Coldwater’s Spencer Etzler delivers one of her 13 kills in Thursday’s regional semi-final win over Centerburg. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
In straight sets the #1-ranked Coldwater Cavaliers slipped past 22-2 Centerburg to advance to Saturday’s final to play for a berth in the Final Four.
Englewood, OH – It took an hour. That’s all..60 minutes Thursday night, for one of the state’s other ‘best’ Division VI volleyball teams to come to grips with Coldwater, the state’s official best in Division VI.
That’s what characterizes the regional round of the tournament…best against best, and teams you’ve haven’t seen before – know little about.
And yet, 25-12…25-11…and 25-17.
Centerburg, a school out of central Ohio with a 22-2 record, winners of twelve in a row, and unbeaten (14-0) in conference play (Knox Morrow Athletic Conference), proved to be another stop on the Cavaliers’ march to Saturday’s regional final against the winner of Anna and Fort Recovery. And a stop, hopefully, to a coveted first-in-school-history title in volleyball.
Centerburg had some pedigree. 22-2 overall, their only two losses in twenty four previous matches came against central Ohio Division I schools, Olentangy High School, and Heath High School. Against teams (schools) their own size, they had dropped just three sets in nineteen previous matches.
But against Coldwater, the assumed and declared ultimate team in their own division, they were no match.
“It was good to play…good to win the first game of the regional tournament,” said Coldwater senior Spencer Etzler, whose multi-kill effort paved the way to another convincing Cavaliers win.
Morgan Blasingame blasts a point during the final set of the Cavaliers’ 3-0 win.
She came across as business-like, and that’s how it was. Another day at the office for Coldwater, who took control in the first set after a 6-4 start, then ran off an 11-2 burst to ultimately win the first set, 25-12.
Again, in the second set, the two teams parried to a 5-5 tie, before Coldwater exploded again on a 20-6 run to win, 25-11.
Closer in the third and final set, it was still, obviously, all Coldwater, whose power hitting was simply more than a contesting and skilled Centerburg squad could withstand. Etzler and teammate Morgan Blasingame both finished with multi-point efforts that eventually wore down the Spartans’ resistance. After a week off, they showed no ill effects.
“We had a good scrimmage with Fort Loramie, and that was good to play against that kind of talent in the week we were off, and then to come here and be prepared [for Centerburg], because I think they had lost three games,” said Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler.
“It was good to play in an unfamiliar regional setting, and it was good to win the first game in the regional semi-final. We’ve never played here before, we had some young pups who had been in a game like this, so that was exciting.”
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The regional round of a state tournament is unique for the fact of playing teams that are unfamiliar, and out of your zone. Some coaches characterize it as fear of the unknown.
But Coldwater showed none of that, and in fact…proved once again that, indeed, the state’s best volleyball in Divisions VI and VII literally lives in west-central Ohio between the Midwest Athletic Conference and the Shelby County League.
Coldwater’s precise and aggressive hitting proved a problem for Centerburg’s defense.
“We watched a lot of film on them, and their style was different from what we see in our conference,” added Etzler.
But it didn’t seem to matter.
Coldwater, like other teams out of the MAC, was more aggressive with the serve and hitting, an obvious contrast to styles and previously matchups for Centerburg. During the Cavaliers’ 20-6 run in the second set, they were simply overwhelming.
“It’s different to look at matchups,” said Etzler. “But I know that we’re always prepared coming from the MAC where we play great teams day in and day out. So that’s always in our repertoire when we have to play teams that we don’t know.”
They do know Anna and Fort Recovery, who met in the night’s second semi-final game, and during the regular season Coldwater beat Recovery on September 19 win straight sets.
They did not play Anna, a member of the Shelby County League, who finished 16-7, overall, and 8-4 in conference play.
“We’ve got some things to go back to the gym and work on,” Etzler added. “But the big thing is it’s good to come here and win…regardless of how you win.”
Note: In the evening’s second Division VI semi-final Anna, from the Shelby County League, defeated Fort Recovery, 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, and 25-22. The Rockets will now play Coldwater Saturday at 2 pm for a berth in next weekend’s State Final Four at the Nutter Center in Fairborn.
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