FAIRBORN — After losing in a district final last year, New Bremen will play in a state final for the fifth time in six years on Saturday.
The Cardinals beat Convoy Crestview 25-8, 25-20, 23-25, 25-10 in a Division IV state semifinal on Thursday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center. New Bremen, which was the top-ranked team in D-IV in the final state coaches association poll of the season, will face Monroeville at noon on Saturday in Fairborn in a state final.
New Bremen looked like the top-ranked team on Thursday. The Cardinals built a 7-2 lead in the first set and scored the last 12 points of the set to set the tone early.
Crestview played closer in the second set and used a 9-3 run in the third game to force a fourth, but it couldn’t keep up late.
“I’m just really proud of these girls,” New Bremen coach Diana Kramer said. “… Our community came out in full force today. …It’s humbling. You dream about this, and for the dream to become a reality, it’s an unbelievable feeling.
“I’m just so happy that these girls get to experience that. All the little girls in the stands get to dream of this someday too.”
Junior outside hitter Olivia Heitkamp, who was a first team all-Ohio selection in D-IV, led the squad with 22 kills.
“We always bring a big crowd in everything,” Heitkamp said. “… I was a little manager when this happened for the first time. It’s crazy, but it’s so much fun.”
Monroeville (24-4) beat Newark Catholic 25-22, 25-21, 25-16 in Thursday’s first semifinal to advance to Saturday’s final.
“I think we’re so mentally strong, I feel like we could play 100 more games,” Heitkamp said. “I think we’re going to put it all out there on Saturday.”
New Bremen, which won the D-IV title in 2017 and 2019 and finished as runner-up in 2018 and 2020, beat Monroeville 3-2 in semifinals in 2018 and 2019.
It’s the first state title game appearance by the Eagles, which have advanced to the state tournament five times. The squad was ranked No. 14 in D-IV in the final state coaches association poll.
“Monroeville’s been here, and they’re hungry,” Kramer said. “It’s going to be a great match.”
After dominating in the first set, the Cardinals built a 12-4 lead in the second before Crestview battled back and pulled within 17-16.
The Cardinals pulled away to win 25-20, but the Eagles battled to take the lead in the third. Crestview went on a 5-2 run to take an 18-16 lead, then scored the last two points to win 25-23 and force a fourth game.
“We looked at each other in the eyes after that and said, ‘It’s okay, we’re going to find a way,’” Kramer said.
New Bremen scored eight straight points to take a 10-2 lead in the fourth and pulled away from there.
“We’ve always been kind of an up-and-down team, plus the game of volleyball is so full of momentum swings,” Crestview coach Tammy Gregory said. “That was a crucial time, crucial time. When they were getting us down, they fed off that. They feed off that fire. They fed off their fans and each other.
“It was like, we were always on the opposite end always trying to work harder for that point, always trying to fight back.”
Mary Rindler, Megan Reinhart and Melina Schrader each had seven kills for New Bremen while Rianna Paul had five. Schrader had 36 assists. The squad had 51 total kills and 16 aces, seven of which were by Keira Steininger.
“If we all bring energy, we’re unstoppable,” Steininger said.
The Eagles, which lost to New Bremen 25-18, 25-20, 25-16 in a nonconference match on Aug. 25, finish 20-8 overall.
“Going up against a team like New Bremen, they have so much experience here, and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Gregory said. “Just a lot of unforced errors and things we could have controlled better, but I have to give it to them. They have a lot of weapons, offensively, defensively and an amazing setter. They had a lot we couldn’t handle today.”
