Celeste Borchers lee the Russia Raiders with eleven kills. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie Wright-Daniel)
In their first state tournament appearance, the Raiders couldn’t overcome serve-receive issues in a tight loss to Monroeville.
Vandalia, OH – Building a state championship program doesn’t happen overnight, but the Russia volleyball team took a big step toward that this season.
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.
And the Raiders, whose season ended with a 26-24, 25-23, 25-20 loss to Monroeville in a Division VII state semifinal Thursday at Vandalia Butler, don’t plan on turning back now that they’re this close.
Veteran central Ohio columnist Jarrod Ulrey writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros
“Our coaching staff has kind of talked about how in the past, we’ve had some good teams, but we’re at the point where we have a good program,” said Aaron Watkins, who is 178-91 in 10 seasons as Russia’s coach. “We (ended up) finishing 21-7 and going to state this year, our (junior varsity) team was 20-2, our freshman team was 10-3, both our junior high teams played for a league title this year with the seventh-graders winning it. What they’re doing is going to pay off in the future. The process we have in place is paying off, and I’m hoping this kind of brings us some more success and more hunger for those younger girls to want to get back here again.”
The Raiders at times against the Eagles looked like a program ready to make an appearance in the state final Saturday, which instead will pit Monroeville (25-2) against Tiffin Calvert (28-0) at Wright State.
Aryana Cordonnier hammers one over the net to score a point for the Raiders.
In the first game, Russia took a 24-20 lead on a kill by junior outside hitter Celeste Borchers. The Eagles forged back to within 24-23 on a serving ace by Addison Homan, and the Raiders committed three attack errors to close out the game which ended on a 6-0 run by Monroeville.
“I think we thought the last point was going to come easily, and it doesn’t,” senior right-side hitter Claudia Hoehne said. “You still have to fight until the last.”
In the second game, it was the Eagles who seemed to be marching to victory before Russia came charging back.
Monroeville scored four consecutive points to take a 24-20 lead before the Raiders cut it to 24-23, but a kill by Alexa Adams closed out the game for Monroeville.
Huffer Chiropractic can help your athlete perform at their best – with offices in Osgood, Jackson Center, and Dublin, Ohio.
Russia took a 14-6 lead in the third game on a serving ace by senior setter Izzi Chapman, but the Eagles’ biggest strength — serve-receive — shined during the matches remainder.
Monroeville recorded eight serving aces over the first two games and eight more in the final set, with three coming from Kaci Potts as her team built a 22-17 lead.
Kourtney Phlipot (0) and Violet Armstrong (6) sacrifice for a save for the Raiders.
“I said before the match that we had to win the serving, and serve-receive game, and that’s what we won,” Monroeville coach Kendra Snook said. “They won the blocking game. They blocked a lot of balls, but we won the serve and serve-receive game, and that’s where it starts. We were able to go on some big runs. They have the composure back at that line. This isn’t the first big match they’ve played in.”
Hazel Francis collects one of her eight kills for the Raiders.
The Eagles are in the state tournament for the sixth time in 17 seasons under Snook, with the most recent coming in 2022 when they were Division IV state runners-up.
Seniors Ady Adams, Alexa Adams, and Madi Reiber all were starters on the 2022 team as well as this season for Monroeville.
“We had a game plan, and we knew what we expected from Monroeville,” Watkins said. “It came down to pass and serve, and we missed more serves that we would have liked to, and we didn’t have maybe as strong of first contact as we would have liked to as well. But like I told the girls, we gave everything 100 percent of what we had until the end. A couple points here or there, and you’re winning that match 3-0.
“This was a big stage for these girls, and they responded in big moments and made big plays. I’m extremely proud of our program. Monroeville is here for a reason. As a program being here for the first time, as a coach being here for the first time, and for the girls, it’s a new experience — a big gym, with a lot of people in it. I definitely think with their program being here five or six times, and with Kendra being here five or six times definitely helps. No way is that an excuse, but it doesn’t hurt.”
Crale Builders proudly sponsors area sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.
Borchers with 11 kills, while junior middle hitter Hazel Francis had eight kills and sophomore outside hitter Aryana Cordonnier added seven kills.
“I’m really excited for the next coming years,” freshman middle hitter Ruby Francis said. “This is a really good opportunity that I’m really thankful for, and I can’t wait until future years so we can get to this place again.”
Celeste Borchers makes a dig in the Raiders state semi-final match with Monroeville.
In addition to Hoehne and Chapman, who were starters, Kourtney Phlipot rounded out a small but impactful senior class.
“The community definitely led us here,” Chapman said. “They were at every single game cheering as loud as they could, and that helped us a lot.”
According to Watkins, the last week being filled with community events supporting the volleyball program will provide long-term memories.
Minster Bank proudly sponsors the best area sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.com.
The Raiders are hoping those celebrations were the first of many more to come.
“From a community aspect, we had a great week,” Watkins said. “Every day this week, we had something the community’s been involved in. So shout out to them because they made this experience even more special.
“I told these girls that we’ve had a great season, and the wins have been great, but this has just been a really fun group on and off the court. Practices are always interesting, and we get a lot of laughs. We’re going to miss these three seniors. They’ve set a new mark to reach for every single year, and I think we’ve got a good core coming back next year that’s going to be hungry.”
Freshman Ruby Francis goes over the net to make a block for the Raiders.
Dorsten Contracting proudly supports Shelby County League sports on Press Pros.