Redskins cruise past Cardinals

NEW BREMEN - St. Henry continued its march to the climactic season-ending showdown with Coldwater by posting a 25-16, 25-11, 25-19 straight set victory over New Bremen at Cardinal Gymnasium Thursday night.
  The win improves the Midwest Athletic Conference co-leading Redskins to 7-0 in the conference and 17-2 overall. New Bremen drops to 3-4 in the conference and 8-9 on the season.
  "It may have been our most solid performance of the season," said Redskins' coach Diana Kramer. "We were totally focused throughout the entire match. Players like Olivia (Stahl) and Kenisa (Post) have big nights like tonight because everyone is doing their jobs and doing them well. Setters, passers … everyone really played well tonight."
  The Redskins led 8-7 in the opening set when Stahl contributed two kills to a four-point run that included an ace from server Post. The resulting 12-7 lead represented a five-point margin that held through much of the set until another four-point burst capped by a Claudia Heitkamp ace made St. Henry's lead 22-14. New Bremen rallied for two points behind freshman Paige Jones but a kill by Stahl and a pair of Cardinal errors made the Redskins a 25-16 winner in the first set.

The young (one senior and over half the varsity consisting of freshman and sophomores) Cardinals' tendency to play hot and cold throughout a match manifested itself in the second set when the Redskins raced to a 13-3 lead assisted by the play at the net by Stahl and Savannah Wourms and a handful of New Bremen errors.
  The serves of the Redskins' Katie Gerlach expanded the margin to 22-8. The teams split the next six points, with the winner coming on a New Bremen serve into the net.
  "We saw a major valley in the second game," New Bremen coach Theresa Jenkins said. "We have to develop a sense of urgency. St. Henry is phenomenal. They hit hard and they hit to the right spots. We just don't have the sense of urgency we need to stay with a team like that."
  The Cardinals picked up their play in the third set, staying close until Heitkamp broke open a 17-13 game by serving five aces in a pan of six serves. A Cardinal error accounted for the match winner. Freshman Madison Broering, the Skins' setter, found several open spots in the Cardinals' defense, dropping potential sets over the net for points early in the set.
  "I think Madison is one of the best setters in the state," Kramer said. "Her volleyball IQ is just incredible. She'll give a lot of credit to our passes because they give her the opportunity to make sets like that. She's gaining confidence every time she goes on the court and she makes us that much better. We played well individually because we played well as a team. Our passers - Claudia, Kenisa, Katie (Gerlach) - they don't get the headlines, but they enable us to do what we do."
  Heitkamp's five aces at the close of the third set were half of her team-high 10 on the night. The freshman posted a triple double with 10 kills and 10 digs also. Stahl added 10 kills and eight digs. Broering added 26 assists and seven kills and Post paced the defense with 13 digs.
  "We served very well tonight,' Kramer said. "Claudia is also one of the best freshmen in the state at what she does. Tonight was just a complete match for us against a New Bremen team that is really very good."
  St. Henry meets another state-ranked team on Saturday, hosting Leipsic. The Redskins face defending state champ Versailles in a conference matchup on Tuesday before battling Coldwater in the regular season finale on Thursday.