Youth is served…Surprising freshman Kylie Bollenbacher slams one of her 16 kills during action in the Division VI semi-final win Thursday against Independence. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Not as sharp as they were in the regional final, but sharp enough…St. Henry gained momentum throughout to defeat Independence in the second Division VI semi-final at the Nutter Center…moves on to Saturday’s Div. VI final with Newark Catholic.
Fairborn, OH – St. Henry volleyball coach Tricia Rosenbeck admits to being a case of nerves on game days.
And, after the fact on Thursday she admitted that her Redskins weren’t as sharp as they had been at times during the season. But youth is served, they say. And sometimes the young ones can do wonders for one’s nerves.
In this case, Rosenbeck’s volleyball team put her nerves to rest Thursday evening with an impressive performance – not their best, Rosenbeck would later say – but good enough to beat a talented and stubborn Independence team (20-6) in four sets – 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, and 25-18 – and advance to Saturday’s championship round against Newark Catholic.
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“It was a grind for us,” said Rosenbeck. “I don’t think we played our best, or cleanest match of the season, but the girls were able to stick with it mentally. A lot of different people stepped up for us, and Kylie (Bollenbacher) had one heckuva’ match, being a freshman playing at state for the first time.
“But yeah, it’s a mental game and these girls found a way to pull it back together and pull this one out.”
Like New Bremen faced with Newark Catholic a couple of hours earlier, Independence proved to be a bit of a matchup problem with the person of senior hitter Haley Wilson, a 6′-plus dynamo who finished with 17 kills for the match and proved to have unerring accuracy with her laser-like shots over the net and at the feet of St. Henry defenders.
And after St. Henry had ridden Bollenbacher and Karless Buschur to an impressive opening-set win, Wilson warmed to the task of catching up in the second set.
But trailing 14-12, St. Henry went on a mini-spurt of its own to take a 17-15 lead, forcing a timeout by Independence. Wilson came out of that timeout, and with some help from her friends, promptly went on a 10-6 run to even the match by winning the set, 25-23.
St. Henry’s Karlee Buschur and Molly Wendel close down on Independence hitter Glada Spisak in Thursday semi-final match at the Nutter Center.
But credit to St. Henry. Bollenbacher, Buschur, Molly Wendel and Mylee Kramer came right back in the third set to quickly run out to a 14-8 lead…only to have Independence go on another run of their own and tie it at 22-22.
“We had to find a way to become more aggressive after the second set,” said Rosenbeck. “And that’s what the girls did.”
They tipped less and swung more, found some holes, and when Independence missed a serve and hammered a kill attempt out of bounds St. Henry quickly put a couple of balls on the court to claim the final three points and a 25-22 win.
Up 2-1 in sets won, they came out in the fourth set to play their best of the day. Molley Wendel suddenly picked up her pace and that seemed to inspire the rest. The serves were aggressive and accurate…serve/receive was confident and efficient…defense suddenly had new energy, extending rallies to earn points…and unaffected by the moment and the spotlight of playing for a championship, Kylie Bollenbacher continued her big-as-the-moment play.
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They pushed out to a 15-8 lead…then 20-12.
Independence would summon one last run at them with a 5-1 spurt to close the deficit to 21-17. But Wendel came back with a couple big kills, rattling off the Independence block at the net and richocheting out of the court. Leading now 24-18, Independence’s last gasp went wide of the court and St. Henry was a Division VI finalist…25-18.
Karlee Buschur had 15 kills in Thursday’s state semi-final win over Independence.
“Their (St. Henry’s) athleticism was a difference,” said Independence coach Anthony Messina, coaching the Blue Devils in their seventh state semi-final appearance. “They really played good defense.”
And throughout the regular season Rosenbeck more than once credited the Redskins’ overall athletic ability as a difference-maker in close matches.
“Our defense…our block…worked really hard today,” added senior Morgan Baumer. “Our energy, overall, transfers to our defense and when we can do that we’re responding rather than reacting, and that mental toughness pushed us through.”
But everyone smiled at the contribution of Bollenbacher, the unexpected difference throughout the day – hard to scout and prepare for – because freshmen aren’t supposed to be in that role.
“Kylie’s one heckuva’ athlete,” smiled Rosenbeck. “We all know she has that, but it was just great to see her go out and be aggressive the way she did.
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“And the sets weren’t always there. She had to find a way to work her feet, and get there, and put balls down when she didn’t have a perfect set. And for a freshman to do that…yeah, I’m really proud of how she stepped up for us today. She found a way to make things work when maybe it wasn’t going the best for other people.”
Fans have nerves, too…Redskins fan Denise Boeckman watches nervously during the third set.
And a late defensive adjustment in the fourth set curtailed some of the aggression and momentum of Haley Wilson, who finished with 17 kills, but was noticeably quieter down the stretch in the final set when Independence needed her most.
“We moved our block out to the line,” said Rosenbeck. “And we probably should have done that sooner…and we just made her more uncomfortable in set four.”
Nerves? For their size and the impact of Haley Wilson, Independence did resemble the kind of attack that Rosenbeck and the Redskins are going to see from Newark Catholic on Saturday. But if they can collectively relax with the reality of the hard part being done, all they have to do now is go out and play. The math part is real…their being one of only two Division VI team in the state with a chance to play for the championship.
“We finished our regular season 17-5 and that wasn’t good enough for us,” said Rosenbeck when asked if there would be enough resolve for Saturday and one more match.
Tricia Rosenbeck breathes a sigh of relief…”We finished our regular season 17-5 and that wasn’t good enough.”
“These girls looked at themselves in the mirror and said ‘We have to get better.’ And we have. Our practices over the last three weeks have been better, they’ve taken constructive criticism, and we’re going to be ready to play.”
And a final irony. Tricia Rosenbeck played her college volleyball in the Nutter Center as an athlete at Wright State. She’s known some good days in that building, but would that be as good as coaching her current team to a state championship?
“This is pretty good,” she laughed. Nervously, of course. “This was awesome today because it was hard. So far our tournament run has been pretty easy, and today the girls stepped up when the times got tough. And Saturday’s going to be the same way with Newark Catholic. They’re an awesome team and we’re going to have to fight. So it was good to learn today that we can play in a tight match.”
With their backs to the wall, you might say.
Maybe a little,” she added with a smile.
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