Staff report
TIPP CITY — After losing 3-0 to Lehman during the regular season, the Fort Loramie Lady Redskins got a little payback Thursday night in the semifinals of the Division 4 Regional Volleyball Tournament, defeating the Lady Cavs 3-0 to keep their hopes for a second straight state championship alive.
Loramie, 19-8, will take on County rival Jackson Center today at 2 p.m. for a state tournament berth next week. The two split their two matches during the season, Jackson Center’s only loss so far.
The entire match Thursday swung at the end of the second set and Lehman never really recovered in ending its season at 19-8.
After losing the first set 25-22, Lehman jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set, with three kills by Sidney Chapman and block by Allie Hall. After The Lady Redskins closed within 8-7, Chapman served four straight points. That included an ace, a spike by Hall and a kill by Maddy McFarland.
A kill by Hissong made it 15-10 and Lehman had a 21-18 lead after another kill by Hissong.
Lehman’s first deficit was at 25-24, but Chapman had a kill to even things. Then came the critical point.
After a series of volleys, Fort Loramie’s Brooke Ruhenkamp lobbed it perfect over the Lehman defense and Lehman hit the ball wide on the next point to give the Lady Redskins a two-set lead.
“We had the lead the whole game until the very end,” Snipes said. “We had chances to win the first set as well. We lost a lot of momentum there (at the end of the second set).”
The momentum carried over to the third set as Lehman made numerous unforced errors in serve receive as Loramie jumped out to an 11-3 lead.
The Lady Cavaliers got as close as 21-15 before Loramie put the match away.
“It was a great atmosphere,” said Loramie coach John Rodgers. “The energy was high and the girls fed off it. We didn’t play great, but we advanced and that’s all that matters this time of year. We will get it straightened out and be ready for Saturday.”
Sara Stang came up big for the Lady Redskins, leading them with 14 kills. Caleigh Barhorst had 11 and Maddie Brandewie set them up with 28 assists.
Taylor Ernst finished with 20 digs.
“We had a lot of chances in the first two sets to win,” Snipes said. “We just made too many mistakes.”
Chapman led the Lehman hitters with 12 kills and Hissong added four. Smith dished out 30 assists and Madison Hussey led the defense with 17 digs and Sehlhorst added 15.
