Avery Brandewie finds another hole in the Strasburg-Franklin defense for one of her 15 kills. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
The senior-led Redskins make quick work of Strasburg-Franklin, display their connected and fast style of play, and will face Tiffin Calvert on Friday for the Division VII championship.
Fairborn, OH – Jenna Barhorst set up the attack for Victoria Mescher.
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Whack.
But the ball came back over the net.
Another defensive stop, a pass to Barhorst, another set to Mescher.
Whack.
Again, the ball came back over the net.
Defense, pass, Barhorst set, and, finally, a kill for Mescher and a point for Fort Loramie.
The point was longer than most, and it wasn’t crucial in the middle of the second set. But it showed the volleyball fans at the Wright State Nutter Center on Thursday afternoon what Fort Loramie volleyball is all about.
Defend and pass to the setter. Then it all happens so quickly in a relentless symbiotic attack. Barhorst sets for Mescher or Avery Brandewie or Julian Gaier or Deanna Rodeheffer. And points, quickly and sometimes in bunches, follow.
Deanna Rodeheffer gets in on the defensive effort that helped spark the Redskins’ lopsided victory.
“They’re a threat from everywhere,” said Strasburg-Franklin senior Riley Thomas. “We haven’t seen anyone quite that lethal from all positions on the floor.”
Few have in Division VII. That’s why Fort Loramie defeated the Tigers 25-11, 25-14, 25-12 and will play unbeaten Tiffin Calvert (27-0) for the state championship at 11 a.m. Friday on the same court.
Loramie’s last state final appearance came in 2019. The Redskins won their only state title in 2014. Calvert is in the state tournament for the fourth time since 2018 and seeking its third state title.
“We saw them early in summer, and we knew – every article out there was like Fort Laramie and Tiffin Calvert in the state finals,” Brandewie said. “So we knew this from the get-go that we were going to have to face them.”
Rodgers, in his 18th year coaching the Redskins, is ready for a chance to win again 11 years later.
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“It’s what it should be in Division VII,” he said. “They know us well. There’s no surprises. We could just go get dinner and come back and let’s play it. We’re ready right now, and I know they are too.”
“Maybe a shower,” one of his players said.
Rodgers acknowledged that might be a good idea, but he went right back to the challenge.
Victoria Mescher and Jenna Hoying block a Strasburg-Franklin attack that was well defended all over the court.
“They’re cut from the same kind of mold that our girls are,” he said. “They just want to compete and get after it.”
Rodgers said both teams’ offensive aggressiveness will create the risk-reward type of play that volleyball has evolved into. He accepts some misses. But he’s not sure the best hitting team will prevail.
“Tomorrow’s game is won serve and pass,” he said. “Both teams have the offense to dominate, but I think serve and pass defense is going to be the difference maker.”
Strasburg-Franklin coach Kaylyn Archer saw exactly what Rodgers is talking about and understands why her team’s season ended at 20-6 and why the Redskins are now 27-1.
“They’re big,” she said, still reeling from the fact her team had lost in 56 minutes. “I don’t really think we’ve played anyone that big.”
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Long pause.
“They’re quick.”
Longer pause.
“That’s something that we haven’t been accustomed to. We’ve seen hard hitters, but we haven’t seen quick offenses like that.”
Mescher and Brandewie led the attack with 15 kills apiece, Gaier had nine and Rodeheffer six. Barhorst, who will play Division I volleyball at Xavier, is happy just to be in the middle of the speedy attack.
“It’s all about our passing and our defense,” she said. “Our back row has helped a lot with that, and no matter where they put it I’m going to try to feed our hitters.”
The Fort Loramie fans will be back at the Nutter Center for Friday’s 11 a.m. state final.
Which she does quite well. She assisted 45 of the Redskins’ 50 kills.
“Jenna is the most humble person you ever meet, and she’s the most hard working person you ever meet,” Mescher said. “We have a lot of trust in her, and she trusts us, too.”
Brandewie, sitting next to Mescher at the postgame interview table, wanted to have her say, too, about Barhorst.
“She’s a great leader – she’ll put you in your place, rightfully so,” Brandewie said. “Sometimes we need a good whoopin’.”
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As connected as the senior-dominated Redskins play, Barhorst is skilled enough to keep both sides of the net guessing when she jumps into her sets.
“I am in the back row juking myself out,” Brandewie said. “I don’t know where she’s going to put the ball.”
All the time?
“Every time,” Brandewie said.
At that comment, Barhorst, sitting on the other side of Mescher, made the kind of face that said definitely not every time.
Victoria Mescher helped lead Fort Loramie’s offensive attack with 15 kills.
“See, she’s humble,” you could hear it said among the laughs.
The Redskins’ fast-paced style is born out of aggressiveness. And just like they all can’t wait to touch the ball, they want to talk about why they play with such an edge.
“I think our grit,” Brandewie said. “We’re also determined that this is the point, and we can’t let up. That’s what I always say in the timeout. I say, ‘Don’t let up, because no team is just gonna let us walk over them.’”
Mescher: “The best competition is playing each other. So we go after it every day in practice.”
Barhorst: “It goes to our confidence that we have in each other, in the trust that we have. Everyone knows their role and focuses on that.”
The roles have been forming since second grade for this team with eight seniors and an all-senior starting lineup. They are best friends on and off the court, including the basketball court where Brandewie and Mescher led the Redskins to a state title in March. Rodgers remembers coaching them in as third graders.
But what really struck him Thursday was a summer memory when he considered what it means to be playing for a state title that would be his second as head coach.
“Surreal, maybe is the word I would use,” he said. “Just seems like yesterday we were standing at some of their summer tournaments in July and working on things.”
And then he recalled the appreciation he has for his team and why he mostly stands by the bench and watches them dominate.
Katie Luthman digs out a shot to help set up another of Fort Loramie attack.
“Every time we tried something, we came back to this rotation, and we ended up sticking in this rotation,” he said. “My gosh, in who knows how many years of coaching, this is the first time I have been in the same rotation the entire year and never even thought about making any changes. That’s a tribute to these girls.”
Then Mescher, as she does so often at the middle of the net, came in for the kill.
“It would mean everything, all of our hard work, hard work that we’ve had in the summer and in season, and just all of our years building up to this,” she said. “We lost in regionals every year, and we were very excited to make it to state this year. We’re ready to push for tomorrow’s game.”
And the Redskins know the game plan. Defend, pass, set, kill.
Whack.
The Redskins celebrate after the win. But nothing crazy. They are hoping for a bigger celebration in Friday’s state final.
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