Staff report
VAN WERT — New Knoxville, ranked No. 17 in the final Division 4 state volleyball rankings, advanced to the Tipp City Regional next week by beating backyard rival and No. 1 seed New Bremen in four games Thursday night at Van Wert in the district championship game.
The Lady Rangers, now 16-9 on the season, will play in the regional tournament at Tipp City High School on Thursday at 6 p.m., most likely against once-beaten and No. 2-ranked Jackson Center. Jackson, 24-1, plays Cincinnati Christian today at 4:30 in the district finals at Troy.
The Lady Rangers, the tourney’s No. 3 seed, defeated Bremen 25-21, 25-14, 19-25, 25-21 to capture the district crown Thursday. Bremen ends its season at 17-9.
Rachel Leffel had 11 kills, 16 digs and two aces, and Kenzie Schroer had 33 assists, 11 digs and five kills for the Lady Rangers.
Madison Lammers had nine kills and 18 digs and Shayna Bierlein also pounded down nine kills.
Abby Lageman had 13 digs and three aces, and Serena Hostetter had 11 digs.
For the Lady Cardinals, Devon Heitkamp had a big game, with 16 kills and 15 digs. Teammate Paige Jones had 14 kills and 16 digs and Kaitlyn Ahrns had 10 kills and seven digs.
Madison Roe led in assists with 22 and Kaitlyn Schwieterman added.
Alyse Clune was the dig leader with 20 and Ali Howell finished with 17.
Today
Meanwhile, the D-3 and D-4 district championship games will take place today and the county is well-represented, with five teams playing for the right to advance on the regional action.
In the D-3 district finals at Tipp City, The Anna Lady Rockets will take on Cincinnati Roger Bacon. And in one of the other two district title games, Versailles takes on Reading out of Cincinnati.
The winners advance to the regional at Kettering starting Wednesday.
In the D-4 district finals at Troy, the first game pits Fort Loramie against Fairlawn at 3 p.m., followed by the No. 2-ranked Jackson Center Lady Tigers playing Cincinnati Christian. In the nightcap, Lehman meets Miami Valley Christian.
The winners advance to the regional at Tipp City starting Thursday.
Tournament pairings
Division 4
Today at Troy
District finals
3 p.m. — Fort Loramie (15-8) vs. Fairlawn (17-6)
4:30 — Cincinnati Christian vs. Jackson Center (24-1)
6 p.m. — Lehman (17-6) vs. Miami Valley Christian (16-6)
Regional semifinals
Thursday at Tipp City
6:00 — New Knoxville vs. Jackson Center-Cincinnati Christian winner
7:30 — Fort Loramie-Fairlawn winner vs. Lehman-Miami Valley winner
Championship — Saturday, Nov. 7, 2 p.m. Winner to state semifinals
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Division 3
Today at Tipp City
11 a.m. — Versailles (14-11) vs. Cincinnati Reading (18-7)
12:30 — Miami East (21-4) vs. Hamilton Badin (12-13)
2:00 — Anna (20-5) vs. Roger Bacon (13-10)
Regional semifinals
Wednesday at Fairmont
6:00 — Versailles-Reading winner vs. Utica-Newark Catholic winner
7:30 — Anna-Roger Bacon winner vs. Miami East-Hamilton Badin winner
Championship — Saturday, Nov. 7, 2 p.m. Winner to state semifinals
