Staff report
JACKSON CENTER — Jackson Center had to dig down deep to avoid suffering its first loss of the season Saturday after falling behind the New Bremen Lady Cardinals 2-0 in a non-league volleyball matchup between two of the top teams in the area.
But the Lady Tigers were able to come back, taking the last three to remain unbeaten on the year at 6-0 heading to Botkins on Tuesday.
New Bremen has lost two in a row since starting off the season 5-0 and will be at home against St. Marys Tuesday.
New Bremen won the first two games Saturday 29-27, 25-17. But the Lady Tigers took the next three 25-20, 25-17, 15-6.
“It was a great match,” said Jackson Center coach Kim Metz. “We knew we were going to be in for a battle, and New Bremen has a lot of good things going.
“We had opportunities in the first set but had three straight attack errors with a chance to close it out,” she continued. “But after getting down 2-0, it was like the girls flipped a switch and went back to the things they have relied on. And we picked up our defense considerably.”
That defense was tested by Michigan commit Paige Jones, who is still just a junior for New Bremen. After finishing with 48 kills Thursday against Versailles, she pounded out 44 Saturday against the Lady Tigers.
Jackson Center was led by Cassie Meyer, who had 12 kills and 14 digs.
Camryn Hoehne nearly had a triple-double, finishing with nine kills, 21 digs and 10 assists, and Kamryn Elchert had 19 assists, 19 digs and four ace serves.
Alicia Kessler was strong at the net, with nine kills and six blocks, and she also had four aces. And Vanessa Winner added nine digs.
Sophomore Rachel Kremer had seven kills for New Bremen, Jones had five ace serves, freshman Macy Puthoff had four blocks, Jones added 14 digs, and Blake Snider had 11 digs. Kremer finished with eight digs, and Madison Pape finished with 50 assists.
Lehman Invitational
SIDNEY — Eight teams gathered at Lehman High School Saturday for the annual volleyball invitational, including three local/area teams in the hosts, along with Anna and Lehman.
Anna finished third overall with two wins in three matches, the only loss coming to eventual tournament cfhampion Norwalk St. Paul.
Anna defeated Lima Catholic in its first match 2-0, the scores being 25-22, 25-23.
Krista Gehret had 11 kills and Emma Meyer seven, Lexi Wells had 26 assists, and Carly Becker and Rachel Shoemaker both had six digs.
Anna then lost to St. Paul 2-0, the scores being 25-12, 25-19.
Gehret and Kennedey Glover both had six kills, Wells 15 assists, Shoemaker 12 digs and Becker 11.
And in the third game, Anna won 2-1 over Adena, taking the first 25-23, losing the second 25-21, then winning the third 25-22.
Gehret and Meyer both had 10 kills and Glover nine, leading to Wells finishing with 33 assists. Shoemaker had 11 digs, Becker 9 and Wells eight.
Meyer had seven ace serves and Glover finished with four solo blocks.
The Lady Rockets are 3-4 on the season with Russia coming to town Tuesday in County play.
• Lehman lost three matches in the Invitational to drop to 2-6 on the season.
Lehman lost to Frankfort Adena 19-25, 25-13, 26-24. Sidney Chapman had nine kills, Alexis Snipes dished out 14 assists and Madison Hussey had 15 digs.
Lehman lost to Bellbrook 25-11, 25-21. Chapman had seven kills.
In its final match, Lehman lost to Lima Central Catholic 25-19, 25-23. Chapman had 16 kills, McFarland had 14 assists and Hussey 12 digs.
The Lady Cavs are at Urbana Tuesday.
• The Minster Lady Wildcats finished 1-2 in the tournament, but nearly prevented eventual champion St. Paul from reaching the finals.
Minster lost to St. Paul 2-1, losing the first game 25-18, winning the second 30-28 and losing the third 25-16.
The Lady Wildcats lost a close match to Bellbrook 25-23 and 31-29, and defeated Lima Catholic 25-18, 25-19.
On the day, Jordan Heitbrink had 32 kills, Rosie Westerbeck 15 and Paige Thobe 12.
Paige Purdy led the defense with 37 digs, Sara Ripploh added 28, Heitbrink 24, Westerbeck 16 and Hayley Baumer 14.
Heitbrink served eight aces in the three games and Thobe had six, and Baumer finished the day with 70 assists.
Minster is now 4-3 and hosts Delphos St. John’s on Thursday.
Loramie 3, Versailles 1
FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie notched a big win Saturday, beating Versailles 3-1 in non-league action at home.
The scores were 26-24, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22, and it upped Loramie’s record to 6-3, while leaving the Lady Tigers 4-3.
“We are starting to find our identity as a team and today we learned a lot about ourselves,” said Loramie coach John Rodgers. “I am very proud of the team through the first nine matches.”
Caleigh Barhorst had 18 kills and Sara Stang 12 for the Lady Redskins, and Hattie Meyer and Sophia Albers both had 15 assists.
Taylor Ernst had 2 digs and Barhorst added 11.
Loramie also won the junior varsity game.
Riverside 3, Fairlawn 1
DEGRAFF — Riverside raised its record on the year to 7-2 with a 3-1 victory over visiting Fairlawn in non-league volleyball action Saturday.
The scores were 25-15, 20-25, 25-19, 26-24.
The loss left the Lady Jets at 2-2 going into a home match Tuesday against Houston.
Audrey Francis had 51 digs and 18 kills for Fairlawn, Chelsie Brautigam had 23 assists, 13 digs and two aces, Jeanie Branscum had 21 digs and Ciera Driskell had 13 digs.
For the Lady Pirates, Marissa Davis was outstanding at the net, finishing with 30 kills.
Shelby Giles had seven kills and three aces, Helena Faulder had 25 assists, Alexis Snow had 19 assists, Lauren Anderson had 30 digs and Kristin Davidson added 24 digs.
Russia 3, Newton 0
PLEASANT HILL — Russia evened its record on the year at 3-3 with a 3-0 win over Newton in non-league volleyball action Friday night.
The Lady Raiders won 25-16, 25-12, 26-14, and are back in action Tuesday at Anna in County play.
The lady Raiders had a balanced attack, with Cameo Wilson getting 11 kills, Chris Gaerke nine and Morgan Wenrick seven.
Jenna Cordonnier had 27 assists and four blocks, Whitney Pleiman had 26 digs, katie Swartz had nine digs and six ace serves, and Wenrick also had seven digs.
The JV team also won, 2-0.
Junior high
The Riverside 7th grade defeated Botkins 25-20, 25-14 Saturday.
For Riverside, Grace Brownlee had six aces, and Alaina Heath, Hannah Asbury and Mia Stallard had three aces each.
The 8th grade beat Botkins 25-21, 25-8.
Sierra Snow had 10 aces for Riverside, and Lauryn Sanford four aces and three kills.
