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New Bremen's MariAna Muether goes up for a spike during Tuesday's Division VI district semifinal against Minster.
WAPAKONETA - The official result will read that New Bremen swept Minster in three sets in Tuesday's Division VI district volleyball semifinal.
But it was far from easy.
The Cardinals move on to Thursday's district final with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-21 victory over their next door neighbor at Wapakoneta High School. New Bremen (23-2) now takes on Colonel Crawford, which defeated South Central in three sets at Shelby.
"This was the first time in the tournament we felt pressure," said New Bremen coach Diana Kramer. "(Against Perry), we didn't feel that pressure (holding Perry to 15 total points in three sets). That's (a) credit to Minster. We still found a way to make plays and come out on top, even if we didn't play our best."
Minster (12-12) came out hot. Jordyn Stueve led off the first set with an ace and after a Cardinal hitting error, added another to put Minster in front 3-0. New Bremen clawed its way back, with an ace by MariAna Muether brining the first tie at 6-all. The teams then tie at 7-all before a kill by Julie Tangeman giving the Cardinals their first lead, which they would extend as Maria Kramer served up four straight points to make it 15-9, the Mary Rindler added three straight to make it 19-10. Minster managed just four more points before Ashtyn Eilerman got a block to close out the set.
New Bremen's Maria Kramer goes up to hit the ball during Tuesday's district match with Minster at Wapakoneta.
"We definitely had a communication breakdown in the first set," said Minster coach Chelsea McGhee.
"Even then, until point 10, we were tit-for-tat with them. It speaks volumes to the team we are and will be the next few years."
The Wildcats scored the opening point in set two, but the Cardinals created the first of six ties in the set. New Bremen got hot and took a 7-3 lead, prompting a Minster timeout. Minster came back, tying the set on a Alyse Lamm kill, then taking a 10-9 lead on an Ava Stueve ace.
Minster's Ava Stueve (4) and Sophia Dirksen keep their eye on the ball.
New Bremen quickly regained the lead on a combo block from Tangeman and Rindler, then later pulled away as Allie Bornhorst served up back-to-back aces as part of a four-point run that made it 18-12, Charlotte Nelson wrapped up the set with three straight points to put the Cardinals in front 2-0.
The Cardinals scored first in the third set and built up a 9-6 lead, but Minster rallied back to tie it at 10- and 11-all. New Bremen tried to pull away, going up 21-15, but Minster offered up one last charge to cut the margin to 22-21 before Rindler got a kill to give New Bremen the serve. Rindler's block put it at match point, then Nelson served up an ace to finish up the night.
"(Minster) kept the ball in play, which caused us to make some mistakes," said coach Kramer.
"Third set, we battled back way too late," said McGhee. "We hung with then real nice the whole (match) save for the first set."
Rindler led New Bremen with 13 kills with Muether adding nine kills. Maria Kremer had 10 digs, Eilerman tallied seven blocks and Nelson set up the attack with 17 assists.
