’ taller middles. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

Despite the loss, Amy Dillon was impressed with the mindset of Maggie Dillon and Laila Waddell, playing without fear of being blocked.

Both teams got strong performances from their middles. For Jay County, Bella Denton led the team with nine kills while Mya Kunkler added four. For the Indians, Paige Guggenbiller had nine kills while Kennedy Muhlenkamp had five kills and six digs and also tallied 16 assists as she flipped between playing as a middle and a setter in Fort Recovery’s 6-2 lineup.

Travis Guggenbiller was impressed with his team’s maturity, leadership and balance.

“I felt like we controlled the game the whole night tonight,” he said. “And I'm just proud that we never lost our poise. Even when we were down in two of those sets, we just stayed calm and fought through, and it's good to see that kind of stuff.”

Junior varsity

Fort Recovery took down the Patriots in the minimum two sets 25-24, 25-18.

Bridget Homan had six kills for the Indians with Sophia Guggenbiller adding four.

Kenna Dues, Trinity Rammel and Ivy Tobe all served up aces in the match.

Hallie Schwieterman finished with a team-high 4 kills for the Patriots. Also leading the team was Paisley Fugiett with 6 assists and Elizabeth Barnett with 10 digs.