Another trip to state for JC

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By Ken Barhorst

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TROY — Jackson Center was expected to get a serious challenge Saturday to its unbeaten record and its plans to return to the Division 4 State Volleyball Tournament.

In the regional championship Saturday, the Lady Tigers were facing a team, New Bremen, that had them down two sets to none during a regular season game, and was coming into the regional with a lengthy winning streak of its own, 19, since that loss to Jackson.

But the Lady Tigers, in the words of New Bremen coach Diane Kramer after the game, “showed why they are unbeaten and the No. 1-ranked team in the state.”

The Lady Tigers answered every challenge from the Lady Cardinals in sweeping three straight games, the scores being 25-22, 25-18, 25-16.

The verdict ended New Bremen’s season at 24-4, and advanced the now 28-0 Lady Tigers to the state tournament on Friday at noon against 25-3 Dalton at Wright State’s Nutter Center. A win there would put the defending state champs in the state championship against either McComb or New Philadelphia Tuscarawas Catholic at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The first game started with a well-placed dink by Jackson Center star Cassie Meyer, the two-time County Player of the Year. She would go on to place the ball like that several more times during the match, and it was by design.

“They’e expecting me to go up and hit it hard,” said Meyer.

New Bremen standout Paige Jones hit into the net and Alicia Kessler got a kill to put the Lady Tigers up 3-0. Two straight kills by Rachel Kremer made it 3-2 but Jackson had an answer, with a block and a Bremen mishit for a 5-2 lead. Bremen came back on another Kremer kill to make it 5-4, but Jackson reeled off four straight, two on a kill and a solo block by Meyer.

The Lady Tigers stretched the lead out to 16-9, forcing Bremen’s second timeout, and the scored reached 20-13 on a Bremen serving error. But the Lady Cardinals came back, much to the delight of their enormous fan following, and when Jones served an ace coming out of a JC timeout, Bremen was down just 22-21.

But Meyer got another kill, and Bremen was called for a double hit on a set to make it 24-21. And after a Jones kill, Kessler found an open spot to wrap up the first set.

New Bremen led 5-3 at one point in the second set, but the Lady Tigers wouldn’t let the lead get any bigger. Down 11-9, Jackson scored the next three and would not trail again. From a 14-13 score after a Jones kill, Jackson got kills from Meyer and Christen Ware, a kill from Kessler, and two hits that went long by Bremen to open up a 19-13 lead. The Lady Cardinals got no closer than five the rest of the way, and the set ended 25-18 on a Jackson ace.

Jackson gave up the first point of the third set, but that would be the only time the Lady Tigers would trail in that game. From a 2-2 score, they got an ace from Kessler, two kills from Meyer, and two mishits by Bremen to open up an 8-3 lead. They cruised from there to a 25-16 win and a berth in the state tournament.

“Jackson Center has a fabulous team,” said Bremen’s Kramer. “They pick up everything. And their volleyball IQ is very high. They never let us get anything going.”

Jackson coach Kim Metz said she thought it was going to be a battle.

“I was expecting a war,” she said. “I thought it would be back and forth. I was concerned when they came back in that first set. But the girls didn’t panic.”

Meyer finished with 15 kills for the Lady Tigers and also had nine digs. Camryn Hoehne had seven kills and 10 assists, Kessler six kills and two blocks, Ware five kills, seven digs and two blocks, Vanessa Winner 14 digs and Kamryn Elchert 17 assists.

Meyer said she felt good about the team’s chances heading into the game.

“Once we saw them against Fort Loramie (regional semifinals), we felt we could beat them,” she said. “And we were prepared. We had good people come in at practice and help us prepare. And I think us having won last year and having been in these types of games was an advantage. And all our starters are seniors.”

Seniors who have two more games to win.

New Bremen’s Jones, the state record-holder for single-season kills, finished with 23 kills, Kremer added seven and Julia Goettemoeller finished with six. Madison Pape had 32 assists, and Jones and Kremer led with seven digs each. Freshman Macy Puthoff served three aces.

Jackson Center’s Cassie Meyer goes for a kills as New Bremen’s Logan Wells blocks at the net in regional tournament action Saturday in Troy.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/11/web1_SDN110716JCvsBremVolly3.jpgJackson Center’s Cassie Meyer goes for a kills as New Bremen’s Logan Wells blocks at the net in regional tournament action Saturday in Troy. Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News

The Jackson Center volleyball teams celebrates in front of their fans after receiving the hardware for the Division 4 Regional Tournament Saturday at Troy. The Lady Tigers now advance to the state tournament this weekend.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/11/web1_SDN110716JCvsBremVolly2.jpgThe Jackson Center volleyball teams celebrates in front of their fans after receiving the hardware for the Division 4 Regional Tournament Saturday at Troy. The Lady Tigers now advance to the state tournament this weekend. Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lady Tigers beat New Bremen for D-4 regional crown

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Reach Ken Barhorst at 937-538-4818

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