“In the MAC, any team in our league can win any time we play,” New Knoxville coach Meg Lageman said. “We know it’s going to be a dogfight.”
The MAC has been a volleyball force in recent years with St. Henry, Marion Local and New Bremen winning a combined five D-IV state titles in the past decade and Versailles claiming three D-III titles since 2013. Half of this year’s final four D-IV teams hailed from the powerhouse conference.
“It shows how strong our league is,” St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck said.
South Webster coach Darcee Claxon knew what her first-time state qualifiers were up against as soon she saw the pairings.
“New Knoxville is from the MAC and that’s the powerhouse for D-III and D-IV teams, there’s no question about it,” Claxon said.
Neither final-bound teams took the semifinals lightly.
The Redskins came ready to play as an ace by St. Henry defensive specialist Rya Buschur extended their first-set lead to 13-6 and forced a timeout by Monroeville. The stoppage did little to halt the Redskins momentum as they rattled off the next five points, prompting a second Eagles timeout trailing 18-6. The balanced St. Henry attack, however, was difficult to contain as the Redskins took the first set 25-12.
Monroeville battled back in a seesaw second set that saw 11 lead changes and 17 tie scores, and it was all knotted at 1-1. But the Redskins went back to their game plan in the third set – it was all about being aggressive.
“We stayed aggressive at the service line, so we got them out of their system,” Rosenbeck said.
It was a winning strategy as the Redskins tallied 18 aces on the night.
“Their serve really picked us apart,” Monroeville coach Kendra Snook said.
The Eagles, however, were not done fighting as they denied five match points to even the fourth set at 24-24. Redskins outside hitter Brianna Siefring dashed the Eagles hopes with back-to-back kills for the win – 25-12, 24-26, 25-15, 26-24.
In the final match of the day, New Knoxville fought of a late surge by South Webster to advance to their first state title match since 2006.
While the Rangers started slow, they flipped a 6-10 deficit into a 10-10 tie sparked by a trio of kills by senior Carsyn Henschen. New Knoxville held onto the momentum, closing out the opening set 25-21.
The Rangers made quick work of the Jeeps in the second set, 25-11, and South Webster returned the favor, 25-14, in the third set. New Knoxville had a 2-1 lead but South Webster had the momentum. A late run by the Rangers in the fourth set boosted them to a 22-16 advantage and they never trailed again, taking the match 25-21, 25-11, 14-25, 25-20.
The conference rivals know it will be a battle when they take the court on Saturday.
“Our end goal is winning a state championship,” Siefring said. “But we know when we play another MAC team everyone goes all-out all the time.”
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