New Bremen’s MariAna Muether snaps a kill across the net during the second set of the Cardinals’ Tuesday win over Coldwater. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Taking another step towards the Diana Kramer standard for New Bremen volleyball, her youthful Cardinals bested Coldwater in four sets Tuesday to inch closer to another MAC crown.
New Bremen, OH – There’s a lot of ways to write about a volleyball match. given its nature for perpetual action, scoring, and emotional swings.
You can write it statistically, but a little bit of digs and kills and aces and blocks and assists goes a long ways.
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You can write it play by play, if your goal is to cure insomnia, or create something that looks like a QR code.
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Or, in the case of high school volleyball you can write about the reality of learning, perfecting, and the deeper dive into competitiveness that comes with time and experience.
And Tuesday night, following her 19th win of the season, Diana Kramer chose not to talk about statistics and who did what…but rather, the journey from August to October and just how far her youthful New Bremen volleyball program had come. It’s a program that has four freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors, and just two seniors. And yes, Kramer couldn’t wait to send a dig out to those who back in August reckoned that New Bremen would spend a year building character, instead of another contender for a fifth state title since 2017.
“There were people last summer that said we were too young, too small, and too inexperienced,” she said moments after the afore-mentioned handed 16-5 Coldwater its second MAC loss of the season, 26-24, 25-19, 15-25, and 25-21.
Battle at the net…between New Bremen’s Ashtyn Eilerman and Coldwater’s Harlow Heyne.
“They said we couldn’t win. We’re not going to be good. We’re rebuilding. And now this team is in the driver’s seat to win the MAC title and put another number up on the board. I could not be more proud of this team, and how well it plays for as young as we are.”
And a packed gym showed up Tuesday for the evidence of that journey, just how far, how good, and how competitive against another conference blue-blood in defending Division VI state champion Coldwater, coming off a Monday loss in four sets in Tipp City. Kramer likes volleyball atmosphere and hyperbole in equal measure, and she fueled the pre-match fire Tuesday by leading her second grade class in singing the National Anthem…another example of what youth can do when committed.
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And clearly, this was not the same Coldwater from Monday night that dropped the first two sets to Tipp by scores of 25-8 and 25-9. Nikki Etzler’s equally young team came out with some fire and brimstone and battled back and forth in the first set.
Coldwater took advantage of his hustle and defense to come storming back in the third set.
But Bremen took advantage of some aggressive serving to go on a 4-1 run at 15-15, opening up the first lead of more than two points in the set. Coldwater had other plans, though, went on a run of its own to tie at 24-24, only to have New Bremen score the final two points to win the set, 26-24.
To her point about lack of size, this New Bremen team cannot stand at the net and hammer it out with teams that have size. Their solution is to serve aggressively, take advantage of first contact, and attack…attack…attack. They brought relentless pressure on Coldwater in the second set, and seemed to have the serve for two-thirds of the game. Their passing was predictable, and their defense was dependable, the very definition of the volleyball terminology of playing ‘in system’. They rode that aggressiveness to another 25-19 win.
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But Coldwater would rebound in the third set, using its defense and blocking to turn the tide of ‘system’ on New Bremen. They got enough offense to keep the Cardinals occupied, and at one point owned an 18-10 advantage. Timeouts were no solution for Kramer and the Cardinals, and Coldwater would cruise to a convincing 25-15 win.
New Bremen’s Maria Kramer sells out in her block attempt during Tuesday’s fourth set.
Etzler is one of the state’s premier coaches, a student of the game, and believes with all her heart that the sport brings out the best competitive qualities of her athletes. What she did in the third set, and she knew it, was arouse those same qualities in New Bremen. The fourth set was like a heavyweight fight, and again from a 15-15 tie the lead changed hands three times, and was tied twice before New Bremen ultimately hung on at 21-20, 22-20, 22-21, 23-21 and finally scored the final two points on blocked deflections to take the set, and match, 25-21.
On a night when the other MAC title contenders, Coldwater and St. Henry, both suffered their second loss, and just days after New Bremen received a #1 seed in the post-season tournament, Kramer and the Cardinals again find themselves in the conversation about title projection, and how far can they go. With only one match left on their schedule, they need beat only New Knoxville this week to claim the outright conference championship.
Diana Kramer’s mother (left) and grandmother enjoy (we think) watching Tuesday’s match.
And with a favorable draw that includes Lima Perry, Allen East and Minster in their bracket, Kramer was more than reminding Tuesday that her ‘rebuild’ has proven capable of competing with anyone.
“We’re pleased, but never satisfied,” she began. “I mean, our side of the bracket going north has Coldwater, Parkway, Tinora, Patrick Henry, us, and Minster, and Minster can surprise anyone on a given night. It has Marion Local. But the best part is we’re competitive, 100%. If we come to play we’ve got a chance every night we step foot on the court.”
She concluded her night by checking one more box before celebrating her win with her mother and grandmother…her grandmother who had not seen her team play for twenty years. But she was there on Tuesday.
“Again, I could not be prouder of this team. People counted us out,” she said with a mischievous grin.
One gets the idea…she wouldn’t have it any other way.
When you start ’em young…New Bremen second graders perform the National Anthem prior to Tuesday’s match.
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