Five-setter at Fort Site

FORT RECOVERY - In 2017, the top-ranked team in Division IV fell at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

It happened again in 2018.

The fourth-ranked Fort Recovery Indians became the first team from the MAC to defeat the top-ranked St. Henry Redskins - outlasting them for a five-set victory (25-14, 22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-11) Thursday in the noisy confines of Fort Site.

On Sept. 14, 2017, New Bremen was ranked No. 1 when it visited No. 6 Fort Recovery. The Cardinals left with their only loss of the year. On Thursday, the Redskins were handed their first MAC loss of the season.

"This is a rivalry game, and all the girls are best friends off the court," Fort Recovery coach Chelsea Kahlig said. "But I knew our seniors would come out and be ready to go."

There were seven ties and three lead changes in the early stages of the first set. The Indians broke an 8-all tie with a 17-6 run to finish the set. Cassidy Martin led the Fort Recovery offense with four kills and two aces, with Olivia Patch and Brooke Gaerke each contributing a couple of spikes in the 25-14 win.

No team had a lead bigger than four points in the next two sets. St. Henry led for most of the second set and broke away down the stretch. Carleigh Deitsch capped the 25-22 win with a quick dump off over the net for a point.

St. Henry held a 20-17 lead in the third set, but Fort followed with a 3-0 run to even the score. Then Martin took over in crunch time. Martin had three kills in that stretch, and Paige Fortkamp slammed down the set-ender in a 25-22 win.

St. Henry quickly built a seven-point margin in the next set and was threatening to pull away when Kierra Wendel made an unbelievable dig on hard spike, and the ball dropped in for a point on the Redskins' side. Martin followed with a pair of kills and Madison Rammel added another as the Indians closed within three at 18-15. But Olivia Winner, Addy Vaughn and Hannah Bruns had kills for the Redskins to help them keep enough distance for a 25-18 win.

St. Henry led 3-2 in the fifth set and then Fort went on a 6-0 run, with freshman Whitley Rammel leading the way with a couple of kills. The Skins closed the gap to 11-9 later after a pair of Ashley Siefring kills. The set never got closer, though. Madison Rammel had a quick-hit over the net for a point, Patch stuffed a St. Henry spike, Fortkamp added a kill and Wendel iced the win with an ace.

"I feel like they were the more aggressive team tonight," St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck said. "We did not play as aggressive as we needed to in any aspect of the game

"They're a great team," Rosenbeck added. "Defensively, they pick a lot of balls up. Offensively, they have a lot of threats. I thought their setter did a great job tonight of mixing it up, burning us on a lot of tips. Credit to them. I thought they played a great match tonight."

Stat leaders for the Indians included Martin (18 kills, five blocks, three aces), Fortkamp (14 kills, four blocks), Brooke Gaerke (eight kills, three blocks), Whitley Rammel (six kills, three blocks), Madison Rammel (five kills, 41 assists, 12 digs), Patch (five kills, six blocks), Hannah Knapke (28 digs, three aces), Wendel (11 digs) and Brooke Kahlig (eight digs).

"(Whitley Rammel) had a great game," Kahlig said. "We're kind of expecting different things from her. She has to play outside sometimes, and she's just so versatile. She did great things for us. I thought the seniors really stepped up for us. Cass had a great all-around game. Brooke (Gaerke) had some great blocks. Madison (Rammel) saved us with a few kills from the front row, and those were great momentum shifts.

"I'm just unbelievably wowed by our defensive effort," Kahlig added. "The offense always get the shine, but our defense worked our tails off."

Top statistical performers for the Redskins included Vaughn (13 kills, 21 assists), Danielle Lange (11 kills), Winner (10 kills), Ashlyn Gerlach (29 digs) and Deitsch (22 assists, 26 digs).

After Thursday's match, St. Henry, Fort Recovery and second-ranked New Bremen are tied atop the MAC standings with matching 6-1 records. Those three teams, along with third-ranked Marion Local, will all by competing against each other in the district tournament.

"We know we might have to play them again," coach Kahlig said. "We know we'll probably have to see a lot of MAC teams again. We know we can't relax the rest of the season. Our final stretch is going to be a tough one, but I think it's going to prepare us for the tournament."