Thursday, October 20th, 2022
MAC picks up pair of wins
Redskins, Panthers move on to Division III districts
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Molly Wendel (4), Ellie Fullenkamp (5) and Chloe Gels (1) team up to block the spike of Allen East's Bethany Smith during Wednesday's Division III sectional final at Parkway High School. The Redskins won in three sets.
ROCKFORD - The Midwest Athletic Conference assured itself of at least one team playing for a Division III district volleyball title next week in Kalida.
St. Henry and Parkway each cruised to three-set wins in sectional play on Wednesday at Panther Gymnasium in Rockford.
The Redskins were challenged by Allen East in the opening match before heading back home with a 25-13, 25-18, 25-18 win. In the nightcap, the host Panthers shrugged off Wayne Trace and left the home gym happy with a 25-10, 25-20, 25-13 win.
St. Henry (18-5) and Parkway (19-4) play the late match at the Kalida district on Monday around 7:30 p.m. The first match pits top-seeded Coldwater taking on Ottawa-Glandorf starting at 6 p.m. The district final will be next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
"I think you're going to have four solid teams that want to win and have a lot to prove," said Parkway coach Jordan Henkle. "(The teams) will play hard and see what happens."
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Rya Buschur bumps the ball back toward the net as Morgan Baumer looks on in the Division III sectional final against Allen East at Panther Gymnasium on Wednesday.
St. Henry 3, Allen East 0
The Redskins jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the first set, but the Mustangs (19-5) were up for the challenge, tying the game at 10-10 and 11-11 before Ellie Fullenkamp served up five straight points to give St. Henry a 16-11 lead. Allen East managed just two more points the rest of the set as Mia Niekamp served up three aces over the final five points to close out the first set.
Allen East challenged the Redskins early in set two, tying the game at 7-all before Rya Buschur put some distance between the teams with a couple of service points. St. Henry added a few points here and there and never looked back to make it a 2-0 match.
"We were able to continue to serve aggressively. That's our go-to thing," said St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck. "It paid off at the end to get them out of system."
The Mustangs continued to hold their ground, and Kenzie Koontz helped give Allen East a 5-1 lead out of the gate with three straight service points. Niekamp served the Redskins back within one at 8-7, but the Mustangs pushed the lead to 13-9 thanks to a Koontz block.
St. Henry refused to concede and used an ace by Niekamp to tie the set at 17-all, with Chloe Gels adding a kill to give the Redskins their first lead of the night before another Niekamp ace allowed for a two-point margin. Allen East got within one at 19-18, but Molly Wendel got a kill to make it 20-18, then Buschur served out the match as Fullenkamp had a kill and a block and Buschur served up two aces.
"(Allen East was) digging a lot of balls and fought back. They're a great team," said Rosenbeck. "We responded and found a way to pull off a victory."
Niekamp finished with 15 kills and five aces for St. Henry. Chloe Gels had 11 kills. Lydia Werling dished out 31 assists with Buschur recording 10 digs.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Gabrielle Stober (1) goes up for the spike against Wayne Trace in the Division III sectional final in Rockford.
Parkway 3, Wayne Trace 0
The Panthers had its serves going full throttle from the start. Macy Johnson opened the first set with three straight points thanks to kills from Gabrielle Stober and Emmery Temple. Emiree Knittle later served up an ace to start a five-point run that pushed the Parkway lead to 16-6.
Johnson later added two more aces and closed out the set with a kill.
"I thought we played pretty solid the entire match. From point one to the end, we were focused," said Henkle. "We just played hard every point."
The Raiders (18-6) got an early advantage to take a 6-3 lead. Parkway came back to tie the set at 7-all and then took the lead on a Johnson kill. The Panthers continued to pick up points here and there to build the lead. Wayne Trace worked to get within three at 20-17 and later at 22-23, bit Stober scored two kills down the stretch to close out the second set.
Parkway left no doubt in the third set as Johnson served up two aces as part of a 5-0 run. Parkway followed with getting at least one service point on its final seven rotations of the match. Temple closed out the set with five straight points, including an ace.
"There were a couple of times where (Wayne Trace) scored a couple (points in a row), but it wasn't many," said Henkle. "We settled in and were able to run a pretty quick offense with our middles. We had a ton of success with that. With the teams we play, running a quick offense is key."
Stober finished with 22 kills on the night. Johnson had 14 kills, 10 digs and three aces. Bruns added 27 assists and three aces.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Brittyn Bruns sets a pass against Wayne Trace in the Division III sectional final at Panther Gymnasium on Wednesday.
