Road to the final

The Indians set three goals for themselves coming into the season:

•Finish top four in the Midwest Athletic Conference

•Win 75% of their matches

•Make it back to the regional for the first time since 2020

The Tribe spikers came up short on the first two goals. They accomplished their third on Saturday.

Now, they have a chance to reach a point in the postseason that the Indians haven’t seen in over three decades.

Fort Recovery High School’s volleyball team will square off with the Anna Rockets in the OHSAA Division VI Regional 24 semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Northmont for a chance to make its first regional final match since 1991.

This will be Fort Recovery’s fourth trip to the regional and second under coach Travis Guggenbiller. It first made the regional in 1990, when it went on to win state. Since then, the Indians returned in 1991 and 2020. The Indians made the final in the former before losing to West Unity Hilltop and lost in the semifinal in the latter appearance to Calvert.

To make it back to the regional championship, the Indians will have to go through Anna, which finished second in the Shelby County Athletic League. A win on Thursday would earn them a spot in Saturday’s championship against the winner of No. 1 Coldwater and Centerburg.

“We know we’re going to face a team that’s a solid defensive team that likes to run a quicker offense,” said Guggenbiller. “So, today we just discussed the game plan of how to defend a quicker offense and how do we attack that as well. …

“I told the girls, ‘What’s great to see is we have this regional week of practice and we’re getting better yet. And that’s beautiful to see growth this late in the season.”

Prior to the playoffs, the Indians (13-13) dropped seven of its final eight regular-season matches. During that stretch, FRHS only won five of 24 sets and gave up an average of 24.4 points per set.

Since opening the sectional on Oct. 16, FRHS has swept all four of its opponents, including an Arcanum team that beat it in five sets in the first month of the year. (The other victories came against Yellow Springs, Twin Valley South and Miami Valley Christian Academy.) During the 12 sets the Indians have won, the Indians' defense has taken a jump, only giving up an average of 13.2 points per set.

“I think we’ve gone in the tournament with a tougher mindset to really just not let any ball touch the ground,” said senior setter Kayla Heitkamp.

“A lot of it has to do with our energy,” added outside hitter Cameron Muhlenkamp. “The atmosphere of each gym we’ve played in has been amazing, so it makes it easier to make those scrappy plays.”

While the Indians and Rockets (16-7) never met during the regular season, the two have seen each other in a preseason scrimmage. While Fort Recovery’s track record against AHS isn’t the strongest – FRHS is 0-5 against Anna dating back to the 2008 season – the Indians are coming into the match with confidence in the momentum they’ve built.