Bulldogs, LadyCats earn volleyball regionals

By Dave Boninsegna, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Tuesday, November 3, 2009 (4 months, 1 week ago)
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KALIDA — The Columbus Grove Lady Bulldogs punched their ticket to Elida by capturing the Division IV Kalida District volleyball title with a 3-1 victory over the Van Buren Lady Knights Saturday at Kalida.
The Bulldogs secured the 4-setter with scores of 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, taking set 4 with a lopsided 25-10 count.
Grove was led by its usual cast of leadership in seniors Mackenzie Vorst (19 kills, 2 blocks), Jena Diller (29 digs), Kelsey McClure (2 aces), Paige Gerdeman (47 assists) and Casey Osterhage (2 blocks) but got some added assistance by sophomore Anna Ricker, who put on a stellar performance at the net.
The crimson and grey included a touch of underclassmen to the fray late in the contest as junior Rachael Stechschulte and sophomore Nicole Langhals came on to help finish off the victory.
Columbus Grove took a bit of time getting into the groove in the first contest, giving away the first two points to the Black Knights before settling into a wave of their own; after tying the game at 4-4, the ’Dogs went on an 8-0 spurt and built up a 12-5 advantage. Vorst delivered a trifecta of kills in a stretch that led to a 20-14 lead, including a 6-0 run. The set was finished off by a pair of Ricker shots to the Van Buren side of the court, sealing the 25-16 win and a 1-0 advantage.
The “home team” on the scoreboard looked as if they were going to ease their way to a 2-0 lead in sets but volleyball is all about momentum and the orange and black of Van Buren found some of that impetus late in the second edition.
Van Buren scored the first three points of the set but quickly found out at the Bulldogs weren’t about to surrender easily. Grove tied it at 6-6 and the teams would exchange points for the next few serves as neither could get a stronghold on the contest. Grove got its first lead at 9-8; after a Vorst bullet to the Black Knights’ side of the court, the Lady ’Dogs had a 12-10 lead and took that momentum to an 18-12 advantage and appeared to be on their way to a commanding 2-0 lead.
However, someone forgot to tell Van Buren that the game was nearly out of reach because the Knights came charging back and stormed the gates. Kaitlyn Endicott started a rally for the orange and black that eventually would take the “guests” on a 10-0 spurt. Van Buren went from down 20-15 to up 22-21 and would finish off the set when Rachel Adolph sent the ball to the middle of the Grove side of the court untouched. That completed the rally and tied the match at a set each.
The third installment of the afternoon’s festivities didn’t start out all too well for those rooting for the young ladies in the crimson and grey. Van Buren matched the Bulldogs serve-for-serve early on before Grove was able to gain a swing. This set was tied at 5-5, then at 7-7 and 9-9, with the two teams battling it out even for even most of the contest. Ricker grabbed the lead back for the Bulldogs on five occasions in the set and at 19-17, tapped the ball across to put the Bulldogs up 20-17.
Vorst put the “hosts” in position from there and seemingly put it out of reach when another rocket shot was not returned and the Bulldogs were up 22-20. However, the Knights weren’t quitting just yet; they battled back to tie it for the sixth time at 22-22 on an Ericka Stacy kill but Grove would take the next two points. After the Lady Black Knights made it 24-23, Diller finished things off with another kill and sealed the 25-23 triumph, putting Grove one set away from the regional semifinals.
In that fourth set, the Knights were determined to stay alive. Early on, they had things going their way. Endicott made it 4-1 on a cross-court kill. Jessica Borsani gave her team a 5-2 lead on a kill to the center court but up stepped Ricker again.
The sophomore made three consecutive points for the Lady Bulldogs, tying the game at 6-6. Junior Stephanie Etzkorn followed up with a touch from the left side of the net, giving Grove the lead for good at 7-6. That preceded a stretch that saw the Bulldogs score five consecutive points and put the set out of reach as they tallied 13 of the 14 points later on. Ricker and Vorst teamed up for a good portion of the tallies, with Osterhauge, Gerdeman and junior Emily Karhoff all lending a hand.
Van Buren broke the scoreless streak at 13-0 but Grove finished off five of the last six scores with Diller ending the match and punching the Bulldogs ticket to Elida.
They will face the Antwerp Lady Archers on Thursday in the second matchup, approximately set for 7:30 p.m.
In the opening contest Thursday evening, the Kalida Lady Wildcats will take on Hopewell-Loudon.
Kalida defeated Cory-Rawson in the Division IV Lima Senior District finals 3-1 Saturday afternoon.
Scores were 25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17.
Kalida improves to 17-6 on the season.
Leading the LadyCats were seniors Julia Fuerst’s 13 kills and 4 aces. Classmates Trisha Horstman added 13 kills and two aces and Amy Hamburg seven kills and three aces.
Junior Emily Turnwald had six kills, 22 assists and three aces, along with sophomores Haley McIntyre (4 kills) and Halie Zenz (17 assists and 4 aces).