SECTIONAL VOLLEYBALL

BASCOM - New Riegel is learning the hard way how tough it can be to beat a good team twice in the same season.

For the second year in a row, the state-ranked Blue Jackets swept Calvert when the teams met in the regular season. For the second year in a row, the Senecas turned the tables when the Division IV sectionals rolled around.

The upset itself might not have been surprising, as Calvert used last year's first-round win over NR to start an unexpected run to regionals. But Saturday's 15-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-19 win for the sectional title certainly had a neat divide.

First, No. 6 New Riegel (20-3) rolled through the first set. Then, after a decisive spurt by Calvert (18-5) in the second, the Blue Jackets played on their heels like the Senecas had in the teams' earlier meeting and in the first set.

"Apparently it's kind of our M.O. I don't know why it is in the regular season we play more hesitant against good teams, and in the tournament we have a whole new outlook," Calvert coach Pam Hart said. "It's about people making big plays and stepping up."

In the day's first final, second-ranked and host school Hopewell-Loudon (22-1) rolled to a straight-set win over Fremont St. Joe (13-11), each set ending at 25-17.

Calvert and H-L will play Wynford and Riverdale, respectively, in Tuesday's district semifinals at Findlay High.

New Riegel, meanwhile, ended the year with three straight losses.

Calvert didn't appear to be joining H-L for district play after falling in a 16-6 hole in the first set and never getting closer than 17-12.

The teams were tied at 10 in the second when Calvert got outside hitter Ali Mass rolling. The 5-foot-8 senior had seven kills in a 10-2 run which flipped the tenor of the match. Elizabeth Conn capped the run with a free-ball set to far corner.

Mass finished with 10 of her 26 kills in the set, and New Riegel never got closer than four (24-20). The Blue Jackets' passing and setting never found much rhythm the rest of the match.

"They outplayed us in second game, the third and fourth," NR coach Cindy Walerius said. "I thought Mass just took over in the second game; she had so many kills.

"We never got our middle hitter, Emma Ladd, on track. Our sets were so far off she couldn't hit the ball. Normally, I have girls running into each other trying to make a play. It seemed like everybody was afraid of making mistakes, so we made mistakes."

New Riegel ditched a 10-5 deficit in the third with a 6-0 spurt, and Amber Mathias' three kills helped turn a 19-16 Calvert lead into a 20-20 tie. But the Senecas' finishing push included an ace down the line from Jessi Schank and a free-ball set from Alexa Frank that became a kill when it tapped off Ladd's block attempt.

The Blue Jackets led 15-13 in the fourth when a trio of attack errors aided a 6-0 spurt by Calvert. Ladd slammed to last of her eight kills to pull her team within 21-18, but she followed with a jump serve into the net. Schank set up regular setter Frank for a kill, a rotation error brought match point, and Mass' kill off the block two points later finished things.

"In the last couple weeks, (Schank) has really been (making plays)," Hart said. "She's one of those kids who constantly asks 'what can I do?' I've talked to her about seeing about the open spaces on the court.

"When we got our offense going, it kind of kicked our defense into gear," she said, adding that her team made conscious effort to attack NR's back row without hitting directly to libero Shana Scherger.

Mathias had 13 kills and Paula Kelbley 10 for New Riegel, while Scherger tallied 31 digs and Kelbley 24. Ladd served four aces, and Ashley Reinhart managed 21 assists.

Katie Gruss backed Mass (15 digs) with 11 kills, and Conn chipped in nine. Frank finished with 48 assists, 17 digs and five kills. Chynna Headrick and Rachel Wickham racked up 25 and 23 digs, respectively.

In the first match, St. Joe showed some fight in the first two sets but ultimately never had an answer for Brittany Egbert and a Hopewell-Loudon offense that clicked with just occasional hiccups.

The Chieftains held an 18-15 advantage in the first when Egbert slammed a pair of her 12 kills in the set to kickstart a final push. The 6-foot All-Ohioan finished the set with an ace that clipped the net before falling.

Hopewell-Loudon coach Erin Dircksen said her team never intends to run its offense solely through Egbert, but her .495 attack percentage in the regular season indicates a player that consistently makes solid swings and finds defensive holes.

Egbert finished with an impressive 28 kills and served four aces, and outside hitter Brianna Richey added 10 kills.

"It just worked out that way," Dircksen said. "It's kind of like to get it to the one who's on, but normally Brittany's on.

"The nice thing is we have Brittany in the front on one rotation, and we have Bri up front in the other rotation."

A kill by H-L's Meghan Scherger broke a 15-all tie in the second, and Richey followed with five aces in six points as the Streaks couldn't handle the topspin from her jump serve.

"About halfway through the season, with Bri, either the light bulb went on or something clicked," Dircksen said. "Her aces went from one or two a game to five or six a game. It's great for us, because we don't have to do anything [after the serve]."

Egbert's kill and ace bookended a 7-0 spurt in the third which put the Chieftains ahead 9-5 and in control for good. Richey had six kills and Elizabeth Bentz four in final set.

Mary Ellen McAllister dished out 25 assists and Maggie Yost 15 for the Chieftains. Alexis Creeger recorded 20 digs, Richey 17 and Yost 13.

Freshman Kristen Sessler paced a young St. Joe team (three freshmen, two regular seniors) with 12 kills from the outside.

Dircksen said her team hasn't peaked yet, but that's certainly not a bad thing.

"We're getting there," she said. "I'd rather get there slowly, it gives us something to work for."